Why is coaching often more effective than other forms of leadership or management development?

07 Sep 2009

It is often suggested that coaching is more effective in producing performance improvements for the subject than spending the equivalent time on a leadership or management development programme. This is a somewhat subjective statement and quite difficult to measure objectively but there is a fair body of evidence that supports this contention.
So what factors and differences are there between these two developmental learning experiences which produce a different outcome?
Firstly the coaching process is 1 to 1 and the focus is 100% on the individual where as leadership and management development programmes are invariably for groups. Also the agenda and objectives for these programmes tends to be set in advance and may or may not relate directly to the indivdual manager's specific wants and needs. So the agenda for a coaching session is largely set by the coachee and it can be flexible and evolve as it progresses - where as on a course it is not easy to just move the agenda and approach in any direction that the participants may desire.
There is a strong sense of dealing with the reality of a coachee's situation rather than the generalities, theories, models or techniques that form the basis of most courses. The call to action is also stronger and more specific for a coachee than for a participant on a leadership or management training course where the action plans are often fewer and more general.
The follow through with notes highlighting actions from each coaching session and the follow up session where the coachee knows that they will be asked by the coach what progress they have made on their action plan is a stronger motivator to action than the follow up generally provided for a course.
The ability to talk and act honestly, naturally and spontaneously is more apparent for a coachee whereas any displays of frustration, anger and emotion would be regarded as disruptive on a leadership or management training course.
There are of course advantages for participants when taking part in a course based around the stimulus and knowledge sharing provided by others and the opportunity for a consistent message and approach to be put across but overall I believe that for most subjects coaching has a more powerful impact on their actions, ownership and performance.