Global uncertainty and volatility continue to impact organizations and place increased pressure on leaders to perform. According to DDI’s 2023 Global Leadership Forecast, only 12 percent of companies report confidence in the strength of their leadership bench.

Skills development and the ability for leaders to navigate a never-ending barrage of change, uncertainty and disruption have never been more critical. When it comes to supporting key talent the go-to approach has been individualized one-to-one executive coaching. But is this sustainable and effective?

The complexity of leadership today is extreme, and it is, quite simply, a losing proposition to perpetuate development approaches that focus solely on the individual over the building of collective capability.

There is a better way.

Progressive organizations are shifting their focus from individual coaching to group coaching approaches to reach more leaders more quickly and reap the wider organizational benefits that come from a collective learning journey.

Group coaching breaks down organizational silos, enriches learning experiences, and has the unique ability to tap into the power of peer pressure to help group members hold each other accountable. It also brings in additional layers and nuances of culture development, collaboration, alignment, creativity, and connection that just aren’t possible in a one-to-one environment.

Group Coaching Program Foundations

Group coaching approaches can stand alone or integrate into existing traditional leadership development programming with great effect. If you’re considering adding a group coaching element to your leadership curriculum, here are a few foundations that can ensure success regardless of the audience, experience level or career stage:

• Connection Over Content: In group coaching, members may not know each other beforehand and may not be together following the completion of their learning journey. Group coaching programs should initially focus on building group connections over diving into content to accelerate learning. A clear onboarding strategy that creates a foundation of psychological safety is crucial.

• Size and Selection: Group programs thrive when individuals have some shared interests and can exchange experiences to facilitate collective learning. If a group is imbalanced either in experience and/or personal objectives, the learning—and overall satisfaction with the group coaching program—will be compromised. Selection is a key consideration for ensuring group programs deliver results and group sizes of six to eight are the sweet spot when it comes to engagement and learning.

• Skilled Facilitation: Group participants will be able to focus on both shared and individual goals. This can make managing group coaching engagements more complex as group coach facilitators need to actively balance the needs of individuals in a group learning and coaching experience. Including a one-to-one coaching element in a group program can ensure individual needs are being addressed.

• Freedom in a Framework: Well-designed group coaching programs provide a certain degree of structure to ensure that both shared goals as well as individual objectives are achieved. At the same time a flexible framework can evolve and adapt to the needs of the group. Connecting learning topics to organizational priorities provides groups with the opportunity to work on relevant issues that move the business forward while building their personal skills and capabilities at the same time and remains agile enough to adapt as new issues present themselves.

By incorporating these key building blocks, a shared leadership journey rooted in trust, self-insight and a collective commitment to learning can be realized.

In our experience of more than 15 years running group coaching programs for high potential leaders, the bonds and relationships that develop through the group coaching process strengthens cultures, builds leadership capability and boosts engagement and job satisfaction. There’s little wonder that group coaching is on its way to quickly becoming the go-to strategy for organizations looking to take their leaders’ capabilities to the next level and meet the demands of a work world that won’t slow down.