Commentary: Mentoring the mentor: executive coaching for clinical departmental executive officers

Departmental executive officers (DEOs), department chairs, and department heads in medical schools are often hired on the basis of their accomplishments in research as well as their skills in administration, management, and leadership. These individuals are also expected to be expert in multiple areas, including negotiation, finance and budgeting, mentoring, and personnel management. At the same time, they are expected to maintain and perhaps even enhance their personal academic standing for the purposes of raising the level of departmental and institutional prestige and for recruiting the next generation of physicians and scientists. In the corporate world, employers understand the importance of training new leaders in requisite skill enhancement that will lead to success in their new positions. These individuals are often provided with extensive executive training to develop the necessary competencies to make them successful leaders. Among the tools employed for this purpose are the use of personal coaches or executive training courses. The authors propose that the use of executive coaching in academic medicine may be of benefit for new DEOs. Experience using an executive coach suggests that this was a valuable growth experience for new leaders in the institution.