On a call last week with an HR Director from a large company, I discovered that the focus they have on 'coaching' is really about remedial action. Fixing a 'broken' leader or manager.
We got into the discussion detailing how coaching is about building forward momentum - examining what's working and duplicating it; looking at obstacles and determining how to overcome them and most importantly, understanding the leader's impact on the business and bottom-line - focused productivity and accountability.
The leadership position can be a difficult space to be in. Part of this discussion stemmed from the fact that they mentioned a specific leader would require a 'hard-hitting' coach. I was surprised that this and started to think hard about that word. Coaches are by nature somewhat 'hard-hitting' - we work hard to be objective, provide different perspectives and give the truth, not allowing our coachee to back away and hide or lay blame elsewhere. We are in fact, doing our job, when we are being truthful and honest, sometimes blunt and asking the questions that need to be asked...this is what the coachee is really looking for - an accountability partner, a nay-sayer that will push them further, make them think, do things differently, reach deep-down and find their authentic responses and turn them into actions.
Here are some figures from the Manchester Consulting Group Study of 100 Fortune 100 executives (as posted on the Kaizen Leadership Coaching website):
A Manchester Consulting Group study of Fortune 100 executives found thatexecutive coaching was effective for all participants, including women and ethnic minorities, and resulted in ROI, averaging $100,000 or 5.7 times the initial investment. The following organizational benefits of coaching were cited:
- Improved Relationships 77%
- Improved Teamwork 67%
- Improved Job Satisfaction 61%
- Improved Productivity 53%
- Improved Quality 48%
- Improved Organizational Strength 48%
Pretty simple to see that executives and leaders need to have a safe place to discuss and sound off, vent and reflect out loud, sometimes to simply think things through and dream about the future. ROI goes beyond what the client gets every time - the organization gets a great pay off through retention, engagement and much more.
Looking to discover how coaching can change your business and your leadership? I am always ready to talk!
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