Tag Archives: About Coaching

Executive Coaching: tracking the financial impact

Coaching

This week, in celebration of International Coaching Week, I continue to reflect on the brief summary of a longer study of trends in Executive Coaching published by DBM in partnership with the Human Capital Institute (available via inquiries@dbm.com).

43% of respondents suggested that their organisations measure the financial impact of coaching, with 77% of those who measure financial impact suggesting the return on investment is at least equivalent to the investment and in some cases as high as 500%. The factors most often tracked were given as:

  • Output: 33%;
  • Quality: 23%;
  • Cost: 23%;
  • Turnover: 21%.

Reflecting on my own practice, I wonder what precisely is being measured here and over what time period. For coaching almost always offers the “double whammy” benefits of helping the person seeking coaching to handle situations more effectively during the coaching and leaving them more equipped to handle situations that take place long after coaching has finished. What would it take to measure the life-long ROI from coaching for a particular Executive?

Executive Coaching: when does it have the greatest impact?

Coaching

Looking again at the survey summary from which I quoted yesterday (by DBM in partnership with the Human Capital Institute), I was curious to see what the numbers suggest about when Executive Coaching has the greatest impact. They came out as follows:

  • Top place with 29% of respondents comes grooming high potential employees;
  • 28% of respondents cite helping capable executives achieve higher performance;
  • 8% of respondents cite enhancing team effectiveness;
  • 5% of respondents cite addressing short-term, targeted situations;
  • 5% of respondents cite onboarding newly hired or promoted executives; and
  • 3% cite guiding career decisions.

It’s stiking to me that the first two circumstances are cited by 57% of respondents as those in which Executive Coaching has the highest impact and that both are concerned with – if I can put it this way – taking good people and helping them to become even better.

It’s also interesting to notice that this does not correlate with the reasons organisations commission coaching, with addressing derailing behaviours coming joint first with helping capable executives achieve higher performance. Together, these account for 36% of responses. Only 8% of respondents cite onboarding newly hired and promoted executives as the main reason for commissioning coaching.

It would be easy to conclude that investing in coaching to help address derailing behaviors is of limited effectiveness. However the figures don’t seem to support this – 18% of respondents cite this as the number one reason for commissioning coaching and 22% of respondents cite it as the circumstance in which Executive Coaching has the greatest impact.

By contrast, it does seem that the benefits of using Executive Coaching to groom high potential employees are generally underestimated in the commissioning process, with 16% of respondents citing this as the number one reason for commissioning coaching compared to 29% citing this as the circumstance in which coaching has the greatest impact.

To request a copy of the white paper you can contact inquiries@dbm.com.

Trends in Executive Coaching

Coaching

As International Coaching Week begins I have been curious to receive a two-page summary of recent research by DBM, in partnership with the Human Capital Institute, into trends and emerging best practice in Executive Coaching.

What do they see as the key results from their research – their ‘results at-a-glance’?

  • The credibility and acceptance of coaching are high: 78% of respondents rate it as good or excellent;
  • Return on coaching investment is generally perceived as high – some estimate it as high as 500%;
  • Organisations are planning to increase their coaching investment in several targeted areas.

The survey is comprised of 472 responses from a cross-section of industries including HR Business Partners (32%), top Human Resources Executives (26%) and others in Organisational Development and Training and Development roles (42%).

I’ll be highlighting key findings throughout the week. In the meantime, you can request a copy of the full ‘white paper’ by contacting inquiries@dbm.com.

Confidentiality in coaching

Coaching,

Sometimes it helps me with my time to take something that I’m writing elsewhere and to post it on my blog. This posting is one I made to the Coaching At Work group on LinkedIn before Christmas and also to subscribers to the Training Journal Daily Digest and I’d love to extend the invitation to readers of my blog to join this discussion. I wrote:

Well, I’m just back from spending a week with Roger Schwarz, author of The Skilled Facilitator Approach. It was an immensely nourishing, enriching, challenging and thought-provoking experience.

Over dinner one evening, I was part of a discussion about confidentiality in coaching. A core value of Roger’s approach is transparency and we discussed the implications of transparency in coaching.

So I’d like to extend the question to you: what is the purpose of confidentiality in coaching? Yes we all understand that clients can feel safer to share themselves fully in coaching if they know their coach is committed to maintain confidentiality. But how often do we propose a contract of confidentiality whether the client asks for it or not – without discussion, even? And with what implications?

I’m guessing that most clients would love to work in a wider environment in which it’s safe to share and so I’m wondering – how does agreeing this contract of confidentiality in coaching serve this broader aspiration?

I found our discussion over dinner thought-provoking and I wonder: what thoughts do you have? And what practices?

Even as I write I’m grateful to John Fisher, one of my colleagues on the Digest for reshaping my question in a way which adds clarity and simplicity: do we use confidentiality for our benefit, the client’s or because we “just always do it”?

Coaching and the Paradoxical Theory of Change

Coaching,

Just as I pause to ask myself the question “what next?” an e-mail lands in my in-tray from fellow coach and writer Len Williamson about Arnold Beisser’s Paradoxical Theory of Change. Len offers a brief description of the theory and explores the implications for coaching.

