only to senior leaders: while one third of all Fortune 500 companies utilise executive coaching as standard leadership development for their elite executives and emerging talents6, this approach is not widespread across all organisational levels. The importance of offering coaching beyond the senior leadership is becoming increasingly evident, particularly as organisations face challenges in recruiting and retaining Gen Z professionals. Research indicates that Gen Zs individuals are motivated by more than just financial rewards; they prioritise lifestyle, purposeful work, and learning opportunities. To attract and retain these professionals, organisations must adapt to these changing preferences. Establishing a coaching culture is key to facilitating cross-generational learning, enabling younger generations to bring their unique skills and strengths such as social media expertise, digital skills, and purposeful goals, into the workplace. This inclusive approach ensures that younger employees can feel valued and can make a meaningful impact despite their limited professional experience. society: I serve on the Board of the UK ICF Chapter, and one of our key strategic priorities is to advocate for the value of coaching to society. UK ICF has organised conferences, events and webinars to promote the value of coaching and to encourage organisations to build a coaching culture. 2) Encouraging more leaders to adopt a Coaching approach: This past May, during International Coaching week, I co-hosted a session called “Leader as Coach.” We discussed the benefits of training leaders with coaching skills. I introduced the concept of Leader as Learner (offers guidance and support) rather than Knower (commands and control). We shared evidence that today’s leaders can no longer rely solely on their knowledge pedestal, as knowledge is readily available everywhere. True leadership strengths lie in leveraging the collective abilities and expertise of their team. A recent example that illustrates this is a client who was dealing with a very demotivated and disengaged team. The leader was spending extra time on tasks that the team was expected to handle, as whatever they produced was not good enough. However, once the leader embraced the coaching approach –taking a step back from excessive control, understanding and leveraging the strengths of employees and their collective wisdom, and involving them in finding solutions - the positive impact on relationships, morale, engagement, and productivity became evident. The Coaching approach allows employees to feel heard, have their strengths utilised and ultimately have more influence and impact. 3) Encouraging organisations to offer coaching across all levels, not Sources 1 Forbes: Every Leader can benefit from coaching, Here’s why. Benjamin Laker 2ICF Global Coaching Study 3 MetrixGlobal LLC, p14 IPEC Coaching Report 4 Leveraging Coaching and Mentoring to Create More Effective Leaders, Cameron Yarbrough 5 Research by Oxford Economics and Unum 6 The Hay Group (2011) Monty Wyatt, Business Coaching Statistics “Coaching enhances employee motivation and productivity and improves engagement and retention.” “Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, and other prominent executives have openly expressed their belief that everyone needs a coach.”
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