In the field in which I work – as a coach to leaders – the thirst for evidence (be it of the impact of leadership on business results or of the impact of coaching on leadership effectiveness) is ongoing.

As I think of this I smile. It has been my experience – both as a client of coaching and as a coach to a range of clients – that coaching is an approach whose worth is beyond measure. How many other approaches to leadership development can claim to change lives, even whilst helping people radically to improve their effectiveness in the workplace or indeed to make progress towards unfeasible goals? Not many, I think.

I do not wish to suggest that evidence – of the kind that can be written up in papers and widely shared – is not important. It is. It provides a sound basis for deciding (or not) to invest in coaching and other approaches to leadership development. The more we make decisions to invest on the basis of clear outcomes and having made a sound assessment of the likely effectiveness of the approach we choose, the greater the return on our investment. To do otherwise is to do a disservice to coaching as well as to the businesses for which we are responsible.

I was grateful when a colleague highlighted to me the International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, which is accessible to anyone with an interest in coaching and mentoring at http://www.business.brookes.ac.uk/research/areas/coaching&mentoring/.

Should you find something of value in the Journal or should you know of any alternative sources of information about the effectiveness of coaching, please add a comment here.