Intact

Stéphane Rivet

When I review the literature on Executive coaching or, better yet, interact with players within the coaching industry, I'll be frank and share that I find the state of the practice difficult to pin down. Being an unregulated industry makes it also impossible to compare efficacy across coaching resources or approaches. On one end of the spectrum, people can be quite negative about the methodology coaches use and doubtful of the impact of executive coaching while on the other end people are raving about the overall impact as well as the increasing need and demand for coaching within organisations. My view and experiences are that the reality is somewhere in the middle.

The jury is still out on executive coaching effectiveness

When I was following my coaching certification, I clearly remember our trainer being adamant about the fact that coaches should not provide advice in a coaching session. Respect “the methodology,” I was told. I remember challenging this point of view as I believed that coachees were sometimes in need of advice and expertise. In a following discussion with my coaching supervisor (who was quite experienced in the field) I was reassured when she told me she agreed with my views and proceeded to explore with me the nuanced approach to take when I believed the coachee needed more than questions, how to approach a coaching session when a coachee is stuck and does not have the experience and/or the knowledge to generate his/her own answers. This state of being, even at an executive level, is prevalent in our current volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment where leaders are being promoted faster than ever before. I have seen many coaches prioritize respecting “the methodology” over flexibility to what the coachee is experiencing, which, as you can guess, can either lead to an impasse, a form of dependency or worse yet, to a coachee feeling inadequate.  

"The intangible nature of coaching should not stand in the way of exploring the benefits it can bring to your organization and the people in it"

So, one way for executive coaching to be more effective would require coaches to adapt and flex “the methodology” to do more than just ask questions and truly meet their clients where they are. 

The other reservation I have on the effectiveness is linked to the lack of quality measurement. I have always struggled to find meaningful research that confirms without a shadow of a doubt what makes coaching effective. What should coaches focus on to deliver clear and tangible results? Should it be, as proposed in Paige and De Hann’s article “Does executive coaching work?” (2014), the strength of the coaching relationship, the type of coaching intervention, and the self-efficacy of the coachee? And, if that is the case, how can one be certain which variable has the most impact? Moreover, how can we truly measure the impact of the coaching? As David Reimer puts it in his article “The end of executive coaching?”, the better question is, if the leader has improved, how and where has the organization become more effective, more productive, more innovative, or more profitable as a result of that leader's evolution? 

Regardless of my doubts, I nevertheless value what coaching generates. Why? Firstly, because based on what I have experienced over the years, the various discussions I have had with coaches and corroborated by what I have read, I believe that executive coaching does contribute to attaining one’s objectives, improving performance and contributing to overall well-being. If I did not, I would not support the implementation of a coaching framework supporting the leaders of the organisation I work for. Secondly, I believe that at the heart of effective coaching is a connection between people, the qualities of which are too vast to measure and yet the benefits cannot be denied.  

What should organisations do then?

I must not be alone also since the data I have seen suggests executive coaching is expanding across more organisations, with an industry revenue increase of 62% since 2019 and with the industry being recognized by PWC as the second-fastest-growing global sector. To maximize its impact though, like many others, I believe that organisations counting on executive coaching should ensure it is not provided to coachees as a stand-alone activity. Executive coaching should be combined with other forms of leadership development. Whether it be through mentoring, projects, or other form of learning strategies, organisations should put in place a leadership ecosystem that supports leaders in their development journey. 

The intangible nature of coaching should not stand in the way of exploring the benefits it can bring to your organization and the people in it. This is an opportunity to dig in a discover your organizations ideal framework, using the advances in the field such as coaching platforms to your advantage. The industry is expanding with or without you.