What Is Leadership Coaching and How Do We Know It Works?
Coaching has transformed from being considered a luxury available only to top-level leaders to now being considered a significant contribution to an organization’s success. According to the International Coaching Federation, the demand for leadership coaching services continues to soar, with the estimated market size in the U.S. alone projected to top $20 billion by 2024.
But why? What is leadership coaching, how do we know it works, and when could you use it?
Earlier in my career I was incredibly naïve and to be honest, I probably still am.
Somehow I had in my mind that at some point in time in my career I would have achieve “something” and the pain of learning, failing, growing, and changing would no longer be. I thought that at some point in time I would have “arrived.”
It’s actually quite comical as I write it all out now.
I’m happy to say I’ve learned along the way you don’t “arrive.”
There is the constant opportunity to learn, grow, fail, achieve, and change.
Which gives an incredible opportunity for individuals and organizations to partner in growth together.
And that is why I believe in coaching.
So, what is coaching?
Coaching is a process, over time, where an individual or group is committed to professional growth and development and builds new skills to become better than they currently are.
How do we know it works?
While I can’t speak for everyone, at Coaching Right Now, we know coaching enables learning and behavior change that sticks.
While new knowledge, awareness and motivation can be acquired through training, leadership coaching allows for skill development and behavior change that only happens during a cycle of practice, feedback, reinforcement, and accountability.
In fact, studies show that 70% of adults who work with a Coach benefited from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills.
So, should you consider coaching?
Often I see companies best leveraging coaching around 5 key areas:
- To accelerate development of key employees
- During career transitions. (Personally, I love this one because I think we can all relate to getting a promotion and then thinking, “Oh, no! How am I going to actually DO this?”) I’ve seen some incredible companies out there who have recognized this challenge and they offer coaching to support leaders as they go through this transition.
- During cultural or organizational changes
- Helping teams work better together
- Supporting leaders build new behaviors and skills
The reality is, coaching for your teams and employees can always be helpful and there are some key times in people’s careers and business lifecycles where it just makes more sense.
If you are considering leveraging coaching in your organization and want a sounding board, contact us at: sales@coachingrightnow.com – we look forward to helping!
