Investing in Coaches for Company Leaders Delivers a Major Competitive Advantage

The investment drives profits, productivity and engagement.

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Coaches are not just for incidental managers, or under-performers, or new managers. They are an invaluable resource for leaders of all experience and performance levels. Your best leaders can still benefit greatly from having a personal coach, professional coach, or even a financial coach.

“a report from management consulting and investment banking firm FMI found that 87% of survey respondents agreed that executive coaching has a high return on investment (ROI).” Forbes

“company executives reported an average ROI of nearly six times what they invested in the coaching process.” FMI report

Goldman Sachs believes in the power of coaching and goes so far as to promote it on their website. Goldman Sachs. I feel they don’t do anything without there being a serious return on investment.

Managers and leadership today are distracted by the tug-o-war over remote vs hybrid vs in-office work; blindsided by the rapid rise of AI; working through adoption of ESG (environmental, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion); negotiating a work environment that now spans five distinct generations with their own values, communication preferences and expectations — leaders need to figure out how to maximize profits in this new world. And doing so means helping leaders not only navigate this new world, but capitalize on it. This daunting task requires helping good leaders become great, and great leaders exceptional. Setting the culture and skillset at the top will have a cascade effect throughout the entire company.

What Does a Coach Bring to a Company?

Having coaches assigned to your management and leadership teams can yield numerous tangible and intangible benefits that contribute to individual and collective growth, enhanced performance, and the overall success of an organization. Here are some of the key advantages of having coaches for your managers:

1. Personalized development to identify their strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, and development needs. This personalized approach allows leaders to focus on specific areas for improvement with the goal of maximizing their potential.
2. Improved growth mindset that helps a leader promote a positive and adaptive attitude toward challenges and opportunities. It encourages continuous learning, resilience, and a willingness to embrace change.
3. Enhanced leadership skills, such as communication, emotional intelligence (EQ), conflict resolution, and decision-making. These skills are crucial for effective leadership as an individual and a collective.
4. Feedback that is unbiased and objective is invaluable for leaders. It offers a fresh perspective and helps leaders see their blind spots and or reinforce areas where they can improve.
5. Improved self-awareness to gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their leadership style, and their impact on others. Self-awareness is a cornerstone of effective leadership, as well as relationships, inside and outside the company.
6. Confidence building in their abilities and decision-making, which leads to more assertive and effective leadership. This also translates in taking on bigger challenges / clients.
7. Stress management strategies to help ensure they maintain their well-being and avoid burnout. This also translates to better decision making.
8. Better communication is crucial in leadership be it in one-on-one interactions, addressing larger groups, and conflict resolution.
9. Conflict resolution is something leaders often face, and coaches equip them with the skills and strategies to navigate conflicts constructively and maintain team cohesion.
10. Goal setting and accountability that keeps leaders focused on their development objectives. Leaders learn how to set clear and achievable goals, and be held accountable for progress.
11. Leadership presence / Executive presence will help people know you are a leader when you walk in the room, or join the call. There is great value in improving a leader’s presence and influence to help them command respect and inspire their teams.
12. Enhanced decision-making by learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as how to tap into their creative side with confidence.
13. Team performance improvements through improved team dynamics, communication, and being better mentors and role models for their direct reports.
14. Change management handled well by a leader often means their team will weather it well.
15. Succession planning by developing future leadership talent—promoting within—is essential for an organization’s long-term success.
16. Higher employee engagement equates to higher levels of employee satisfaction and retention, which equates to less distraction, less turnover, and higher productivity.

Executive coaches are sometimes leaders’ only unbiased and ethical partners. They create a safe space for them to be authentic, vulnerable and wildly creative. Forbes

How You Can Add Coaching to Your Organization

There are a number of ways to bring coaches in to your organization. One way is to offer leaders a stipend to hire their own coach. This a bit passive in that some leaders may not use it, or find the stipend too small and feel the need to use personal expenses. Coverage across leadership would be spotty, at best.

Another way is to add a company like Modern Health to your benefits package. Like the above, it puts the onus on the employee to sign up and use the service. But, all costs can be covered, making it more likely to be adopted. Coverage would be better, but still spotty.

The more active and successful approach is to hire coaches—contractors or on staff—to work with employees. This route can ensure your coaches are aligned with your business objectives, culture, and the direction you want to take the company. One coach can be assigned to several employees, depending on the program you want to build. They can even give talks and presentations to the company or departments at-large.

I like the latter approach since you can ensure 100% coverage of managers, keeping it equitable and boosting the collective of the organization. You can hire coaches with expertise in sales for the Sales team, financial coaches for Finance, and so on. And the coaches will be able to collaborate as a unit to ensure they are working together, with measurable success metrics.

In Summary

Coaching for your management and leadership team is an investment in both individual and organizational success. It empowers leaders to reach their full potential, fosters a culture of growth mindset, and equips the organization to thrive in today’s dynamic business environment. You will be building a more stable leadership that is resilient and creative, and that will lead to a more stable, resilient and creative company as a whole.