Adapted from posts first published on Linkedin December 15, 2021 and February 15, 2022

Having been a buyer of coaching, a coach myself and a facilitator/consultant for companies engaging with coaching, here are some pointers based on experiences that may be useful for others in the coaching space. These points are, to some degree, generalisations. Some may even be controversial and contrary to popular opinion. So here goes, and I'd love to listen to your opinions, ideas and insights on the following twoideas

1. Overview of the executive coaching market in India

2. The ‘readiness for coaching’ of individual leaders

Overview of the executive coaching market in India

This first note is meant to highlight the challenges more than other aspects as the executive coaching market evolves in India.

• The true nature of the market. Any growing market is in a bit of a chaos. Different suppliers are trying to position themselves in different ways, and tweaking their approach consistently. The buyers are not always sure what they are buying and whether the quality/value/price equation is the right one. The demand supply equation is changing by the day. In a large and varied market like India, it is even more difficult to establish any one consistent equation that can explain the market dynamics clearly. There are several factors that drive this not so clear equation, the top ones being:

  • Supplier discoverability (where can I find a coach or coaching solution that fits my specific needs?)

  • Transparency, especially on value, metrics and buyer parameters

  • Overall supplier/ buyer governance and standards

These, among others, are issues that will continue to get addressed as the market matures.

• Coachee mindsets. The average coachee is still unwilling to invest in coaching from their own pocket. A good coach can be relatively expensive and the typical buyer mentality is that of looking at cost rather than value. If their organisation pays, fine. Many coachees see coaching as 'fixing an immediate problem'. e.g. by going through coaching, I will land a better job. Our culture also encourages instant gratification in many ways and that adds to the 'short-term' ism.

Many organisations and leaders now understand that executive coaching is a great tool for uncovering hidden potential, and a long term investment that can be extremely valuable, beyond the immediate gains. But this understanding is still limited to a few, given the large scale impact coaching could have.

• Buyer mindsets. In many organisations, the buying process for executive coaching is handled by functions or individuals who have limited understanding of what it actually is. Purchase managers can sometimes be overzealous in the way they negotiate or create guidelines for buying which ultimately can prove unproductive. Suppliers (coaches and coaching consortiums) further add to the confusion by using jargon, overselling and not being able to explain or provide value. I have come across many cases where the discussion is only on pricing aspects, leaving the value aspects aside. In other cases, the buyer is often comparing coaching with training. "You are charging so much for a 1-1 session, but we have 20 people in a batch when we do training at such and such price. "

• Selling coaching. The process of selling coaching is complex. Different 'gurus' advocate different methods. 'Sell yourselves first.' 'Sell the process and benefits.' 'Sell the certification and accreditations.' 'Be flexible in selling, just see what the client wants.' All of these, and a few more, may be true in any particular context but the product/service has not evolved like other consumer products yet. It is also important to appreciate that the buyer and consumer is not always the same person.

In fact, the decision making (and therefore the selling process of coaching) becomes complex because of layers of decision makers. Business leader, HR and/or L&D head, the purchase function, the coachee, her manager, and finally other stakeholders who may need to sign off, are all part of the process. And each one may have different needs from the coaching being sought.

• Models and certifications. There is a plethora of coaching certifications of all types, sizes and shapes out there. Add to that the bodies that do not themselves train coaches but 'certify' them. Add other additional certifications like of psychometric tools, 360 and the like. The list is never ending. It is also quite bewildering for the buyer, user and those that want to become coaches.

Almost all certifications do help in some degree of knowledge, education and skill building in coaching. They also help in setting basic standards. By themselves though, they have very little value.

A couple of sayings/analogies from my parents apply to coaching and coaches quite well.

1. A good toolkit does not always make for a good plumber. So a certificate, a nice booklet, or models and knowledge, would not, by themselves, make for a good coach.

2. Cooking is as much a science as art and requires skilling and practice more than knowledge. This applies to coaching as well. It's a lot about aspects that have to be developed over time and continuously worked upon.

• Certifying Internal coaches. Many organisations are keen to certify internal coaches and use them as replacements for external coaches. Many others take the route of enabling all leaders and managers to learn coaching and mentoring skills as part of their role. In general, both are useful for raising the bar on leadership standards. However, given our culture, a need for confidentiality, and a space for a completely objective view, rarely would an internal coach be able to replace an external coach effectively. An internal leader may be required to play a role model and/or mentor role , which at times maybe at divergence to the coach role.

Having said that, an internal leader could partner with an external coach in a very effective way to help develop either one's own team or other leaders in the organisation. The internal leader will always bring perspectives that an external coach will never have, and vice-versa. A strong internal-external partnership, orchestrated well by HR or another process owner can be extremely valuable.

