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Puget Sound Coaches Association
Panel Event: “Organizational Impact of Coaching”

February 1, 2011

 Annie Fitzgerald, Leader for Accomplishment Coaching  Natalie Benningfield, inviteCHANGE Enrollment and Marketing Specialist  Karen Steckler, PSCA President, welcomes 100 attendees
International Coaching Week Celebration  Our esteemed panelists
 Our moderator, Janet Harvey, ICF President-Elect

Summary & Key Takeaways

This week’s panel event on the “Organizational Impact of Coaching” was a huge success. In honor of International Coaching Week, PSCA made the event open to the public, resulting in a record-breaking attendance of more than 100 people. Attendees included a mix of local business executives, alliance members and existing and potential “consumers” of coaching – as well as PSCA and SHRM members. Most “new” attendees heard about the event via the recent Puget Sound Business Journal story on “Cultivating a Culture of Coaching”, as well as via online news pick-up from the PSCA media alert.

The panel of speakers included executives from 501 Commons, Astronics Corporation, Boeing Corporation, Phillips Healthcare, Port Blakely, Six Walls Designs, and T-Mobile.  This mix of Fortune 500, non-profit and small businesses, represented industry segments from aeronautics and healthcare to forestry and interior design – and allowed for an incredibly diverse discussion.

More importantly, each panelist’s experience of “coaching” was vastly different. Some had personally hired coaches or engaged in coaching with the support of their manager, while others currently manage coaching programs for executives and employees in the for-profit and non-profit worlds.  This rich palette of perspectives created a highly engaging dialogue, offering unique points of view on the benefits of coaching, what to look for in a coach and how to measure ROI.

In discussing what they felt some of the most significant benefits are of coaching, there were several consistent themes. All agreed that coaching creates:
  • Stronger alignment as a team & with business goals
  • A mentality of “leading by example”, creating a positive ripple-effect
  • Greater collaboration, creativity & curiosity (versus criticism)
  • Employee activation and engagement, building stronger accountability
  • Cultivation of confident, calm leadership – starting from the inside-out
  • A safe environment, improving performance and calculated risk-taking
  • Ability to become more nimble and competitive as an organization
  • Deepening of critical leadership skills needed to support succession plans 

In a post-recession environment, where there is constant change and increasing competition for talent  – it’s clear that coaching creates a space for people to slow down and step back, gaining perspective and insights they would otherwise not have been aware of, had they stayed in their constant mode of doing and reacting. The moderator, Janet Harvey (president elect, International Coaching Federation) summed it up best by saying that perhaps, “slow is the new fast” – prompting lots of laughs and nodding heads.

“It’s clear that companies big and small are realizing how critical it is for their employees to slow down and put on their oxygen masks first, on order to effectively lead…”
With the benefits clearly defined, the conversation naturally led to ROI and a healthy discussion on how to truly measure the benefits and impact of coaching. While there are many industry resources to leverage on this topic (http://www.roiinstitute.net/) everyone agreed that the single most important part of measuring ROI, is for the coach and client to 1) agree up front on what success will look and feel like and 2) co-develop what the most effective “measures” of success will be for demonstrating results back to their senior managers.

Success is also dependent on chemistry and fit between a coach, client and organization. What a specific company or client is looking for in a coach varies greatly depending on the situation, goal and the style of the people involved.  What works well for one person or team, may not work well for another. That said, there are several common threads that resonated amongst the panelists as they discussed what they look for in a coach:
  • Certification: While not a  “’must-have” all agreed that knowing a coach is certified eliminates several cycles of vetting they’d otherwise feel obligated to do, in order to ensure a certain level of ethics and competency.
  • Integrity & Trust: People want a coach that shares their values and that they can trust. When people feel “safe”, that’s when they are willing to look at themselves from another perspective, take risks and change behaviors.
  • Experience: People want to know that their coach has relevant life experience and coaching experience, and knows how to guide sessions in a meaningful, actionable way (without too much “chit-chat”).
So where are people finding coaches? Most people referenced the ICF website as their primary source (http://www.coachfederation.org/), along with referrals from colleagues and coaches. Often times, people preferred to interview several coaches and them determine who would be the best style and chemistry fit.

As the event wrapped up, inspired and energized by the personal stories of each panelists, it was clear there was collective belief and vision for the future where coaching will soon be woven into the fabric of every organization.


 
 
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