“Tiger Woods has a coach, and so should college and university presidents” was the mantra during a Presidents Institute session on “Presidential Coaching: Why, How, and When?” led by Ann J. Duffield, co-founding principal of The Presidential Practice and former associate vice president of university and medical center relations at the University of Pennsylvania, and Steven E. Titus, president of Midland Lutheran College (NE) and co-founder of the HigherEd Leadership Coaching Group.

Coaches, Duffield explained, don’t help fix a specific problem; instead, they assist a new president in becoming comfortable with the role and the institution and can help an established president to regain passion for the job and the place. Titus argued further that coaches, like general medical practitioners, are whole-person specialists. They support the development of a presidential strategic plan and vision and provide honest feedback free from a hidden agenda, but they do not provide substantive expertise on specific issues.

Most audience members needed little convincing of Duffield and Titus’ general message. Those who had worked with a coach before freely shared their positive experiences in getting help with assessing larger questions of vocation and mission, and working with a coach on developing a leadership role beyond technical and operational matters. Those new to the idea sought advice on how to select a coach. Presenters and experienced audience members agreed that recently retired presidents are likely to be particularly effective coaches since they understand both how institutions work and what presidents need at various stages of their time in office.

View presentation slides from this session.