There are abundant leadership challenges and complexities for organizational leaders in leading their organizations to success. And when leaders need help navigating some of these issues and challenges, they frequently call on a coach or consultant to help them. So, who should the leaders be hiring? That’s easy…the best qualified leadership expert. Unfortunately, the “leadership industry” is currently unregulated, and there are many ersatz leadership coaches who call themselves a leadership expert with no actual leadership credentials and worse, no real consequences if they give their clients erroneous information, training, or advice. This makes it challenging for individuals and organizations to know who to trust when seeking leadership advice and guidance.
The Common Sense Test:
Industry and academia need to start considering what criteria is genuinely needed to be leadership trainers and coaches. Let’s try applying a little “common sense” to this discussion. Would you go to a psychologist who didn’t study psychology? I hope not! Would you hire a biologist who didn’t study biology, or a Kinesiologist who didn’t study Kinesiology? Again, I would hope not. Then why do we hire leadership trainers and coaches who haven’t studied the science of leadership or “Leaderology?” We need to start hiring real “Leaderologists” or those people who have formally studied and attained the science of leadership.
It seems like a trend right now with a plethora of leadership coaches and coaching programs. Everyone wants to be a leadership coach! Coaching has its relevance at a personal or career skills level, but we must remember that coaching is a skill-based activity, very different from mentoring, which is more about overall development. Therefore, the coaching is only as effective as the skills the coach possesses. With so many people claiming to be “leadership coaches” or trainers, yet when you check their credentials, they don’t actually have the formal education and/or experience to be an effective leadership trainer. What may have worked for them in their experiences may not work for you. More often than not, they will only be able to coach up to their own skill level.
One of the most critical challenges we face as an industry is the proliferation of leadership “gurus and pseudo-experts” who are misleading the public and academia with flawed or pseudo-leadership principles and approaches. Meanwhile, legitimate leadership professionals, those who are formally educated in leadership theory, principles and best practices, struggle to differentiate themselves from the pseudo-experts and “popular” coaches. So, how is a “leaderologist” different?
Where is Leaderology?
There is a comprehensive list of the “ology” sciences presented in an article titled, “List of Sciences Ologies, A Roster of Scientific Disciplines from A to Z,” by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., (Helmenstine, 2021). Everything from Acarology: The study of ticks and mites, to Gemology: The study of gemstones, to Odonatology: The study of dragonflies and damselflies, to Zymology: The study of fermentation, and almost everything in between…except Leaderology: The study of leaders and leadership, at a time when we desperately need real leadership trainers for our key leaders. A leaderologist is a person who has studied and earned multiple accredited academic degrees in leadership studies. A leaderologist is more likely to be much more qualified to coach and mentor leaders, than someone with a degree in some other subject. (If you want to see all the “ology” sciences, click on the link. https://www.thoughtco.com/ology-list-of-sciences-608325).
What we need to do is differentiate the qualified leadership coach or trainer (a Leaderologist) from the unqualified in academia, practice, the law, or other governing bodies. Organizational leaders need to start considering hiring professionals with degrees in leadership from accredited colleges and universities… you need to consider hiring “leaderologists” who have studied “leaderology.”
Author(s): Dr. Chris Fuzie
Board Insights | Open Source
Published Online: 2023 May – All Rights Reserved.
APA Citation: Fuzie, C. (2023, May 31). Ersatz Leadership Coaches: They Can Hurt More Than Help. The Journal of Leaderology and Applied Leadership. https://jala.nlainfo.org/ersatz-leadership-coaches-they-can-hurt-more-than-help/
References:
Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2021, February 18). List of Sciences Ologies. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/ology-list-of-sciences-608325