Gina Lodge, CEO, Academy of Executive Coaching
As the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) celebrates 20 years in business, the use of coaching skills is more significant than ever for the modern workplace.
As we enter an era of business where collaboration outperforms competition as a strategy for growth and success, the use of coaching has never been more appropriate.
20 years ago, it was a different story with the coaching concept in its embryonic stages and a real lack of understanding about it, both socially and in business.
Back then, our founder John Leary-Joyce saw that executive coaching was a natural fit with his existing leadership and team facilitation work and began to work in the field. It is in his vision that the company’s origins lie, as he realised that while foundational courses were available, no professional training took coaches into the deeper psychological area while applying it in a business context.
Coaching is now universally accepted as a proven leadership and management development tool, but it is only recently that coaching is being cascaded through businesses rather than reserved for senior executives. Millions have been spent on leadership development and change programmes and businesses are realising coaching can bring more effective change at individual, team and organisational level.
It is now steadily being adopted as a core leadership and management skill as leadership styles move away from the hero leader model to one of autonomy and inclusion. Coaching has gone mainstream because it is no longer regarded as just a remedial tool. Organisations are understanding how it helps high performers reach new heights, supports them through challenging times and focuses on the principles of adult learning by enabling their people to set their own learning agenda and try new things.
The pace of change is still an enormous driver in the need for coaching as organisations increasingly find themselves having to embrace new ways of operating in unpredictable, taxing conditions. The fourth industrial revolution is here and as companies implement new technologies to improve efficiency and reduce costs, they’re often left with the challenge of how best to use their workforces.
In the wake of automation and AI, the business world is rediscovering the importance of potential and this is having a marked influence on many aspects of how companies operate and serve their stakeholders. Employers are seizing on the fact that their workforces are often their most underutilised resource and there are more meaningful ways of motivating them to perform rather than offering inflated pay and benefits packages.
Many are seeing the advantages of changing the way they work and are taking measures to address this. Coaching for example is being used to improve employee engagement, build better cultures and grow individual and organisational resilience. It also provides employees with access to further learning and development opportunities, so they are able to make a more significant contribution to the business through sharper soft skills and the deeper ability to create better value for the customer.
As we’ve seen over our company’s lifetime, the market is maturing both in the understanding of coaching and the sophistication of the product and the audience. The trend is for more companies to bring coaching in-house to scale availability, meet demand and control costs.
Progressive businesses are seeking to introduce a coaching culture where staff company-wide are trained in coaching skills in order to better lead their teams or support people management strategies more effectively. Good quality, professionally accredited coach training is more accessible than ever before, and coaching is proving its worth as organisations realise they can evaluate its demonstrable value and impact.
Coaching offers a lot of positives for businesses and underpins every conceivable touch point in an organisation’s people strategy. From leaders to young professionals starting their careers, a coaching approach puts humanity back into processes and practices. It’s time to lose outdated management practices and really unlock the potential that your workforce offers.
Practitioner Diploma in
Executive Coaching
10 March – 17 June 2020, Edinburgh
Enabling you to become a qualified coach, this triple-accredited programme explores coaching’s key principles, develops your style and equips you with all the necessary skills to get started.
www.aoecscotland.com
