I recently read that Executive Coaching is now a $9.3bn global industry, having grown by $1bn in just one year, post COVID 19 pandemic (Future Market Insights). While, personally speaking (!) the day to day realities of working as an executive coach don’t always reflect such lucrative gains, I can certainly agree that there has been a positive shift in demand in the market, which is rich for exploration.
There are many definitions of executive coaching but, in general, it embraces the principles of a professional relationship where the coach partners with a senior level person to explore how they show up in the workplace; we look at the client’s impact on the organisation - and the impact it and other influences in turn have on them - with the goal of making improvements or changes. The coach does this by co-creating with their client a unique thinking space which is deeply personal and potentially transformative.
Over the last 25 years executive coaching has grown to be so popular because of the safety it offers those on the precarious and inherently lonely top rungs of the organisational ladder, where there is less support, more challenge, more ambiguity and a high degree of vulnerability in revealing uncertainty or doubt. Perhaps this is why having someone to confidentially help you explore your challenges, thoughts and intentions, to find fresh perspectives is becoming ‘indispensable’ (Why an executive coach is now a must-have for CEOs, Financial Times, 18 July 2022).
However, alongside these benefits that leaders have typically reported from their coaching experiences, executive coaches are now also hearing new themes in the goals and objectives that their clients are bringing to coaching.
Thinking for the future - Post pandemic, the old rule book now appears to hold less value. The ‘tried and tested’ methods won’t always fit when faced with the unforeseen and unpredicted – think of hybrid working, and the multi layered economic pressures of the last couple of years – and leaders are having to approach a myriad of difficulties using their own resourcefulness, creativity and intuition in the moment, all of which coaching helps to surface.
Identity - Expectations of team members, colleagues, customers are changing; people want to be seen and heard as individuals. As well as providing a space which is designed precisely to be this for the coaching client, executive coaching enables leaders to find their own unique leadership style which will allow them to best respond to the changing landscape of human interaction that they are encountering in the workplace.
Wellbeing - We can all see too how, daily, in the media and our own conversations a willingness to acknowledge difficulties with mental health has increased significantly, even compared with just 5-10 years ago. Although mental health is firmly within the domain of therapists/counsellors, coaches can help their clients identify, find words for and start to deal with aspects of their life which are not supporting their wellbeing and identify better routes to a healthy balance.
Access - It's also worth acknowledging that the almost ubiquitous shift to a greater virtual presence, which has blown apart the barriers posed by geographical boundaries and travel, has contributed to what Forbes magazine recently nicknamed “an Uberisation’ of coaching, making a once-premium service available to more people”. 25 years ago receiving executive coaching was still very much the preserve of the corporate CEO, attracting eye wateringly high fees for the ‘old school tie’, well-suited / shoulder-padded former business or ex-army leader Exec Coach. While some of this of course persists, executive coaches today not only reflect a broader and more diverse spectrum of experience, styles and approaches, but also reach a wider range of senior clients.
Connection - Many of us have experienced the negative impact of remote working which brings, it seems, energy sapping challenges in equal measure to the liberating benefits and enablers. Executive coaches hear continually about the impact of virtual working and poor leadership / management practices on staff who feel disconnected and untethered in the modern workplace. Working from a place of human connection is fundamental to the practice of coaching, which itself models a productive way of being in relationship with others and which the exec/leader can then put into practice.
These are just some of the factors which might explain the growth which the latest ICF (International Coaching Federation) Global Coaching Survey reports: in 2022, the estimated number of coach practitioners exceeded 100,000 for the first time, representing a 54% increase on the 2019 global estimate. As well as high continuing growth in those countries where coaching was already more established (Western Europe and North America), the number of coach practitioners expanded by 86% in Asia, and by 74% in the Middle East and Africa for example. And if we want to look for evidence specifically about senior level coaching, Future Market Insights reported a nearly $1 billion growth from 2021 to 2022 in the global executive coaching market.
So how about a last word from our clients? Taylor Clarke conducts thousands of hours of coaching every year. Our data has shown that 98% of individuals would recommend coaching to others in their organisation. While fully acknowledging the likelihood of biases inherent in such surveys, and the challenges of robustly and reliably measuring coaching impact, it does seem that clients highly value the coaching they receive and that coaching is likely to continue to be a key part of leadership development.
Thinking of becoming an executive coach?
The growth in demand for executive coaching has been similarly matched by an ever-increasing expectation from clients that their coaches are suitably qualified, with 80% of coaches also holding this view (ICF Global Coaching Survey).
As well as being a recognised UK qualification, equivalent to a postgraduate or masters level of study, with coach training hours, client coaching hours and supervision all included as part of the programme, the ILM level 7 Certificate or Diploma in Executive Coaching and Mentoring provides a widely recognised qualification that also puts you well on the path to accreditation with the professional coaching bodies.
Taylor Clarke has been an approved ILM centre for over 15 years, and has been trusted by over 200 coaches who have chosen us as their learning partner on their executive coach qualification journey.
Written by Gwynneth Rees-Kenny
FCIPD (Fellow Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)
CPCC (Certified Professional Coactive Coach)
PCC (Professional Certified Coach)
CSA Coaching Supervision Diploma
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