Ask where the problem sits. If the leader is the variable, coaching. If the seat is wrong or empty, search. If the seat needs covering now, or the problem has an end date, a fractional executive. If the system around the seat is broken, advisory. Sometimes the answer is none of them.
The four places a problem can sit
Most leadership problems are described as a people problem and diagnosed as one. The better question is which of four things is actually broken.
- The leader. A strong record, but a transition, a larger scope or a habit is costing them. The path is executive coaching.
- The seat. The role is empty, or the person in it is the wrong fit. The path is executive search.
- The timing. The seat needs a senior owner now, or the work has an end date. The path is a fractional C-suite executive.
- The system. Revenue, structure or process fails whoever sits in the seat. The path is growth advisory.
When coaching fits
Coaching fits when the person is right and something about how they are leading is not. A first executive role, a larger scope, a stalled team, a decision they cannot make alone. The work is on the leader: the decision, the story, the pattern. Why the right coach matters covers how to choose one.
Coaching does not fit when the role is wrong. A coach can help you see that. A coach cannot fix it.
When search fits
Search fits when the seat needs a permanent leader and the right one is not applying. ETHOSLINK runs retained executive search that presents up to three hand-vetted candidates, not a long list. If the brief is wrong, the search fails however good the candidates are, which is why the brief comes first.
When a fractional executive fits
A fractional executive is a part-time senior leader, usually one to three days a week on a monthly engagement. It fits when you need senior judgment now and a full-time hire is premature, or the problem is bounded. It also fits as a bridge. In Bridge-to-Hire, a fractional executive stabilizes an open or failing seat while a retained search runs for the permanent leader, and what the fractional executive learns shapes the brief.
When advisory fits
Advisory fits when the same problem survives every change of leader. If three people in the seat have struggled with the same quota, plan or reporting line, the seat is not the problem. Growth advisory starts with a diagnostic of the system.
Three questions that decide it
- Is the role right? If the role is mis-scoped, fix the role before you coach anyone or search for anyone.
- Is the person right? If yes, and they are struggling, that is a coaching question. If no, it is a search question, and a fractional executive can hold the seat while you run it.
- Is the system right? If a strong person fails in the seat anyway, look at the system.
If the honest answer to all three is yes, you may not need any of them. We would rather tell you that than sell you a path.