Organizations that hire executive coaches expect tangible business outcomes from coaching.  They expect the client to be obviously different in some way after being coached.  That difference should translate into a positive impact on the organization and, ideally, on the bottom line.  The results must be perceived by others, not just the client.  In many organizations, a 360 feedback instrument is used before and after coaching to identify whether coaching has been effective.  However, if the instrument does not measure the behaviors that changed as a result of coaching, the results will not be representative of the change.

Know how coaching will be evaluated.  When you contract with an organization, make sure you know how the coaching will be evaluated.  Will a survey be sent to the client for feedback?  Will the client’s supervisor weigh in on its success?  Your client deserves to know how coaching will be evaluated as much as you do as the coach, so this topic should be part of your early coaching conversations if it is not addressed directly in the contracting stage.  Your coaching process will need to balance addressing the client’s personal goals for coaching as well as the organization’s goals.  An honest conversation about alignment of goals with your client and other stakeholders will galvanize organizational support for the engagement and contribute to the ultimate success of your client in that organizational context.

Translate personal growth to organizational impact.  As Christian coaches, we see the whole person we are coaching, including the spiritual dimensions that may not be acknowledged by their organization.  Pray for insight into tangible ways that your client’s new perspectives can be realized in the organizational setting.  Trust that your client will come to his or her own answer about how to bridge the personal and professional worlds in that organization’s context.  You many need to bring it up because the client may not realize its importance.  Different organizational cultures expect different things from executive coaching, and you can use your coaching skills to help the client determine how to demonstrate success.  Keeping the end result in mind will focus the coaching conversations on what matters most.

Your thoughts?  What is the most unusual measurement of the value of coaching you have encountered as an executive coach?   What do you believe is the best way to highlight change in a client?

Anita Stadler, PhD coaches Christian corporate executives who want to connect their career and their calling.  She is also a full-time executive coach and leadership development consultant for a Fortune 100 corporation.  She can be reached at (714) 952-0995 or Anita@HorizonExecutiveCoaching.com.  For more information, see www.HorizonExecutiveCoaching.com.