Beisser was a contributor in the field of Gestalt and this is amply reflected in his theory. Still, with or without any exposure to or understanding of Gestalt, it strikes me that Beisser’s theory has the ring of truth. With Len’s permission I offer his brief description here:

Arnold Beisser wrote an article in 1970 entitled ‘The Paradoxical Theory of Change’. In it he stated ‘that change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not’. It is paradoxical in the sense that a person can change and start to become something he is not only when he truly knows what he is. It is a lynchpin of the Gestalt approach and one of the clearest descriptions of an idea originally set out by Fritz Perls.

I will here reflect on what this means in a coaching relationship and invite you to add your own thoughts. An individual who seeks coaching will often state their requirement as a need to change for some reason. It could be to work better with colleagues, gain a promotion or take a new direction in what they do. The role of the coach is to help the individual achieve the change he wants. The Paradoxical Theory of Change tells us that the most powerful way to do this is to help him describe exactly where he is now. By doing so the client gains insight and understanding about the attributes and characteristics he currently exhibits and begins to see how these might get in the way of the change he wants.

In many Gestalt coaching sessions a client will begin to realise that many of the obstacles to the progress he wants are present within who and what he is at that moment. When this occurs it is a great and helpful discovery as the client can be shown that he has control over changing things that are going on inside him. In fact he has much more control over this than he has over the often originally perceived idea that it is something or someone else that is getting in the way.

The other aspect of interest in this theory is the constant flipping of the client between a state he ‘should’ be in and the state he ‘is’ in. Invariably the client is in neither state but hangs somewhere in between. Making the shift to a clear description of what ‘is’ will give the client a powerful grounding from which he can then consider changing.

Finally it is noticeable that the ‘problem’ or ‘need for change’ cited by the client up front is often not the most important thing to fix for the growth and development of the client. It is always related to where the client actually is in that moment. The role of the coach is to help him describe this in as much rich detail as is possible.

Len asks for thoughts and I notice I recognise a great deal of what he says both as a client of coaching (and other approaches) and as a coach. Maybe my thought of thoughts – simple as it is – is that many approaches are in search of the same truths.

I notice that this in turn raises a question for me – how come we find it so hard to stay with these truths, even though they’re there to be had?

Coaching: the best kind of labour of love

Coaching,

It’s the end of a busy week. I have been coaching, as ever. I am in the midst of preparing an assessment report. I have just returned to the office, ready to go through a number of e-mails that have reached me before I sign off at the end of the working week and sign onto the weekend.

This week has also been a week of “chemistry meetings”. This is the process by which a person seeking coaching and their potential coach(es) meet to establish whether or not they are well matched to work together. Typical questions that are on the table during these meetings are “what areas do you want to address through coaching?” “what outcomes would you like from your coaching?” and “what would you like from your coach?” As well as testing whether or not coach and person seeking coaching are well matched, these meetings can help the person seeking coaching to deepen his or her understanding of what he or she is looking for.

Whilst it’s often the coach’s role to hold up a mirror to a client and invite self reflection, in one meeting it’s my turn. The person with whom I’m meeting – potentially my coaching client – tells me that she has the sense that I really enjoy coaching and highlights the passion with which I speak about it.

Even as she asks the question I feel a physical response as tears rise. The truth is, I still find it amazing that I am paid – and handsomely – to do something I love so much.

The gratitude I feel lingers with me as the weekend approaches.

Joseph Campbell and the hero’s journey

Coaching, Developing as a leader, ,

In April 2005 I wrote a brief introduction to the hero’s journey as described by Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero With A Thousand Faces and (with co-author Bill Moyers) The Power of Myth. Of all the articles I have written in my regular newsletter this is the article to which I return most often. Why? Because Campbell’s description of the hero’s journey captures something universal, something about the human experience. And, what’s more, because as a coach, I am often a witness to the first steps people take on their own hero’s journey.

Whether or not people choose to commission coaching or to take some other step, their first contact with me and our early discussions often represent a crossing of a threshold. This threshold will be unique to the individual concerned and often comprises bearing witness to a challenge they face which they have, up until now, chosen to down-play or even ignore. This is the time they say “I recognise this is a problem for which I would like to find a solution” or “I am allowing myself to share the dream which – until now – I have barely dared to voice to myself”.

In our lives we are likely to face many such thresholds, for with the crossing of a threshold a new journey opens up. Just as when we reach the top of one hill we see another before us, so also when we cross a threshold we have already made our first steps towards the next threshold. Of course, we need not cross the threshold that faces us and may choose to stay eternally in one place – be it a physical location or a single mindset or way of being. The consequences of our choices (either way) are captured in Harold Ramis’ witty and compassionate film Groundhog Day.

What are the steps in the hero’s journey? This is how I described them in 1995, drawing on the work of Joseph Campbell and of others such as Robert Dilts in the field of neurolinguistic programming (or NLP):

1. The Call to Adventure: this is the first sign of the hero’s journey and may come in many forms. The hero hears it – and may choose to accept or refuse this calling.

