(Executive) Coaching in India-Part III

This third set of notes on coaching in India is focussed on coach supply readiness. If you read the first and the second part, they were about the challenges in the coaching market and the readiness of the individual leader to be coached.

It is a fast growing market for coaching in India and everyone wants a piece of the cake. There are three primary player segments from a coaches perspective. The coaches, the aspiring coaches and the "certifiers". The market, the buyers of coaching and the coaches segments are all connected and feed on each other in several ways.

To start, let's talk about the coaches and the aspiring coaches. What I write below is a simplification that may miss some outliers. Broadly, there are four coach segments.

There are established coaches with a good steady practice, and sometimes more work than they can sign up for. They can command their rates and typically work with a limited number of clients. Most of them do very little marketing; work comes in by reputation and word of mouth. But this is a very small segment, where capability is almost a given, and the buyer buys mostly relying on a well built reputation. There are not enough of these to cater to a growing need for top level coaches. They also tend to be exclusive about their practice and time.

There is a large second layer of coaches, very competent but do not have the same reputation. They have not built a stellar client list and set of stories yet. In some cases, they do not come with a stellar corporate background. Many of them are either not willing to or unable to market themselves. This is a loss to the buyer since many in this segment get filtered out in the buying process for a variety of reasons. Given opportunity, and where they get it, they prove to be great coaches. This set of coaches is also constantly upgrading itself and investing in their own learning purely out of the desire to become a great coach.

The third 'growing coaches' pool is where there is the maximum potential and chaos. Many of them have past experience in corporates, or as trainers and facilitators, and are seasoned professionals in their other avatars. They have general skills or at-least interest in the people development area, some having worked in the HR function as well. Their route to becoming a coach often starts with certification, and many spend time in trying to find the 'right' certification. (Will come back to this later).

These growing coaches are trying to get some initial experiences as a paid coach, and find it really difficult to land assignments. Buyers do not have a good process to sift between coaches who could be extremely talented in this pool, and may miss out on some great ones. At the same time, there is a reluctance to engage and pay for these coaches as the recipient coachee is often looking for an 'experienced' coach.

The other aspect here is for coaches--how do they gain enough experience and practice to really move up the competence ladder? And how do they market themselves even with lack of examples, stories and credentials, without playing only on the (cheaper ) pricing?

With the right screening and handholding processes, this pool of 'growing' coaches can provide for the needs of a large market like India.

The final set of emerging coaches are those that are just certified, or thinking of getting certified. This group is younger in age than the earlier growing coaches pool. These coaches may need a lot of mentoring, but are also likely to be more flexible and without too many mental barriers. There is more openness to explore a wider approach. They are also connected better with younger leaders and startups (and perhaps understand these better).

Here is a snapshot of the 4 simplified 'categories'.

A quick note on money/coaching rates. Especially for the growing and emerging coaches. In the Indian market, there is no bottom. Basically, there will always be someone who can offer a lower price. If lower pricing is the key strategy for selling your coaching service, it erodes your value as well as does dis-service to the larger set of coaches. It would be useful to apply the well known 4P approach to marketing, where pricing is only one of the elements.

The other aspect is "asking" for appropriate fees/rates. Many coaches find it embarrassing and feel a little shy having a direct discussion about commercial aspects. Developing skills/ approach that allows for upfront conversation and agreement on this aspect is important and must form part of a development plan for early stage coaches.

A word about certification and "certifiers". Coaching certifications (and other associated ones like psychometric tools) are useful to learn and get a grounding. By themselves though, they have limited value. The certifiers have their own business model where their primary market is individuals who are willing to pay for the 'certification'. They have some interest in seeing the coach do well and build a practice, but the primary responsibility is with the coach. The certifiers interest in an individual largely ends once the certification program is over.

Individual coaches need to create a personal development plan for themselves beyond certifications, including these critical elements, among others.

• Building a learning network of other coaches
• Continuing education (and not necessarily certification)
• Getting mentored and coached (especially in areas of building reputation, marketing oneself and asking for the right rates)
• Practising the skills in contexts not always related to formal coaching. There are many opportunities to practice the skills in day to day life.

The last and fourth part of this series about coaching in India will focus on my reflections on a series of questions raised by early stage coaches. In the meanwhile, I look forward to your comments on this one.

**Bimal Rath is an author and entrepreneur. He is interested in and supports the coming alive of human potential in all his pursuits. To get a hint of his professional work in "helping organisations leverage their talent better" visit thinktalent.co