We were asked – What is the best investment organisations can make to ensure their future? Our answer was – to invest in leadership coaching for all levels of leadership. And we are backed by credible research.

According to a study by the Institute of Coaching, a whopping 86% of companies feel that the investment they made in leadership coaching gave returns over and above what they had put in.

What makes leadership coaching such a powerful investment? We have outlined 6 reasons why organisations must go for leadership coaching, using real-life illustrations.

Also, find answers to the following questions that are sure to pop up.

What is leadership coaching?

What are the types of leadership coaching?

How does leadership coaching benefit organisations?

Why should organisations invest in leadership coaching?

How to select the right leadership coaching program?

Meaning of Leadership Coaching

Leadership coaching aims to maximize the personal as well as the professional potential of a leader. Leadership Coaching includes the process of developing skills, abilities and competencies of an individual, that would help them perform better as leaders. Leadership coaching also builds upon a leader’s strengths and works on a leader’s weaknesses and blind spots to increase effectiveness.

Types of Leadership Coaching

Leaders and organisations choose leadership coaching to accomplish different objectives.

Target-based coaching

The purpose of leadership coaching is to achieve certain targets usually set by the company, such as increasing the annual revenue or retaining customers. A leadership coach partners with the leader in setting goals and propels them to act towards those goals.

Behaviour-based coaching

Leadership coaching helps identify and replace self-defeating behaviours that limit leaders from realising their full potential. A leadership coach explores the behaviours, tests the beliefs and challenges the habits of leaders. Behavioural change is generally hard to achieve on one’s own. Leadership coaching can help in such

Performance-based coaching

Leadership coaching enables leaders to up their game and perform better in a current or new role by giving feedback, optimising performance and removing bottleneck processes.

Career coaching

Leadership coaching aids leaders in transitioning to higher roles, selecting better job opportunities or even maintaining employability beyond retirement. A leadership coach can bring clarity to the career path (lateral or vertical promotions). A leadership coach can be a sounding board for various conflicting ideas a leader might have about their career. A leadership coach understands that a career is much more than and goes much beyond a role. Leadership coaching can help a leader find resonance with career choices.

Why Is Leadership Coaching Important?

Who you are as a person impacts what you do. A leader’s personality, attitude, beliefs, habits as well as mental and physical health influence their decisions and actions at work. The personal and the professional influence and impact one another.

A major benefit of leadership coaching is that it realises the importance of both personal and professional development. So leadership coaching caters to personal as well as professional growth, thus maximising the potential of the leader holistically.

Given below are some important ways in which leadership coaching can benefit leaders, both personally and professionally. To know more read our blog: Transform Your Leaders’ Edge With Leadership Coaching in 2022

Leadership coaching not only maximises the potential of the leader, but it also enables the organisation to realise its potential.

The Organisational Benefits of Leadership Coaching

Leaders can make or break an organisation. Therefore organisations must equip their leaders with the right skills and competencies to make them well-rounded individuals and exceptional leaders. This is possible through leadership coaching, which can benefit the organisation immensely in the long term.

Here are the top six ways organisations can benefit from leadership coaching.

1) Leadership coaching helps increase revenue/margin

Leadership coaching throws light on a leader’s weaknesses and helps overcome them. Another benefit of leadership coaching is that it enhances leadership skills. Thus a leader can exercise their full potential and give their best to the organisation. This automatically translates as an increase in revenue!

Improving executive presence increased company revenue – A leader of a global corporate travel giant was moved around in multiple roles over a short span of two years. When he became head of corporate customer services, the leader had to interact with key stakeholders of his corporate clients, all big names in the business world. But he felt underconfident about representing his company. Reason? Insecurity about continuing in the latest role. Low executive presence and self-confidence severely affected not only him but his team as well.

The company made the leader go through leadership coaching to improve his self-confidence and strengthen his executive presence. This proved to be a game changer. Enhanced executive presence helped him retain his share of niche customers (worth 70% of company revenue) in the face of stiff external competition. Furthermore, he and his team single-handedly increased revenue by more than 25% through upselling and cross-selling. A classic example of an organisation benefitting from leadership coaching.

2) Leadership coaching develops the leadership pipeline to create able successors

According to the CEO Leadership Report 2021, CEOs around the world are most worried about the quality of frontline, mid-level, and even C-suite leadership. An organisational benefit of leadership coaching is that it can empower the existing bench strength and groom leaders for the next level (succession planning).

