There is no question that in the past, most companies engaged a coach to help fix toxic behaviour at the top. However, in today’s business world, as the business environment becomes more complex, most coaching is about developing the capabilities of high-potential performers and leaders.
Clearly, it shows that future business performers and leaders will increasingly turn to coaches for help in understanding how to lead in a demanding and volatile world.
The kind of coaches we are talking about here do more than influence behaviours; they will be an essential part in supporting a business leader or executive in achieving a specific and personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance in critical areas.
These coaches will help them imagine a greater possibility for themselves, guide and support them in achieving it. They will “carry” them through specific tasks or objectives to get to where they want to be.
Whilst it can be difficult to measure and report the effectiveness of coaching due to sketchy mechanisms, the one thing that most companies and business leaders always say is that “coaching works”.
So how does coaching really work and why is it important for companies to hire coaches? These questions are asked so often that Harvard Business Review did this survey. Here, we will outline some of the facts about coaching.
Why Is It Important for Companies to Hire Coaches?
The challenge that companies and business leaders face today is the effective implementation of organizational leadership. Without this capability, leaders are not able to lead their organization into the future.
For this reason, coaching bodies and organizations have implemented 5 key specific leadership attributes that can lead to higher engagement and productivity as well as meeting all the necessary expectations placed on them.
Significantly, top business coaches work to establish these professional attributes in leaders to keep them inspired and motivated. They push them to step back and reflect when a business leader complains of work-related difficulties. These are considered as the most important factors in determining the success of coaching.
Stages of Coaching
Coaching brings many benefits to companies and the sequence of coaching is similar regardless of which school, provided coaching is used to fulfil the purposes above.
It involves business leaders or coaches in a continuous process of Diagnosis, Content Production, Instructional Design, Delivery and Follow-Up. With the growing popularity of coaching, we have noticed that these five distinct stages of coaching have their eminences.
The Diagnosis stage is to explore in depth, the expectations of a company or individual being coached. Coaches use a range of communication skills (listening, questioning, clarifying and etc) to help business leaders and executives re-discover their lives, career, strengths and weaknesses; thereby adopting different approaches to achieve their goals.
In Content Production’s stage, coaches take one or more assessments and review the data, including the various development needs. These assessments will be used to create an action plan, along with the systematic development of Instructional Design in stage three to ensure the quality of instructions.
Stage four is about Delivery where one goal is to get business leaders or executives to perform more and more of the target behaviours. And finally, a formal Follow-Up session can be conducted several weeks after the last coaching session to obtain feedback, acknowledge accomplishments, and present a final report on the outcome of the coaching process.
Benefits of Having A Coach
Coaching can benefit anyone. But it is an especially relevant offering for business leaders, who can use coaching to develop the skills they need to thrive in their roles and advance towards specific professional goals.
In the same way, many organizations engage coaches to improve organizational effectiveness and/ or to build an effective team within an organization.
Knowing where and how coaching can benefit organisations and business leaders will save you time and expensive engagement when it comes to implementing business coaching.
Qualities of A Good Coach
It is important to consider the specific skills and qualities that a coach has to ensure that successful coaching is attained. Coaches help to clarify milestones or measures of success and hold the companies as well as business leaders accountable.
Coaches recognize that they should be making business leaders more competent and self-reliant. They provide positive support, feedback, and advice to a leader or his team to improve their effectiveness, while taking the time to build a rapport and understand their perspectives.
Coaches are constantly enthusiastic and confident. This should be the description of what most coaches do today, but if the coaches are not doing that, it is very likely that the coaches have shifted from what they were originally hired to do.
In conclusion, having good character traits and customized plans as well as processes are vital for maximum coaching effectiveness. With a strong focus on goals, individuals and organizational development outcomes, the results often speak for themselves.
Do you need to know how coaching can help you in your leadership journey and be better at organizational effectiveness? Write to us at info@businessacademia.co
Business Academia’s Vision
Our goal is to connect the space between Business Goals, Results and People’s Engagement with consultancy services, tailored experiential workshops and training. We use effective facilitation methods such as Design Thinking to define, together with you, how to engage and motivate people to the desired Change and Action.
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