5 Reasons Why Most Attempts to Create a Coaching Culture Fail

by Raffaela Hampf

Coaching is undisputedly important in today's leadership culture.?

Many organisations strive to create a culture where coaching is integral to Leadership. A culture like this encourages leaders to coach their employees, so they realize their full potential. Coaching introduces coachees to new behavioral and thinking alternatives to activate willingness, ability, and passion for learning and is focused on a goal and the client's potential. Coaching enables individuals and teams to achieve goals beyond their current capabilities by giving impulses to explore new options.?

In recent decades, business and technology have rapidly progressed. At the same time, markets and customer behavior have also changed dramatically. Many management methods that can be observed in companies in 2023 are no longer up to date. Management guru Gary Hamel states in his book in 2007 that managers must adapt to new developments. Because otherwise, companies that can't adjust to these new styles risk being swept aside, disappearing like the dinosaurs once did. Conditions have changed and require adaptive organisational structures, cultures, and leaders.?

The omnipotent leader manager who gives the impression of knowing and having everything under control is an illusion and has had its day because the complexity of our reality and tasks are beyond our cognitive capacities. Modern management empowers teams rather than patronises them, and allows self-management and self-leadership. This empowerment of self-management further requires relinquishing responsibility and control and unlearning to limit obsolete leadership behavior.

The leader as a coach helps individuals and teams achieve goals beyond their current possibilities by giving impulses that enable new alternatives for action. A coaching culture increases engagement, retention, and morale, enhancing the potential and value of the workforce and making the workplace more motivating and energised. Forbes says. The kind of workplace where employees are more invested in the company's success and can scale up and nurture their talent successfully.

According to a survey conducted by the International Coaching Federation (ICF)? and the Human Capital Institute, more and more organisations are discovering the value of building a coaching culture. Good news for the coaching profession and its significant positive contribution to many levels. However, the immense rise in popularity of coaching carries equal risks beyond the most common mistakes. We may fall into the following traps with the best intentions without realising the consequences. In particular, if you find yourself already with sufficient coaching competencies, use coaching as your primary leadership style, work in top management, and are considering hiring internal coaches, the following sections may be useful for you.

Hence, coaching is essential to a company's success. So why do most attempts to create a coaching culture fail?

Here are five traps to fall into while establishing a coaching culture across your organisation

1 – Many managers consider themselves to be good coaches without actually being so

They want to lead their teams and employees by supporting them in their personal development, creating a decision-making framework, and coaching and advising in challenging situations instead of prescribing solutions. Many traditional companies invest in human resources development, agile leadership training programs, or further systemic coaching training for their professionals to meet future challenges. The ultimate pitfall lies in overestimating one's coaching competence.

Many managers don’t see any added value in investing in coaching education or similar leadership program. Why? According to their self-perception, they are already competent. Due to false self-confidence, incompetent people make a competent impression, and colleagues who are self-reflective and know their stuff have doubts because they usually see several possible solutions. This phenomenon is well known as the Dunning-Kruger effec t, which occurs when incompetent people fail to recognise their shortcomings in a particular skill.??

Coaching is the most popular form of leadership development and has seen average annual growth of 10 percent since the end of the last economic crisis. This trend shows no signs of slowing down, and demand for coaching services will continue to grow. Because the term coaching is not trademarked, the professionalisation of the ability to coach others appears to be available to everyone. The attribute “coaching” ennobles even those with little idea of its origin and application. So it's not surprising that for many, coaching now stands as a diffuse catch-all term for all forms of personal consulting, and it's unclear what it means or for whom it's appropriate. Coaching is becoming a buzzword. Some call it a “container term” into which anyone can interpret whatever is needed to make their service offering seem as attractive as possible. In a 2016 Harvard Business Review study , nearly a quarter of executives overestimated their ability as coaches. The data suggest that bursting your illusion of superiority, and developing an appropriate attitude of humility that allows you to evolve could be of great benefit.

To become an excellent coach, it is advisable to leave your comfort zone, explore your blind spots, and develop an appropriate attitude of humility. This allows you to always evolve.

2 – Coaching is not the answer to everything.? Effective leaders realise when coaching is useful and when it does not work, and switch styles depending on the situation. Sometimes coaching just isn't the right way to handle a situation. Author and science psychologist Goleman emphasise that there is no one size fits all leadership style and that not every conversation is a coaching conversation. In his Harvard Business Review article “Leadership That Gets Results ”, he describes six "leadership styles." He emphasises that how we lead depends not solely on one's leadership personality or individual temperament, but on what style the situation calls for. To be able to choose the appropriate leadership style for the situation, emotional intelligence is required. One of the six leadership styles mentioned by Goleman is the coaching-leadership style, which is mainly related to personal development than to immediate work-related tasks. According to Goleman, this style works well when employees* know their weaknesses and want to improve, but not when they refuse to change their behavior.

