When his boss told him that the company was assigning him a coach to help him improve his managing skills, Alex Walker was elated.
“It was a sign they had confidence in my ability to step up in my career,” said Mr. Walker, who after a year of steady, personal coaching has just been promoted from a regional role to be the claims relationship manager for Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Co. of Canada in Toronto.
His employer’s offer of development assistance is a completely different message than workers used to get when they were told their employer thought they needed coaching, career experts say.
“Even five years ago, coaching was basically remedial, for people with major problems,” said Gord Brandt, an executive coach with Feldman Daxon Partners Inc. in Toronto. But the recession changed that. “Now leaner organizations are investing in coaching to help middle managers become more effective and innovative and prepare them for senior roles.”
Not everyone has received the message, however. As many as a third of U.S. executives, for example, have refused the coaching their employer offers, according to a survey of senior managers and executives at 230 organizations conducted by a division of the American Management Association.
The survey also found that two-thirds of organizations keep all discussion of coaching confidential, adding to the impression that it is remedial and not to be discussed publicly, said Sandi Edwards, senior vice-president at AMA Enterprise, which did the study.
The findings indicate that companies need to be clearer about the fact they are using coaching as a leadership development tool, Ms. Edwards said.
“Today, it is more about development of high potential managers than remedying problems, and smart self-starters at the middle level come to see coaching as key to their advancement,” she said.
More Canadians than Americans seem to have absorbed that message, Mr. Brandt said. “[Coaching] is a rapidly growing part of our business. Companies anxious to keep their top talent and groom them to lead an economic recovery are increasingly paying for coaching – not only of rookie managers but also seasoned veterans with 10 years or more of experience,” he said.
That has become more important in a sputtering economy, said Michael McInerney, Western market lead for Aon Consulting Inc. in Calgary.
“Top executives may be looking outward at a changing market, but mid-level managers tend to look inward, at the same day-to-day issues they always have.” he explained. “Mid-level managers need to understand how strategy changes affect their operations, to learn new skills to help them lead that change.”
At the same time, coaching helps even the most talented people realize they have blind spots and habits that may be holding them back, Mr. McInerney said.
“It’s often not how they perform, but how they are perceived by those they manage. Their habits, the way they ask questions and how they deal with people can have a huge impact on their effectiveness that they may not be able to see.”
In the past, training often consisted of sending managers to generic leadership seminars. “What these don’t take into account is individual personality, the specific way the person learns and leads,” Mr. McInerney said. That’s one reason one-on-one coaching is a fast-growing field.
For Mr. Walker, the personal approach was a resounding success: “Each step of the coaching process helped me see ways to be more effective.” His experience included:
Self-assessment
The coaching began with written tests, including standard aptitude tests and the Myers Briggs assessment of personality that provided insights into his individual leadership style.
Input from others
The coach did confidential interviews with Mr. Walker’s peers and people who reported to him, about things they might suggest he do better.
A clued-in coach
The coach had been in management himself, and had experienced similar challenges; that he could give Mr. Walker concrete suggestions about how to handle problems made the coaching immediate and real.
A clear framework
In the initial meeting, he and the coach established that their sessions would be completely confidential, “which allowed me to be open, and we were able to share our triumphs and concerns with each other,” Mr. Walker said.
A regular schedule
Mr. Walker said he and his coach met every two weeks over the course of a year, for 90-minute sessions. “He knew I was always busy and we scheduled them near the end of the day, when I felt less rushed.”
Progress tracking
Before each meeting, Mr. Walker sent the coach a briefing about what he had been doing to improve, and the results of his efforts. Doing this gave him a clear indication of things that were working and what issues and concerns he still had. That set the agenda for things to discuss and work on next.
Immediate insights
Compared with a leadership seminar, the in-house coaching about how to handle actual scenarios that arose in the office helped him focus on applying his insights and see how effective a different approach could be, Mr. Walker said.
Celebration of success
At the end of the year of coaching, he looked back on his progress and felt a real sense of accomplishment. “I feel that it made me a stronger and more confident leader,” he said. And it led to a promotion.
“Every morning, I’m revved up and looking forward to playing an ‘A’ game,” Mr. Walker said. “And I can see that my spirit is inspiring others.”
