It happens all the time. Learners leave a learning event more competent and confident than they were when they arrived, yet a week later their leaders report no noticeable improvement in job performance. Training, those leaders conclude, failed to make a difference. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. 

Do you want to know a dirty little talent development secret? Learning that occurs in training often does not transfer into the workplace. The unfortunate truth is that although learners are typically able to demonstrate new knowledge and skills in the safety and comfort of our learning events, they often regress to their former attitudes and revert to their pre-training behaviors when they return to work. One reason is that many learners do not receive adequate coaching when they attempt to apply new learning on the job. If this sounds like bad news to you, then the fact that coaching is an effective solution should come as good news. 

Years ago, while working with a well-known hospitality company, there was a major effort to improve guest service among frontline employees. Some of the brightest talent development professionals I knew were assigned to the project, and the training program that resulted was very impressive. Level One and Two evaluations were off the charts, indicating that learners enjoyed the class and improved essential competencies during the event. The problem was that when learners returned to their resorts, many of their leaders were uncertain how to coach them on the new service standards, and some leaders even inadvertently reinforced pre-training standards. Despite our best talent development efforts, guest satisfaction was unimproved. It was a lesson I will always remember: Learning transfer is dependent upon the coaching ability of leaders in the workplace. 

My belief that coaching is an essential leadership skill was recently reinforced when I attended a conference at which world-renowned leadership guru John C. Maxwell emphatically stated, “You cannot lead if you cannot coach.” Wow! He didn’t say you cannot lead well if you are not a great coach. He said you cannot lead at all unless you are able to coach others.

Other leadership experts agree. Ken Blanchard considers coaching to be the “servant aspect of servant leadership,” through which leaders help others succeed and without which leaders cannot serve. Warren Bennis wrote that “The men and women who guide…will be different leaders than the ones we’ve become accustomed to. They will be maestros, not masters; coaches, not commanders.” If the foremost authorities on leadership believe that coaching is an essential leadership competency, then teaching leaders to coach should be a talent development priority. 

The term “coaching” has many connotations in the workplace, some good and others bad. To clarify what it truly means for a leader to be a “coach,” let’s examine the origin of the word. Years ago, a coach was a horse-drawn vehicle used to transport people from where they were to where they wanted to go. Taking a stagecoach was much more efficient than walking, and traveling with others was safer. Similarly, when my family and I traveled through Europe we toured part of the way on a luxury motor coach. It was not only an effective way to get where we wanted to go, it enabled us to enjoy the scenic countryside. Returning to the point of this article, when leaders serve as coaches they help employees move from where they are to where they want to be more efficiently and effectively than they could on their own. 

When employees leave a learning event and return to work, they often have no one in the workplace to coach them as they attempt to apply what they learned. As a result, some are left to wander in uncharted territory until they become discouraged and eventually double back to the familiarity of pre-training behaviors. By training leaders to be coaches, talent development can equip leaders to guide employees on an exciting learning journey from where they are today to the heights of their own potential. Isn’t that exciting? 

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