The Heart of Coaching, Part 2: How to offer coaching in your organization

“The goal of coaching is the goal of good management: to make the most of an organization’s valuable resources.” – Harvard Business Review

As mentioned in our last newsletter, we would like to clarify important questions as it pertains to coaching in a 3-part series. In part 1, we discussed coaching – what is it, common leader goals, and overall company ROI.

In part 2, we dive into how to offer coaching in your organization to ensure it’s a meaningful experience.

Coaching is a powerful way to enhance the ability to yield results and is one of the world’s fastest growing fields. Coaching is available for all levels, and we believe leaders at all stages of their career should have the opportunity to cultivate excellence in themselves and the world.

When embarking on a coaching engagement, it’s essential to select the best 1) framework and 2) leadership/executive coach. A few questions to consider in these steps are:

Who is being coached?

What does success look like?

Who should be involved internally?

1. Coaching Framework
   When investing in a coach, the first step is understanding who needs coaching and what type of coaching experience they should have. Below are three models to consider.
   
   Individual Coaching
   Coaching provides accountability with heart. A coach working with an individual will support their leader in aligning behaviors with achieving results most important to them and the long-term success of their organizations. This is typically done through one-on-one sessions, sponsor meetings, goal-setting tools, 360s and assessments, and live or virtual observations.
   
   Coaching sparks growth and develops new perspectives for each individual. It takes time, reflection, and grit. You’ll reap a multitude of benefits including higher levels of productivity, increased engagement, and improved well-being.
   

   Group Coaching
   Group coaching is a great way to bring together large groups of people who are interested in improving leadership presence, strategic decision-making skills and enhanced creativity but aren’t necessarily an in-tact team working on a specific goal together.
   

   Group coaching can range from 3 to 15 people and is often a hybrid of facilitation and leadership coaching. A certified coach introduces a tool or technique to each group coaching session, role-models a coach-approach, and then opens it up to the group to coach each other on meaningful topics to an individual or to the group.
   

   Team Coaching
   Team coaching offers the same transformative individual experience — for the entire team. By coaching the team leader and the team, real-time on real issues, a coach can help teams transform the way they communicate and innovate. Team coaching is for in-tact teams and ideally the team number ranges from 5 to 9 people.
   

   Typically, the coach works closely with the team leader, and the team, over a series of months. They observe the team in action, collect input from the organization on team effectiveness, and co-create goals and opportunities. Real-time changes are identified, practiced, and reflected upon.

2. Coach Matching
   Once you have determined what type of coaching framework best suits your leader(s) and organization, step 2 is identifying executive/leadership coaching options.
   
   We recommend that you identify at least three coaches for your leader to meet with, considering the following:

• Credentials – We suggest you look for coaches with credentials such as ACC (100+ hrs of experience), PCC (500+ hrs of experience), and MCC (2,500 hrs of experience).
• Specialty – Specific industry, leadership topics, and assessment tools they specialize in.
• References – At least one or two previous/existing clients.
  
  It’s important your leader is invested in this engagement, and allowing them to be a part of the process and meet with each coach is vital. We recommend sharing suggestions for them to consider during their meet-n-greet, and Forbes has a great article on what to consider. Here are a few we found helpful:

• Synergy – Personality counts. Are you able to connect with this person? Would you be comfortable sharing confidential information?
• Minimum Commitment – Don’t get locked into an endless contract, but understand that change takes time. Find out the minimum commitment, frequency of meetings, etc. Six or twelve-month commitments are common.
• Expected Outcomes – While setting goals for the coaching engagement is part of the process; if the coach promises you specific outcomes, you should run for the hills. The person being coached has the most control of the outcomes, not the coach. Coaching is not consulting.
• Their Own Work/Journey – Don’t hire a coach who doesn’t work with their own coach on occasion. Trained coaches are obligated to do deep inner work and development before they begin coaching others and should always have a focus on their continued journey. This is how we grow and bring new skills and ideas back into our own practices.

At the end of the day it’s important your leader has a good rapport with their coach to ensure a successful coaching journey.

Stay tuned for part 3 of this series to understand expectations of the coach experience.

Here are articles we found helpful on the topic:

Group Coaching Vs. One-on-One: How to Decide Which Style Is Right for Your or Your Team Members
Team Coaching: Is The Team Ready?
Your No-Fail Guide to Selecting An Executive Coach