There are other aspects to coaching, being coached and orchestrating coaching.

Readiness for coaching

This (second) note is a deeper look at the dynamics and issues associated with the "readiness for coaching" of individual leaders. Or Coachability, as some say. The purpose of these notes from many years of practice and experience, is to generate some more ideas and debates. And hopefully, contribute to the further evolution and overall maturing of the coaching market.

1. The coach mindset

What mindsets do coaches adopt, when the question pops up - is this person really coachable? . While it is easy to say that coaches must have an open mind about any individual they are working with, it is not always straightforward. Before, during, or sometimes after the coaching process--the question can still be about the 'Coachability' of the individual in question

• Difficulty: Coaches sometimes measure such cases by the levels of difficulty they may encounter in going through the process. Some coaches love the challenge such 'difficult' cases pose, others may not see a good return on their time and effort. Some may even shy away from such cases.

Even if it is a 'tough' case and there is no immediate result visible or likely from coaching, there is always a positive rub off if one genuinely believes in the process and respects the person--that has been my personal belief as a a coach.

• Results: Other coaches judge the Coachability by results. At the end of an engagement, one could hear a comment that 'the individual leader was not really coachable'. Sure, but should that assessment not have been made earlier, maybe right at the beginning of the assignment?

It may be useful to discuss and agree between stakeholders that coaching is not a magic formula to solve all issues for an individual. Personal development and maturing is a process and a time bound coaching assignment is one step in that journey, so results should be looked at in such light.

• Engagement skills: Sometimes, if there is a lack of experience, or one’s own lack of skills in dealing with difficult conversations, coaches may tend to sidestep tough cases (as against someone who is truly not coachable).

As a coach, it is useful to reflect on one's own preferences, style and drivers. It is ok to say no to a specific coaching case because of one's own reasons. But to label the leader or other person 'un-coachable' may not be warranted. They may well be in the coachable list for some other coach.

There is no magic formula for a coach to assess 'Coachability' of any leader But gathering data early enough and having conversations with the coachee and other stakeholders is usually enough. It could even be the coach’s own biases or skill gaps which lead to the judgment of "uncoachable". A chemistry meeting before the actual engagement, and an open frank talk after 1 or 2 sessions if 'it's not working' usually work in most cases.

The key for the coach is to be willing and able to disengage from a coaching assignment if they are clear on further engagement not being useful to both parties.

2. The company/manager mindset

When a company is proposing a 'tough' case for coaching, it may be useful to evaluate that it is not falling into some of the categories below.

• Outsourcing the problem: The manager is not wanting to take up a problem employee case head-on and confront it it. They may sometimes see coaching as a way to provide feedback to this 'difficult' individual or defer the confrontation.

While coaching may help in some difficult cases, the manager's role of providing feedback or managing performance or behaviour cannot be outsourced to a coach. This is a big watch out for both coaches and those owning the coaching process within the organisation.

• Last step: 'We have tried everything else with this individual, and we are now trying coaching as a last resort.' Having heard this from some HR leaders and organisations, I can say that it would be prudent for both organisations and coaches to evaluate upfront whether such investment and strategy are best for the individual and the organisation, when such instances occur.

Coaching as a last resort for behaviour correction rarely works in isolation and may well be a wasted effort.

• Derailer management: Companies sometimes use coaching as a process for managing significant behavioural derailers in leaders. Coaching certainly works, but only if there is an early assessment, acceptance, and supportive environment in dealing with the derailer. Otherwise, coaching may well remain a tool that is trying a quick-fix for a deep problem.

For the coach to work with a strongly embedded leadership derailer, it needs a partnership between the coachee's manager, the organisation and the coach.

Organisations are becoming better organized and more thoughtful in terms of investing in coaching. Coaches need to continuously educate buyers and users of coaching, to be able to make better judgments in initiating coaching cases.

There are many aspects that impact any individual's performance and effectiveness, e.g, role design, quality of internal processes, structural or reporting issues, etc. The lack of solutions to these aspects sometimes may leave a role holder at a disadvantage. In many cases, the individual leader is made the scapegoat, when the problem is somewhere else. Many such cases end up in the bucket of "let's get her a coach to improve effectiveness". And then a person is labeled as uncoachable in case of no visible signs of performance improvement.

Readiness of any leader for coaching is not an issue dependent only on the individual. The coach and the organisation both play a major role, and are as much a part of the problem, as the solution.

Apart from the coach and the organisation mindset, there is the most critical player in this game, the individual coachee or leader herself. We'll speak about that in the next blog.

Connect with Bimal Rath on Linkedin

Bimal Rath is an author and entrepreneur. He is interested in and supports the coming alive of human potential in all his pursuits. To get a hint of his professional work in "helping organisations leverage their talent better" visit thinktalent.co]