Worked on weaknesses, became CEO-worthy – When the CEO of a Fortune 100 company decided to take early retirement, the company had to fast-track a replacement. Two candidates were selected. The company made them take up leadership coaching to enhance their leadership and coaching skills. The leadership coaching sessions unravelled that both candidates were exceptional leaders with issues that handicapped their leadership capabilities. Candidate 1 was an impulsive decision-maker and a deferential subordinate. Candidate 2 had inadequate listening skills. Over a six-month engagement, both candidates showed increased self-awareness that led them to work on their issues. Candidate 1 became less impulsive and more assertive. Candidate 2 developed his listening skills. The company was happy with how its leaders had grown. One of them was finally selected as the new CEO. Leadership coaching benefitted the leaders as well as the organisation.

3) Leadership coaching equips leaders for change management

The needs and requirements of a company change as it grows. Disruptions and developments in the world also demand flexibility and out-of-the-box thinking. The role of the leader becomes important here. In such cases, leadership coaching can benefit organisations by enabling leaders to manage the transition smoothly. Leadership coaching and a coaching mindset helped Nadella nudge Microsoft into a new era of innovation and excellence.

4) Leadership coaching can reduce or arrest attrition

A study by SHRM reveals that toxic bosses can cost companies dearly in turnovers and absenteeism. An organisation can benefit from leadership coaching that brings behavioural shifts to help leaders communicate and lead more effectively.

Boss gained soft skills, MNC saved costs – An MNC based out of Delhi had a rude, abrasive and aggressive leader. His teams were afraid to communicate with him as any slip-up would lead to him shouting and using abusive language. Unable to take the toxicity, many on his team left the company. Ultimately the MNC decided leadership coaching would help. This engagement helped the leader become aware of his weakness as well its impact on his team and the organisation. The leader was motivated enough to alter his behaviour. Needless to say, this improved his relationship with his team and saved his company the trouble and expense of attrition.

5) Leadership coaching improves team performance

Successful businesses are created by strong teams that work cohesively towards a common goal. A benefit of leadership coaching is that it improves communication skills and EQ which would help build interpersonal relationships. Empowered leaders easily foster team collaboration, encourage innovation and increase work efficiency. All this can result in high performance that benefits the organisation.

Leader’s trust in the team increased, team performance enhanced – Navin (name changed) headed the procurement division of a reputed firm. He had a highly competent team of professionals under him. But Navin had trust issues. All decisions, even the ones a level or two below his designation, were routed through him. Navin’s team members felt disempowered and suffocated. They were also deeply hurt by the lack of respect and trust. Two members quit the company citing him as the reason, and Navin wondered what he had done. Leadership coaching showed Navin his area for improvement. He then scripted his success story by overcoming a personal limitation to lead his team effectively.

6) Leadership coaching can help set healthy company culture

An organisation’s common values, beliefs and practices, both explicit as well as implicit, constitute its culture. The leadership sets and influences the culture of an organisation. Culture has a huge say in employee satisfaction. An invaluable benefit of leadership coaching is that it can enable leaders to create a healthy company culture that would help an organisation grow and prosper.

Leader transforms company culture and company fortunes – Sathya Nadella inherited much more than a stagnating legacy when he took over as CEO of Microsoft Inc. in 2014. Toxic company culture and a fixed managerial mindset were two of the major problems he encountered. Nadella brought in smart changes that turned around the company. He has been credited with bringing in a culture of collaboration and learning as well as a growth mindset. The company is now back on top of the board.

How Organizations benefit from Leadership Coaching

These are only some of the innumerable benefits of leadership coaching!

As you’ve seen, leadership coaching can transform individuals and organisations.

Does investing in leadership coaching sound like the right move for your organisation? Then the next step is – choosing the right leadership coaching program.

How to Choose the Right Leadership Coaching Program?

There are numerous coaching institutes and individual coaches that offer leadership coaching programs. Not all these are ICF approved. To get the best ROI, it is wise to do some research and select a leadership coaching program run by ICF-certified and credentialed coaches with experience in your area of interest. The process given below will help streamline your search.

Regal Unlimited’s Leadership Coaching Program

Regal Unlimited has an impressive record (1000+leaders & executives) and impeccable credentials in empowering leaders to become high-performers for their organisations.

Do you want the best leadership coaching program for your leaders and executives? Then Regal Unlimited’s programs are your best bet.

Connect with Master Certified Coach C V Subash to know more about our executive coaching and leadership coaching programs.

Your leaders are your biggest strength. Invest in your organisation’s future by investing in leadership coaching for your leaders.

Coaching resulted in a return on investment (RoI) of almost six times the programme cost as well as a 77% improvement in relationships, 67% improvement in teamwork, 61% improvement in job satisfaction and 48% improvement in quality, according to a Manchester Consulting Group study of Fortune 100 executives. Similarly, a study of Fortune 500 telecommunications company, MatrixGlobal, found executive coaching resulted in a 529% ROI.

Read more at: The Economic Times

Top Organisational Benefits of Leadership Coaching