Over the past 30 years, the use of coaches by business executives to enhance their performance- and improve business results – has become an accepted and increasingly popular “best practice” in leadership development.

Although the business community was originally highly doubtful about the idea of coaching, recent research into this billion-dollar industry shows that the original skepticism has been overcome and that the perceived benefits of coaching to individuals, as well as organizations, are fueling an explosive growth in the practice. Today a growing number of business people know what world class athletes and entertainers have known for centuries: any level of natural ability can be enhanced through coaching; whether it’s in hockey, singing, acting or business leadership.

A recent global survey conducted by Executive Development Associates of 100 major corporations indicates that coaching has broken into the top five major approaches to leadership development. Other data is even more telling of coaching’s new stature: 63 per cent of the organizations surveyed said they planned to increase their use of coaching while 92 per cent of leaders who have used a coach indicated that they planned to use a coach again. Most recently, the 2008 Sherpa Executive Coaching survey of more than 1,000 clients, HR professionals and coaches from 37 countries reveals that 90 per cent of HR professionals and coaching clients see the value of executive coaching as “somewhat high” or “very high.”

The popularity of coaching as a development method also reflects a shift in the reasons why coaching is used. Rather than being seen as a singular approach to correcting the behavior of the “problem” leader, coaching is now perceived as part of a mix of approaches to helping high performers and potential executives improve their results. The shift from problem pariah to potential performer has made having a coach a status symbol among the upwardly mobile. Given its growing popularity and the perceived benefits, it seems likely many managers and professionals will seriously consider taking on a coach at some time in their business careers. In order to make informed decisions about choosing a coach and making the most of the coaching relationship, we offer potential users of coaching services this brief introduction to the practice of coaching.

What is Coaching? –Some quick insights.

Mentoring and coaching are forms of teaching that have a long history; stretching back to ancient Greece, where tutoring of individuals and groups was a common approach to education. The word mentor itself originates in the character Mentor, a tutor to Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, in Homer’s epic tale The Odyssey.

Today mentoring tends to describe a process that involves the veteran organization leader establishing a relationship with an up-and-coming junior who has demonstrated a potential for leadership. The mentor educates the junior through example, informal discussion, and increasingly challenging assignments in the day-to-day work context. Over a period of time, the junior absorbs the education in leadership and, having proved his/her mettle in the assignments, “arrives” one day, as a leader.

Coaching describes a more formal relationship that can involve expertise from outside the organization as well as from within it. Coaching tends to be a process-driven relationship in which:
i) measurable performance goals are established,
ii) initiatives and action are undertaken for change to achieve the goals, and
iii) feedback on performance is systematically gathered for further improvement on results.

However coaching is described, it is also helpful to know what coaching is not. It is not psychotherapy or any of its derivatives that deal with the interior processes of mind, although coaches are often very familiar with psychology and its practical applications. Nor is coaching to be confused with consulting, although coaches do often give advice to their clients in the context of their organizations, communities or families.

An effective coaching relationship is based on trust and respect. Through this relationship, the persons being coached build on their strengths and correct self-defeating behaviors. Initial engagements in coaching tend to be limited to six months or less. Further engagements tend to last longer with more senior managers and executives engaging coaches for periods as long as long as 12 to 14 months. By far the most popular coaching method is the face- to-face conversation. Coaching by telephone is a close second in popularity, with e-mail coaching coming in a distant third. Coaching sessions tend to last for one to two hours and are usually held once or twice a month.

Effective coaches focus on improving the performance and capabilities of individuals, groups, and teams. They do this through the development of:
i) professional and personal skills,
ii) insight,
iii) communication and coordination skills.

A good coach aspires to increase the effectiveness of a person’s or a team’s response to highly dynamic business and life environments.

Coaches work at facilitating their subjects’ self-awareness and self-learning. They expect, and demand, that their subjects be committed to the process of learning and improving performance. A good coach is a partner in this path of self-learning, assisting the learner to attain “stretch” performance goals and objectives that the learner and coach have established together.

Why Choose a Coach?

Coaches can enhance performance in many aspects of a person’s business and personal life. Many coaches argue that a person’s job performance cannot be separated from one’s personal history or one’s life outside work. Recently, many coaches are beginning to focus on the integration of the cognitive, emotional, spiritual and physical aspects of performance.

Whether or not we separate these elements of personal experience, coaching means using objective outside counsel and support to help people develop the insight, as well as the skills, to perform better on today’s business playing field.

Coaching for performance generally falls in one or more of three categories:

i) Personal Coaching—Working with healthy individuals and groups who want to change something in their personal lives. This personal sphere may include work, but usually focuses more on the total person, including the family and spiritual life.

ii) Career Coaching—Helping individuals to identify career paths and how to market themselves and their groups successfully to deliver more value-added work. This kind of coaching also means supporting leaders and potential leaders to enhance their abilities for the development of their careers.

iii) Business Coaching—This involves coaching executives or leaders or teams in organizations. The individuals and groups may be at the top of the organization or in middle management, involved in leading projects, departments or teams. Coaching in this world is a “two for one deal.” Leaders benefit but so do organizations, especially when coaching is linked to business performance results.

Conditions for a Successful Coaching Relationship

As mentioned above, coaching involves establishing a partnership between the coach and the person being coached. An enduring and successful partnership is:
i) Voluntary: Many coaching relationships fail when partnerships are not voluntary;
ii) Based on growth: Coaching is not about creating dependencies or undergoing counseling or therapy; it’s about building on strengths; and:
iii) Directed at improving the client’s job performance and career potential, i.e. their ability to achieve desired results.

The Bottom Line on Coaching

In the end, successful coaching, with individuals, groups or teams, is ultimately aimed at gaining better business results. An effective coach always keeps in mind three inter-related factors when coaching individual leaders, groups or teams:
i) Business concerns are the basis for the personal or group performance gaps that, in the final analysis, will be addressed by the coaching;
ii) The leader or team, in relationship with a coach, will undertake specific initiatives to close the performance gap; and,
iii) the process should result in specific action through others- people- to achieve measurable business goals.

Without this link to business results, coaching can improve individual or team performance but fall far short of its ultimate purpose and potential.