Leader as Coach: “I don’t have time” has historically been many leaders’ response to the need to provide coaching to their team members.  Korn Ferry conducted a study to find out how much time a leader really needs to devote to coaching and found that it doesn’t take nearly as much time as most leaders expect. Devoting just 10% of a leader’s time with their teams to coaching yields an impressive ROI. It is critical for leaders to prioritize time for each of their team members to discuss their career objectives, provide feedback, and craft a development plan. 

Internal Coaching: Having a core set of internal coaching resources can be invaluable.  Internal coaching plays a critical role in both surfacing and supporting the development needs. Internal coaches, of course, have the “inside track” knowledge of what it takes to be successful and how to navigate the culture. Leaders often rely on internal resources to address specific skill development, support 360 feedback, and create leadership development programs.

External Coaching: Leveraging the expertise of external coaches for targeted coaching opportunities is an investment that has proven to pay off.  The International Coaching Federation surveys indicate an organization sees an average of $7 return on every dollar invested in coaching. Opportunities include onboarding executive new hires and providing executive level leaders with an objective thought and accountability partner. Of course, it is critical that executive coaching firms are aligned with the needs and culture of the organization and integrate progress metrics that enable the HR and executive leadership to understand the benfits and return on their investment.

The resource that we sent out earlier this month, Today’s Leadership Success Profile, includes an assessment that may provide you with a good starting point for identifying the needs of your leaders and how coaching can be positioned as an effective tool to bridge gaps.