2. Crossing the Threshold: On accepting the calling the hero steps into new territories outside his or her past experience and ‘comfort zone’. In this new arena the hero is forced to grow and to seek assistance on the journey.

3. Finding a Guardian: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears”. Only when the hero has crossed the threshold will the guardian or mentor appear.

4. Facing a Challenge (or ‘demon’): often the demon is within. The hero has to face the challenge or demon in order to progress.

5. Transforming the Demon: By facing his or her demon the hero acquires a resource which is needed to complete the journey.

6. Finding the Way: Building on the work of Campbell, Robert Dilts highlights that Finding the Way to fulfil the calling is achieved by creating a new set of beliefs that incorporates the growth and discoveries brought about by the journey.

7. Returning Home: Finally, the hero completes the journey by Returning Home as a transformed or evolved person.

How is coaching faring during the recession?

Coaching

The Training Journal Daily Digest has come up trumps again. Responding to a posting requesting recommendations for some executive coaches I offer to share details of trusted colleagues – it’s not the done thing to recommend oneself on the Digest and still, I’m always delighted to put people in touch with skilled and able coaches. Minutes later, one of my colleagues on the Digest lets me know she’s put my name forward.

Oh! And what’s more, one of my former Hay colleagues lets me know he’s recommended me as a coach to senior leaders in his own business. I experience feelings of great delight at these “seeds sown”. Much of my work comes to me via these kinds of referrals and whether or not these particular seeds turn into coaching assignments, they contribute to an abundance of possibilities and make it more likely that I can contribute my skills to help individuals and organisations to build leadership capability.

But how is coaching faring during the recession? This a question that is visting one of my colleagues today. She writes:

Dorothy, over the past few days, I’ve learnt that several services and colleagues in my three worlds are running into difficulties. It seems as if it is getting ever harder to secure referrals, to find paying clients, or to fill workshops.

Just as a ‘reality check’: have you noticed trends in this direction in your coaching circles? On the one hand, these developments come as no surprise to me. On the other hand, I wonder whether those of us who hold strong positive beliefs can manage to “surf through this era on an entirely different wave”… I hope from my heart that the latter is the case.

In my own practice, one client organisation stopped its executive coaching across the world last year in response to the crisis in the finance sector. Currently, another client is taking a break pending his new budgetary period and has made it clear that he’d prefer to continue our work together. Whilst small businesses like my own tend to experience both ups and downs these examples are clearly related to our current economic climate.

Oh, the paradox! If ever our leaders need coaching it’s now! For the levels of uncertainty that come with our current economic climate are such that “drawing on experience” – even experience of past recessions – is not enough. And yet it’s at this time that organisations are most likely to tighten their belts and reduce their investment in coaching and other development programmes.

I take time to explore a link provided by another colleague to an article about coaching in Personnel Today. Two things stand out. The first is the recommendation to invest in coaching leaders ahead of any other group – after all, in times of change, it’s our leaders who lead the change. I also notice that recent research by the CIPD suggests that coaching is proving to be one of the great survivors of the recession.

I hope so. Of course, coaching makes a significant contribution to my income. Far more than this, coaching has a major role to play in developing leadership capability and this, in turn, makes it more likely that our leaders will create intelligent and highly effective organisations.

I wonder, what do you think?

About Executive Coaching

Coaching

Today I take a few moments to share a view of Executive Coaching which I often share with potential clients:

What is Executive Coaching?

Executive Coaching is, quite simply, coaching for Executives. The International Coach Federation or ICF (www.coachfederation.org) defines professional coaching as “an ongoing professional relationship that helps people produce extraordinary results in their lives, careers, businesses or organisations”.

At times, individual Executives seek out a Coach. At times, organisations actively encourage key Executives to work with an Executive Coach and may outline an agenda for coaching to clarify the benefits expected as a result of investing in coaching.

Most Executive Coaches work in a partnership with Executive Clients which is bound by a clear agreement (or ‘Coaching Alliance’) which outlines the agenda for coaching, how the Coach and Client will work together in pursuit of desired outcomes and what information will and won’t be shared outside the coaching partnership.

How do individuals benefit from Executive Coaching?

Executive Coaching is an investment in the immediate success and the sustainable, long-term development of the individual Executive, helping clients to deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life.

It’s not just that Executive Coaching helps the individual to do a better job: Executive Coaching helps the individual to clarify his or her direction and values, to build energy and motivation and to take powerful steps towards a compelling future.

How do organisations benefit from Executive Coaching?

Imagine a work force in which each and every individual is working to his or her full potential. By helping the individual Executive to tap into his or her larger potential, Executive Coaching can raise levels of performance in the organisation. Often, this brings about a knock-on effect as others in turn become more effective as a result of working with or for the individual Coaching Client.

In addition, by targeting groups of leaders Executive Coaching can help to build greater personal and leadership effectiveness across the whole organisation. This can lead to improved and sustainable results across the organisation.

For further information about coaching

There is a wealth of information available about Executive Coaching in books, magazines and on the internet. For information about key sources of information or for guidance on how to choose your coach please contact me, Dorothy Nesbit, directly on 0774 789 8450 or by e-mail at dorothy@learningforlifeconsulting.co.uk