The Point: We love sitting in on round table discussions regarding the future of the coaching industry. Unfortunately, our Tip of the Spear crystal ball is probably more snow-globe-like than perfectly clear, allowing us to see the future in the midst of a contained snowstorm! But here’s what we do know… Leadership coaching is neither a novel concept, nor a passing fad. Couple on top of coaching as a legitimate leadership development tool the instability of the business climate (read that as storm clouds on the proverbial horizon!) As business issues continue to change, there will always be a need for such a fresh approach to leadership development. In this post, we discuss the future of executive coaching with 5 Predictions… Enjoy!
Coaching existed long before Ken Blanchard and Marshall Goldsmith came on the scene. Basically, executive coaching uses key principles to weave together unique solutions for unprecedented situations. As previously stated in ‘The Point’ the following five predictions outline what we at Tip of the Spear see as the future of executive coaching:
Prediction #5: Metrics Matter
While data has always been a core component of leadership decisions, executives now should use data to gain understanding not just for their department and company, but also the industry and economy at large. The creation of dashboards will greatly enhance executive coaching engagements in the future. Important to remember to choose credible sources for your news and insights!
Prediction #4: Choosing Your Biases
Everyone has their own assumptions and biases through which they analyze data and make decisions. Executives should be trained to maintain a healthy balance between their beliefs and actual market data. The leader has to maintain their ground, but then again also needs to be flexible to adapt to changing business needs. Understanding and taking action on your biases as a leader will be key. (HINT: We typically administer a series of behavioral assessments, such as HOGAN).
Prediction #3: Greater Emphasis on Health
Executives, especially CEOs now need to learn to make leadership traits like effective communication and confidence essential components of their personality instead of treating them as hats that can be put on at the office only. This ‘hat on, hat off’ analogy often leaves leaders less than whole.
A greater emphasis of executive coaching will also be placed on the physical health of the executive. Gone are the days when extreme work-a-holism (which involved sleep deprivation and mindless consumption of alcohol and caffeine). As the leader assumes added responsibilities of supporting their teams, they have to take care of their personal health to not only avoid burning out, but also maintain a healthy atmosphere to conduct day-to-day leadership. This includes things like physical fitness, healthy diet and nutrition plan, stress reduction, and rest consumption.
Prediction #2: The Need for In-House Talent Development
While the slogan ‘people are our most important asset’ has been chanted by companies repeatedly in the past, we see a trend strongly moving towards actually making this happen. The leaders of tomorrow have an additional responsibility on their hands, namely to recruit the right people and train them in-house so that they can run the organization in the future. This is all the more true now when the number of workers reaching retirement age is growing and there is a shortage of potentially qualified applicants (Don’t get us started on the atrocity which is Human Resources Recruiting today!)
Prediction #1: The Need for Behavioral Change
Finally, there is no room in the future for executive coaching that doesn’t offer guaranteed changes in behavior and outcomes. Only behavior based coaching allows executives to apply their knowledge to achieve improved outcomes. Not to mention, behavioral change is long-lasting, which is necessary in today’s ever-changing business environment (HINT: We offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee with our Centered Executive Coaching programs!)
Summary
The future of executive coaching is inextricably tied to the changing job descriptions of leaders, namely, the ability to achieve self-development, to lead their teams, to anticipate change, develop strategies to tackle it, and to become coaching in their own right. The future of executive coaching is bright, and should grow even brighter with the proceeding five predictions.
If you’d like more information about Tip of the Spear’s Business Advisory Services, consisting of Centered Executive Coaching, Leadership Development through ‘The Leadership Challenge’ methodology, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders use the CONTACT US page of this website.