Is Leadership Coaching Really Worth It?

When considering using a coaching program for executives and senior leaders, the question of 'Is it worth it?' often arises, and we hear this a lot at MetaMind Training. The question has become even more business-critical in recent times as budgets have significantly tightened in response to the financial climate.

At MetaMind Training, we argue that coaching should be viewed as a vital investment in learning rather than an added process with uncertain benefits for an organisation. This outlook is based on the numerous advantages that can be gained from a well-founded leadership coaching initiatives. For instance:

• Facilitating leaders in achieving their greatest potential within their organisation by delving into areas such as performance reflection, self-management, and interpersonal skills development. This enables clients to cultivate a leadership style that is not only effective but also authentic to their true selves.
• Providing clients with a dedicated space for reflection, contemplation, evaluation, and more effective future planning. Quality coaching programs prioritise reflective learning as a fundamental pillar, revitalising executives and senior leaders and yielding unprecedented returns in terms of future behaviours and organisational outputs. Structured reflective learning benefits individuals on multiple levels, both professionally and personally.
• Enhancing organisational performance by fostering stronger and clearer leadership skills and processes. This involves evaluating the organisation's current outcomes, metrics, and performance indicators to assess if adjustments in leadership, structure, or delivery methods could enhance overall organisational performance. As a leader's style and performance strengthen, they become adept at objectively driving such improvements independently post the formal coaching program.
• Supporting substantial skills development to empower executive and senior leader clients to optimise organisational efficiency and effectiveness, often resulting from a combination of the aforementioned benefits.

Contrary to the assumption that well-practiced, seasoned leaders may not benefit from coaching programs like ours, we argue the opposite. Leaders who have been in their role for a lengthy period of time can result in showing unconscious behaviour patterns that impede growth, hindering the development of both leaders and their teams. Coaching serves as a space for reflection and effective challenges, fostering skill enhancement in a supportive and empowering way. MetaMind Training therefore argues that everyone, regardless of specific developmental needs or leadership roles, can derive benefits from a coaching program.

While it's clear and straightforward to list the costs of a coaching program on a business financial sheet, expressing the benefits derived from the direct outputs isn't as straightforward. These advantages don't neatly fit into categories and can't be easily connected to an executive and senior leader coaching program in the same way as listing costs.

Don't believe us? The statistics speak for themselves...

• A Metrix Global study found that executive coaching has a 788% return on investment (ROI).
• A study on 'Evaluating Leadership Coaching in Organisations' by Dr Doug Mackie showed that at times of organisational change and pressure, a coaching programme can be the most valuable learning asset an organisation can choose to implement. They received a 856% ROI.
• 99% of individuals and companies who hire a coach are "satisfied or very satisfied" and 96% say they would repeat the process according to ICF Global Coaching Client Study.
• 51% of companies with a strong coaching culture report higher revenue than their industry peer group according to Human Capital Institute.
• International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring stated that executive coaching helps women improve their performance, satisfaction, and well-being.

?These conclusions echo further studies that have also demonstrated the added value of adopting a well-formulated leadership coaching programme.

It is very clear that coaching is good value for money and absolutely worth it. So don't just wait around, take up the opportunity to get your organisation a coach or coaching programme. You will soon enough see the benefits in your employees.

For more information on what MetaMind Training have to offer, see here at?www.metamindtraining.com