If Traditional Leadership Development Programmes Do Not Work, What Does?

Traditionally, one of our largest clients ran its business from manuals. Staff who wanted to know how something should be done would be directed by a senior manager “to look in staff manual 108” for the answer. It was not a motivational style of management, and had become unsuitable for fast-changing modern business conditions. So eight years ago, based on our recommendations they created what they called “The ultimate service provision” by merging all the information technology (IT) and back-office functions. Management broke with old habits and traditional training, and decided to improve the leadership skills of the senior managers through coaching.

The outcome has been a resounding success, producing far better results than conventional development training. The evident superiority of coaching explains why more companies are taking the same route and making it a priority.

The Growth Of Personal Coaching:

We believe that coaching’s rapid growth will continue. Forward thinking organisations are looking for alternative ways to lead and organise staff. The business world has experienced more upheaval in the past ten years than in the previous fifty: It’s no accident that this period of unprecedented change has witnessed a boom in executive coaching.

The signs are that the boom will continue. A recent survey that I read, which polled H. R. professionals from Europe, America, Australia and Asia found that 88% of the respondents were planning to make more use of professional coaching. A little more than half of the respondents had introduced the practice in the past 18 months.

Like our clients, 70% of those polled said that coaching has an edge over conventional development techniques and they would choose it to change the behaviour and performance of senior people.

Over the course of the next four weeks, I will be returning to this topic and providing advice and tips on how to locate and employ an executive leadership coach.