A four-phase study was conducted in Great Britain to determine what executive coaching is, why organizations use it, what issues are involved, and where executive coaching fits in terms of management learning theory. Data were gathered through a literature review, in-depth interviews with management development specialists and others in organizations using executive coaching, in-depth interviews with executive coaches along with document analysis and discussions, and a forum of Institute for Employment Studies Research Club members in England. The study involved 22 people in 14 different organizations. The study found that executive coaching is a process of work-related development for senior and professional managers that includes business, functional, and personal skills. The process includes entry and contracting, identifying issues, reaching a shared diagnosis, planning to address development needs, action taking and reflection, and closure. Organizations are using executive coaching for accelerated development, implementation of change, provision of a critical friend, and underpinning wider development programs. In addition it is used to reward and retain key staff. Implementation of executive coaching involves a myriad of issues, including credentials of coaches, matching managers and coaches, "coaching envy," cost, trust and control, and evaluation. The study also found that executive coaching fits within the field of development, linking it to mentoring and career counseling, learning on the job, a "meta-process" maximizing learning, or a mediatory process between career management "thinking" and "action." (Contains 58 references.) (KC)