WHEN is Leadership Coaching a Good Investment?

• November 5, 2019

There is one reason to invest in coaching – to develop the capacity of leaders who are responsible for growing the business, enhancing the brand, developing and retaining talent, and getting results.

John Maxwell, many times over a best-selling author on leadership, is spot-on when he says, “Experience is not the best teacher. Evaluated experience is the best teacher.” Effective coaching helps leaders evaluate and develop their skills in real-time to increase their capacity to lead. My wife would likely say, “Great point Captain Obvious.” OK, fair point. So maybe a better question is when should companies make the investment?  While every leader would benefit from coaching, no company has unlimited funds. These four scenarios represent the best investments in leadership coaching.

High-potential leaders. These leaders are the company’s future leaders. Coaching and developmental assignments are important parts of the succession planning process. This developmental coaching is an investment in the company’s future with a longer-term ROI. The key objective is the leader is ready when the company needs them to step-up.  I’ve personally witnessed companies waste time and money keeping underperforming leaders because the next leader wasn’t ready.

Talented leaders with a serious skill deficiency. We are all human. Even the brightest, most talented people can have a skill deficiency that is potentially derailing. You’ve seen the many examples. They can be too hard on people. Too easy on people. Don’t hold people accountable. Poor listening skills. Lone wolf / poor collaborator. Ineffective communicator. Too self-promoting. Can’t relate to a different generation. Unfortunately, these issues are often overlooked or simply tolerated until the collateral damage is too high. This is a poor business strategy that does a disservice to the leader, their teams and the business. Human Resources managers know who these leaders are and can add value by alerting senior leadership to the risks along with a solution. Coaching can be a smart investment that heads costly issues off at the pass.

Recently Promoted Leaders. Think new Presidents/Vice Presidents/General Managers/Directors. Being elevated to these new levels brings many challenges, particularly in the first year. It is a steep learning curve with new responsibilities, new relationships to build, new customers to serve and more pressure to perform. Success in previous positions do not guarantee success in the new position. Supporting newly promoted leaders with effective coaching can help smooth the learning curve and minimize risk to the organization. Coaching fees are a rounding error compared to the budgets these leaders are responsible for.

Senior Executives Leading Change. We have never seen such a dynamic environment as we are seeing now.  Political unrest, a pandemic, disruptive technology, and a changing workforce.   Leading change is difficult under normal circumstances.  Having an experienced coach as a sounding board can be helpful in navigating this white water trip.

Dr. Mark Hinderliter is a Veteran-Owned Business Owner that works with companies to develop their twin superpowers:  Leadership and Culture.  Mark’s experience as a senior leader for a billion-dollar global enterprise along with a PhD in Organization and Management are a unique fusion real-world leadership and academic credentials.

Mark Hinderliter