Why work with a leadership coach?
For some people having a coach is a badge of honour, for others it may feel like they’re not quite getting things right, and for many it’s something they feel is essential for their growth and development. Why do people work with a leadership coach?
Maybe you’ve heard people talking around the office, the coffee shop (or wherever they’re hanging out online these days),
“Did you hear, Donna has got a leadership coach.”
And then the conversation may go in a couple of different directions depending on who is having it and how they feel about coaching or someone having a coach.
Sometimes there’s a tinge of jealousy because someone has been marked out as having leadership potential, or been moved into a new leadership role. Sometimes there is an element of shaming - and an underlying belief that someone must be underperforming to need a coach. And sometimes, people are genuinely glad that their employer is investing in the development and growth of their colleagues in leadership roles.
Whatever the perspective of others, more and more organisations are turning to leadership coaching (sometimes also known as executive coaching) to support their leadership teams.
Why are organisations bringing in leadership coaches?
Well, because it works. A number of studies now show the significant return on investment (ROI) that leadership (or executive) coaching can have for individuals and organisations.
At Resonate, we repeatedly see our clients gain confidence, clarity, and find space to develop new perspectives through coaching.
One recent client, Helen Swain, CEO of Women’s Aid charity Cyfannol, said that she had ‘learned to love the person and the CEO that I am” and that this has led to her taking faster action to resolve issues and develop a more impactful communication style.
Another client, Jenny Jenkin, Secretary and Registrar at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, described her coaching as ‘truly transformational… both impactful and illuminating’.
“Well, that’s great”, you might say, “but it’s all very qualitative. Hit me with some stats.”
Here you go…
Leadership Coaching - The Stats
In comparison to a few years ago, there is now a body of literature and studies looking at all aspects of coaching and it’s efficacy. Here, we’ve picked out a few statistics on the impact that coaching can have and how that benefits both individuals and organisations.
Staff Retention
Happy people stay. Period. PwC’s Global Hopes and Fears Survey reported that 20% of the workforce planned to quite their job in 2022, which is worrying for any organisation.
According to a recent CIPD Report (1), in the UK, 70% of organisations surveyed had difficulty attracting well-qualified talent, and 60% reported difficulties retaining the talent they had. The report goes on to note that while pay and benefits remained key to attracting talent, career development opportunities and organisational values were also high on the list on considerations.
So where does coaching come in? A study carried out by MetrixGlobal LLC for a Fortune 500 company (2) found that executive coaching had an ROI of 788%, which is pretty significant. More interestingly still, this dropped to 529% when the benefits from staff retention were removed. This demonstrates the significant impact access to executive coaching can have on retention of staff in leadership roles.
And given that the cost to an organisation of replacing someone on a £100k salary was estimated to be £213k back in 2012 (3) , the tangible as well as intangible benefits of access to coaching are clear.
Leadership Performance
Of course, organisations are keen to understand the return on investment in a tangible, often financial way, but of course this benefit is delivered not only through retaining talent and leaders, but also through improved performance - which benefits the organisation and the individuals being coached.
A number of studies undertaken in recent years have shown (see references 4-6 below) that executive coaching has a positive impact impact on a range of leadership performance indicators, including communication, team effectiveness, problem solving and adapting to change.
How does coaching deliver these benefits through coaching for individual leaders?
Individual Impact
Leadership can be extremely stressful and demanding for individuals, no matter how talented. The weight of expectations and visibility can add to a the pressure of a busy work environment and it’s easy to de-prioritise personal growth and development and remain laser-focussed on just getting the job done.
But at what cost?
In the words of Marshall Goldsmith, “What got you here, won’t get you there.”
The right coaching relationship is a powerful form of personal development and can have an incredible impact on performance, and how we feel about the work that we do. Why?
Well, coaching creates a time and place for thinking and reflection with a professional, skilled and non-judgemental listener whose role is to support, challenge and help find different perspectives on challenges, relationships or career paths - whatever you choose to bring to the conversation.
At Resonate, in the fast-paced environments many of our clients work in, they value the time to think deeply - around a wide range of issues.
We often support clients to work through 360 feedback, understand their communication preferences and how that might impact on their teams and effectiveness, find new perspectives on their own privilege and biases or those of the system they are working within.
Sometimes clients have particularly difficult relationship dynamics with in a team and want to think through an approach to it, other times it’s managing their time and priorities to reduce overwhelm and support clear-thinking and decision-making.
In a study published by the American Psychological Society in 2019 (4), Van Oosten, McBride-Taylor & Walker concluded that executive coaching and emotional and social competence in leaders had a significant impact on leader performance, satisfaction and engagement in the workplace.
Whatever the issue, bringing it to a coaching conversation brings clarity, a wider range of possibilities, and the time to reflect on your own role in the issue raises self-awareness.
Coaching can have a strong, positive impact on leadership capacity in organisations, and for committed individuals, it can be transformational - improving performance, and reducing overwhelm and stress.
What Next?
If you’d like to discuss how Resonate might support you as an individual or your organisation, book a call or email us at:
hello@resonateleadership.co.uk
References
(1) CIPD (2022), Resourcing and Talent Planning Report https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/resourcing/surveys
(2) Anderson, Merill C. “Executive Briefing: Case Study on the ROI of Executive Coaching”, MetrixGlobal https://gvasuccess.com/articles/ExetutiveBriefing.pdf
(3) Boushey, H., & Glynn, S.J., (2012), Centre for Amercian Progress, ‘There are significant business costs to replacing employees’. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/there-are-significant-business-costs-to-replacing-employees/
(4) Anthony, E.L. (2017), "The impact of leadership coaching on leadership behaviors", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 36 No. 7, pp. 930-939.
(5) Van Oosten, E. B., McBride-Walker, S. M., & Taylor, S. N. (2019). Investing in what matters: The impact of emotional and social competency development and executive coaching on leader outcomes. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 71(4), 249–269. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000141
(6) Boak, G. and Crabbe, S. (2019), "Evaluating the impact of coaching skills training on individual and corporate behaviour", European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 43 No. 1/2, pp. 153-165. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2018-0058
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