Executive Coaching: Outcomes

 Expected Outcomes

While specific outcomes of executive coaching depend on the goals that the coach and client set at the beginning of their work together, many more overarching benefits have been reported by clients and companies that have used executive coaching.

Individual outcomes include...

• Increased self-awareness
• Increased self-efficacy
• Increased self-care
• Greater empathy and emotional intelligence
• Flexible thinking replacing rigid thinking
• Higher levels of motivation
• More effective leadership
• Development of core competencies and skills
• Identification of developmental needs

Many coaching clients indicate that they come away from their executive coaching engagement with a better understanding of effective leadership and the leadership qualities it take to be successful.

The specific improvements that a coaching client should expect as a result of coaching will have to do with their goals.

An effective executive coach will not only help clients develop goals, but will also devise ways in which progress towards set goals can be measured.

For example, if an executive has difficulty delegating tasks, the coach may interview several people who report to the executive to define the scope of the problem, help the client define what “better delegation” means and how it can be measured, and then follow up at the end of the coaching engagement to measure progress toward that goal.

When done well, the client's organization will also directly benefit from his/her executive coaching.

Organizational outcomes include...

• Higher productivity and profitability
• Improved employee morale
• Higher levels of employee engagement
• Better employee retention rates
• Improved product and service quality
• Lower production and other costs
• Better working relationships internally and with customers
• More cohesive and productive teams

The following diagram illustrates the benefits that both coaching clients and their organizations can expect from executive coaching.