BlueSeven Partners | Why It Matters

Provoking and supporting brilliant leadership

Why It Matters
Leaders have precious little time for training and executive development because you are so busy leading. You might not think you have the luxury to spend time or money on business or leadership coaching right now, but consider these points:

•	You are investing the majority of your waking hours in leading your organization. Are you 100% satisfied with your results? Are you even 90% satisfied? If not - are you fully confident in the advice and coaching you are getting today?
•	You are a leader now, so you have already achieved something rare. Are you clear about the impact you have as a leader on the people in your organization, your community, your family? If the ends doesn't exactly justify the means - where will you go for honest and experienced based insights?
•	Steve Ballmer, Jack Welsh, and Oprah Winfrey are among the best known and successful leaders today. They have had coaching along the way. Tiger Woods and Serena Williams are the best in the world in their sport. They still need a coach - even at the top of their game. Are you so unique and accomplished that you cannot use the push or encouragement of a coach?

Intuitively, almost everyone agrees that an organization will benefit substantially from a creative, disciplined leader who faces uncertainty with courage and wonder, and then takes action.

Coaching can help you be that brilliant leader. This holds for the private and public sectors, for profit and non-profit organizations, for businesses, and for public or social services.

What the research says
A growing body of research in the business arena indicates that business and leadership coaching provide an excellent financial return on investment. Productivity studies have shown for decades that the simple act of setting goals yields measurable improvements in results. Since coached executives receive tools and develop skills that go far beyond simple goal setting, a greater improvement among coached executives would be expected. Research in this area is still nascent, but studies are consistently showing a substantial economic impact from coaching. Here are three examples.

•	In a 1997 study of 31 managers who received conventional management training, those who received training alone increased productivity by 22% whereas mangers who received coaching combined with training, increased productivity by 88%, showing a 4-fold improvement from coaching. Source: Olivero G. (1997). Executive coaching as a transfer of training tool: Effects on productivity in a public agency. International Personnel Management Association 26(4).
•	In a 2001 study of 100 executives who had received coaching, the ROI was over 500% with tangible gains in productivity and quality validated by peers and stakeholders. Source: McGovern JM et al. (2001). Maximizing the impact of executive coaching: Behavioral change, organizational outcomes and return on investment. Manchester Review 6(1) 3-11.
•	In a recent multi-year study of executives in a US based company, the average ROI of an executive coaching program ranged between 600% and 1000% with an experienced coach and explicit goal setting. Source: Dembkowski, Eldridge, & Hunter. (2006). The Seven Steps of Effective Executive Coaching. London: Thorogood, p. 181.

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