What are the trends in coaching? This month we look at the "inside"...the "outside"....and consider the "upside." Technology is creating disruptions in every profession — and coaching is feeling the shifts as well, with new applications showing up on our smart phones offering to coach us in real-time. So is "live" coaching heading toward an early demise? Well, maybe....but not so fast! Despite the technological upheaval, evidence from major coaching firms worldwide indicates that real-time human-to-human coaching continues to grow and expand.
This month our research article reviews the literature on internal coaching – exploring the literature on this phenomenon and how is it transforming the role of coaches and leaders at multiple levels. And our webinars feature Carylynn Larson and Jayne Jenkins on developing leaders as coaches and a dive deep with Joanna Molyn and Eric DeHaan who will present a research webinar on the Common Factors that Contribute to Coaching Effectiveness.
So the bottom line: there is plenty of upside!
Lately we hear a lot about how technology is disrupting the coaching profession. With the emergence of just-in-time coaching apps that work like Uber-for-coaching, one might get the impression that the days of face-to-face, long term coaching engagements are well-nigh over. Yet on the flip side, we also see a huge rise in the investment organizations are making to scale coaching programs: training internal coaches, utilizing team coaching, and offering external coaches to a broad array of leaders —not just the C-suite. We see more and more companies committed to fostering a "culture of coaching". This results in a huge increase in the number of internal coaches and, so far, at least anecdotally, there doesn’t seem to be any lessening in the growth of the external coaching industry. Both are growing fast.
Consider the example of Glaxo Smith Kline, a global pharmaceutical company with over 40,000 employees worldwide. They won the ICF Prism award for coaching excellence in 2016 for their commitment to training and utilizing coaches across the organization. GSK’s coaching structure is a mixed-modality model, including more than 200 external coaches, 1,000 internal coaches and 16,000 managers/leaders using coaching skills. According to Stephanie Trotter, the U.S. head of GSK’s Center for Coaching Excellence, "Building internal capability shows how everyone can be a coach or use a coach approach. Some leaders want to work with an internal coach because they need someone who understands the culture, and some leaders want an external coach who brings an objective perspective.”
So whether you are coaching from the inside — or outside, the bottom line: there is plenty of upside!
Abstract: This study investigates the lived experiences of internal coaches. In-depth interviews were conducted with four practising internal coaches in a large UK Higher Education Institution and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to understand the sense that coaches make of their experience. Through reactive sense-making coaches experience self-efficacy to address work related issues, align work with personal values and impact the way others behave towards them. Through embodied sense-making coaching is seen to impact internal coaches positively via self-care and self-management skills. A personal development process, manifested through experiential sense-making appears to contribute to altruism in coaches who demonstrate concern for the wellbeing of others.
The purpose of this paper is to show the advantages and disadvantages of internal and external executive coaching. To this end, it offers a thorough review of the literature and an exploratory study based on the Delphi method with 40 selected experts, who gave answers based on their own experience. The results indicate that the decision on whether to opt for internal coaching (IC), external coaching (EC) or both depends on the objectives to be achieved, the capacity of the organisation and an awareness of the characteristics of the two types. IC is viable when there is a high level of trust in the confidentiality of the process; there are a large number of processes to be carried out; the hierarchical status of the executives is not greater than that of the coaches and the culture of the organisation views coaching as an executive responsibility. EC is the best option for small organisations, for one-off interventions, for top executives and for organisations whose culture does not promote this practice among its own executives. The findings could assist companies in deciding which type of coaching is best suited to their needs, coaches and coachees in achieving greater improvement and better outcomes and offer a clearer view of this segment. The study also sets out the reasoning offered by the experts and provides recommendations for future research.
Coaching in the future is all about helping leaders to develop a heightened level of self-awareness improve their skills of critical thinking, learn the management of paradoxes and create their own personal philosophy.
In this COACHx video, Krishna Kumar speaks on how coaches help leaders create high performing organizations.
Introducing the first truly evidence-based study of coaching effectiveness If you are interested in bolstering your coaching practice with serious, well-documented and academically rich research – now is your chance to learn, discuss, and grow!...
While external, professional coaching offers incredible value and return on investment, many companies are looking for ways to expand access to coaching across levels and over time. This shift has been tied to increasingly dynamic and complex operating environments, the need to innovate at all levels, and the influence of millennials in leadership. ...
Explore why and how companies are building Leaders as Coaches in support of complementary corporate change initiatives (e.g., process engineering, design thinking, agile project management and continuous improvement).
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If you are interested in bolstering your coaching practice with serious, well-documented and academically rich research – now is your chance to learn, discuss, and grow!
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