The American Management Association recently completed a global survey of successful practices in coaching that involved more than 1,000 respondent companies.
- The Definition of Coaching
- Popularity of Coaching
- The Payoff for Using Coaches
- External vs. Internal Coaches
- Selecting and Measuring Coaches
- Obstacles
I participated in a conference call last week presented by the team that conducted the survey, and I will be sharing the results with you in this and the next few newsletters.
“Coaching” is a partnership between the coach and the “coachee” that has a specific purpose — to identify and achieve desired results. Along the way, obstacles are identified, and plans include ways to remove or get around those obstacles.
I’m surprised at how many times I’ve talked with people about the prior coaching they had, only to learn that the purpose of the coaching wasn’t clear, or that there weren’t specific goals and expectations, or that the “agenda” was advanced by the coach instead of the coachee.
If you are using or considering using a coach for any reason, they should be able to clearly define what they do, how they work, and what you can expect in terms of outcomes. If they can’t explain that in clear, easy to understand terms, don’t hire them: They quite literally don’t know what they’re doing.
Popularity of Coaching
In the North American sample (854 of the 1030 survey respondents were from North America) more than half (52%) said they have formal coaching programs in place.
Among those who don’t, 37% said they plan to implement formal coaching programs in the future.
More than half of the respondents (57%) who use coaching said they are using it more than they have in the past. 32% said they’re using it about the same as they have in the past, and 11% said they are using it less than they have in the past.
The increasing popularity of coaching is related to all the ways that coaching improves an organization’s success, efficiencies, and bottom line. In future posts, I’ll share more survey results, and give you practical advice from my own coaching perspective and experiences.