Professional Coaching 101

As more people come to understand professional coaching’s power and experience it for themselves, it has grown steadily in demand and reach, taking it from buzzword to a new standard for leadership and professional development and organizational cultures.

There are more than 109,000 professional coach practitioners worldwide, which marks an increase of more than 54 percent since 2019, according to the International Coaching Federation’s (ICF) 2023 Global Coaching Study (GCS). This explosion of professional coaches stems directly from widespread interest in and demand for coaching services. ICF’s 2022 Global Consumer Awareness Study (GCAS) indicated that 73 percent of respondents worldwide were aware of coaching, and 67 percent had either already engaged with a coach or were considering doing so. We’re witnessing the boom of a sector that is still only scratching the surface of its full potential.

As the CEO of ICF, the largest organization for coaches and coaching and standard-bearer for the global coaching profession, I get asked one simple question every day: “What is coaching?”

While the question may be simple, the answer is far more complex.

What Is Coaching?

ICF defines coaching as partnering in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires a person to maximize their personal and professional potential. This makes coaching distinctly different from other forms of professional development or personal growth such as training, consulting, mentoring, or therapy.

Coaching aims to unleash a person’s full potential through guided process and discussions that arise from self-reflection of the client. Alternatively:

• Consulting offers externally developed solutions to existing problems that need to be addressed immediately, but has limited long-term value.

• Mentoring is when an expert in a specific area provides advice, guidance, and expertise based on their own personal experience.

• Therapy deals with healing pain stemming from past experiences and traumas and is connected to a person’s psychological functioning.

Understanding Coaching’s Rise in Popularity

Coaching has gained widespread popularity and demand because it works. Clients engage with a coach for dozens of reasons. Some of the most common, according to the GCAS, include bettering communication skills, improving work-life balance, mental well-being, and increasing self-esteem.

As demand for coaching rises, so too does the expectation of clients that coaches have proper training and reputable credentials. Eighty-five percent of people who have worked with a coach indicated that it is “important” or “very important” to them that their coach holds a credential (GCAS). I would agree—a credential indicates a coach has undergone professional training, demonstrated their competency, and is held accountable to professional ethics.

Exploring the Different Coaching Modalities

While initially coaching has been a one-to-one engagement between a client and coach, the profession has evolved to meet needs and demands. Today, there are several coaching modalities that can be implemented to support a variety of personal or organizational needs. Each varies in the type of engagement required, how much investment is needed, and the potential benefits and impacts. Someone looking to engage a coach for their organization should consider each modality to decide what is best suited for their unique needs.

External coach practitioners are professional coaches who are either self-employed or partner with other coaches to form a coaching business. These coaches may offer one-to-one coaching or team coaching depending on the needs of the client.

Internal coach practitioners are professional coach practitioners employed within an organization with specific coaching responsibilities related to the needs of the organization. Like external coaches, internal coaches may offer one-to-one and team coaching.

Team coaching is one of the fastest growing offerings in the coaching profession, particularly for organizations. Team coaching enables teams to work together toward high performance and ongoing development.

A manager or leader using coaching skills works with their teams and subordinates to create awareness and support behavior changes to improve productivity, work outputs, engagement, or morale. To do this, a manager applies coaching knowledge, methods, and skills developed with the support of coach training.

A coaching culture is developed within an organization when a business strategically incorporates industry practices that align to coaching values and competencies, with the support of a coach or a team of coaches. A coaching culture may start with just one coaching modality and build over time to become more multifaceted.

An organization may employ one or several of these coaching modalities fully dependent on their budget, timeline, and specific needs. However, establishing a coaching culture is often the goal. Since the pandemic, coaching cultures have become even more important to ensure organizational resilience, according to the 2023 Human Capital Institute (HCI) Defining New Coaching Cultures study.

A coaching culture goes beyond one-to-one or team coaching; instead, it is a holistic coaching climate fostered within an organization and designed to get the most out of coaching’s proven benefits. A coaching culture has at least five of the six following elements:

• Employees who value coaching

• Senior executives who value coaching

• Managers and leaders or internal coaches who receive accredited coach-specific training

• Three of the four coaching modalities present within the organization (see below)

• Coaching as a fixture within the organization with a dedicated line item in the budget

• All employees having equal opportunity to receive coaching

It is no surprise that coaching cultures are rising in popularity, as the study indicates several potential benefits including strengthened leadership development, boosted employee engagement, increased commitment, better employee relations, and more.

Why Rely on Coaching

Due to coaching’s proven success, organizations are increasingly investing in coaching to develop their teams and increase their competitive edge—while only 8 percent of organizations surveyed in 2019 had a budget line for coaching, 33 percent did in 2023. Major corporations around the world, including AstraZeneca, Bank of America, Deloitte, and PricewaterhouseCoopers have achieved measurable outcomes from their investments in coaching.

For the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, this included a 41 percent increase in promotions among individuals who received coaching. AstraZeneca’s coaching program resulted in 45 percent of participants reporting a positive mindset toward performance development and a sense of trust and safety within their teams. And for Tata Consultancy Services, coaching increased levels of workplace engagement and well-being, improved personal resilience, and decreased stress.

These are just some of the reasons a whopping 92 percent of GCAS survey respondents expressed satisfaction with their coaching engagement.

Where Does Coaching Fit Into Your Organization?

As coaching rises in popularity, more employees are seeking positions where they benefit from a coaching culture, coaching for professional development, and leaders who use a coach approach. Organizations who meet this standard will have a competitive edge in attracting and retaining top talent—along with benefits such as improved communication, productivity, better mental well-being, and morale.