Thus, the most critical task for effective leaders and managers is to realize when coaching is useful and when it does not work, and which other interventions are more beneficial. Coaching is considered only one part of the leadership spectrum. Coaching is considered only one part of the leadership spectrum. Several studies have found that successful leaders are able to switch styles depending on the situation, and have strengths in emotional competencies like self-awareness and empathy.

In the modern world of rapid, ever-evolving disruption, it's no longer enough to rely on outdated top-down approaches and practices. Leaders must sense when to confront this new reality head-on and guide their employees in discovering how they can navigate these unpredictable changes with resilience and ingenuity. Such an approach allows teams to thrive and reach heights previously unattainable through solely commanding or pace setting management structures. The traditional role of a manager is gradually transforming into that of a coach , but it's critical not to assume there is only one viable leadership style.?

3 – Becoming a coach doesn’t happen overnight, and organisational culture doesn’t happen by accident. Leadership behavior that is continuously reinforced will be perpetuated. Thus, the quality of leadership influences the culture of a company. Most leaders and managers are familiar with the modern understanding of leadership and its vision. Most of them, however, need assistance to achieve this vision.

In many training and executive education courses, topics such as “Agile Leadership” are boldly brought to the fore. A gap between the more traditional status quo and a coaching leader's new idealised target image can often be observed.

But putting pure theory into practice without professional support carries risks for organisations. An abrupt, overambitious change in behavior to a new coaching leadership mindset can confuse and overwhelm employees and teams.

It is already challenging to learn new things. Still, it is usually even more difficult, but also more effective, to let go of existing mindsets, behaviors, and methods, especially those that have made us successful in the past.

It takes time for a culture to sustain change or to develop new authentic leadership skills. Instead of fast-forwarding, start where you are now. Continuous reflection and assessment of one's leadership skills, introducing new habits, and creating space for learning moments can bring about lasting change.

4 – The fish stinks from the head. Coaching skills do not come naturally to managers. This is because they often mistakenly believe their role as a leader is to provide answers and give instructions, rather than intent , to empower positive action by coaching critical thinking.?

A coaching-oriented organisation is recognisable because its leadership style is valued and encouraged at all levels. Leaders should be actively involved in promoting coaching and willing to hire a coach themselves or take continuing education in the field. This allows them to form a picture and internalise what coaching is and the fundamental skills it teaches. They can use this acquired knowledge to strengthen their position as a compelling leader and promote a coaching culture in their organisation.

Coaching can only be successful if leaders and managers are willing to be coached or bring a positive attitude. There may be many reasons leaders, and managers, are reluctant to be coached. Still, it is essential to understand their reluctance and explore and acknowledge it rather than resist it.

5 – Homemade is not necessarily better. Hiring internal coaches is a bold step and a commitment to a coaching culture, yet they carry risks. According to the ICF study, the broad knowledge of the corporate culture of internal coaches is valued, but the ability to maintain confidentiality is rated lower. In most cases, internal coaches have less formal training than external coaches, so the competence of external coaches is found to be more significant.?

As an internal coach, it is important to be cognisant of one's place in the system and anticipate potential impediments that could arise for coaching. In contrast, external coaches may have a more independent outlook from their coachee’s daily activities. These distinctions bring forth additional roadblocks for internal coaching as vigilance must always remain in evaluating how the shared environment will shape both judgements and responses. When coaching in a toxic and chaotic workplace, the challenge intensifies. In such an environment, it can be hard for internal coaches to take care of their own emotional wellbeing.?

The aforementioned ICF study concludes that companies that rely on external and internal coaches and leaders with coaching skills are more likely to succeed.?

Coaches, whether internal or external, needs regular professional supervision, just as a? leader who practices coaching as a leadership style. This creates a suitable framework for reflecting on and developing the coaching work done.

Traps like these highlight potential blind spots and will help you to reflect and create awareness.

They can support the success of coaching initiatives and build a coaching culture in organisations. Coaching leaders is an essential aspect of creating a learning organisation for future changes. It can strengthen the responsibility and commitment of individuals and increase the resilience and flexibility of an organisation.?

Coaching can help access and build on positive resources in individuals and organisations. You can have a transformative impact on individual and collective performance that reaches far beyond the organisation itself by encouraging people to find their solutions and rise above.

It is never too late to implement a coaching culture. You have to rethink how you do it.?

Get in touch with us to find out if we can help you set up a coaching culture across your organisation.

This post was originally published on the Better Change blog — check out more of our how-to articles by clicking here.