Is coaching just the new buzzword?

Historically we are all accustomed to sportspersons having a coach to enhance their performance. The best sportspersons listen and believe in their coach. But in relatively recent times the word coach has migrated from the field of sports to that of business. Thomas Leonard, an American financial planner, is acknowledged as the first person to develop coaching as a profession in the 1980s. Over the last 40 years, the profession has seen many arms of coaching emerging: executive coaching, life coaching, business coaching, leadership coaching, career coaching, wellbeing coaching, just to name a few. All address the growth, development, and optimisation of individuals or groups.

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential”. Coaching is based on the premise that the client is the expert in their own lives and has the answers to their challenges, within them. The coach’s role is to ask powerful questions to get the client to look within themselves and come to their truth. Coaching is a unique alliance between the coach and the client, which is not effective if the client is an unwilling partner. Clients have to be 100 per cent committed to the learning process and to be receptive to learning things about their personality that might be uncomfortable.

Gone are the days when non-performing employees are sent to coaching to be rectified. Gone are the days when coaching is seen as a last-ditch effort to help an employee when all other interventions have failed. Coaching is not for issues that should be handled through a company’s performance appraisal mechanism. Instead coaching should be utilised in a positive sense to help an executive, manager, or team leader who is high performing to close some identifiable gap.

Coaching should not be confused with counselling or mentoring, areas which I will explore in another article. But does coaching work? We have already identified that for coaching to be effective, the client must be willing and open. Secondly, the client should be paired with a coach that specialises in the area of the client’s interest. So once the alliance is a perfect match, it should be recognised that the coaching process is not a sprint but a long-distance event. Therefore, for coaching to start reaping real returns, the client should allow for a minimum of six months, and up to 12 months, because changing behaviours and mindsets takes time. Some executives have had their coach for years, as an investment in their development for the long haul and to keep them at the top of their game.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Research conducted by the Manchester Review indicated an average return on investment (ROI) of almost six times the cost of coaching. The ICF has stated that 86 per cent of organisations saw an ROI on their coaching programmes. So the statistics are in, to prove that coaching does work. Coaching, however is an individual process so it is difficult to put a dollar value on the investment. Consider for a moment the multiplier effect of the improvement in the staff reporting into a leader, that has benefited from coaching. Indeed, leadership development does take time and effort, but the ROI is worth it.

During the past 18 months of the pandemic with the transition to a virtual environment or some type of hybrid structure, leaders have been pushed out of their comfort zone and are forced to rethink how they lead. Online meetings have been a blessing. However, the effectiveness of communication in the virtual space is not as effective as in-person meetings. Only seven per cent of our communication is verbal. A whopping 93 per cent of our communication is non-verbal. We are an expressive people and the full essence of our communication is lost in the virtual space. Leaders, therefore, have to work harder in this COVID-19 environment to get the connection and engagement flow with their team members. This is compounded by the need for greater empathy, compassion, and staff wellbeing which are all additional layers of responsibility that leaders have to work through, while still leading the normal routine of the business.

Leaders are, therefore, stressed and need the support of coaches to get them through these challenging times. This is reflected in the boom that the industry is experiencing. According to PricewaterhousCoopers, the coaching industry was the second, fastest-growing sector in the world. ICF has indicated it is expecting the market value to reach $20 billion by 2022. With a 6.7 per cent average yearly growth rate from 2019 to 2022. The rapid growth in the industry during the pandemic is proof of the benefit coaching has been and continues to be for many companies globally.

In addition to the normal benefits of coaching – improved self-awareness, development of leadership skills, identifying purpose, just to name a few, the pandemic added another layer of need.

During the last 18 months, there have been thousands of persons in some stage of career transition that requires guidance. The need to find purpose in life has become vastly more important since the pandemic, as persons consider their humanity. People in general have slowed down sufficiently to rethink their life and to go deep within themselves for answers. While others require help in processing the impact of the pandemic, and the associated displacement. All these situations have pushed the growth in the need for coaching services.

Coaching has a positive impact on the well-being of leaders, their teams, and individuals. Coaching is not a new buzzword, it is not a fad. Coaching produces real results, and is here to stay for the future.

Dianne Pottinger is a leadership and transition trainer and coach.