The Value of Coaching – Quotes from the Media

For years, CEOs of some of the most successful and largest companies have relied on executive coaches. Henry McKinnell, CEO of Pfizer, Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, and David Pottruck, CEO of Charles Schwab & Co., are just a few who rely on a "trusted adviser.~ The Business Journal

The Business demand for coaching is nearly doubling each year. Out of the $80 billion being currently spent on corporate education, FLI Research estimates that $2 billion is spent on executive coaching at senior executive levels in Fortune 500 companies.~ Business Wire

“The benefits of coaching appear to win over even the most cynical clients within just a few weeks.” ~ Money Magazine

Employees at Nortel Networks estimate that coaching earned the company a 529 percent "return on investment and significant intangible benefits to the business," according to calculations prepared by Merrill C. Anderson, a professor of clinical education at Drake University.~ Psychology Today

Across corporate America, coaching sessions at many companies have become as routine for executives as budget forecasts and quota meetings. ~ Investors Business Daily

Coaching is having a dedicated mentor, it’s getting knowledgeable support and encouragement and a new way of looking at things when you need it. ~ Industry Week

More executives are beginning to request the service for themselves…as the negative connotation of coaching as a form of punishment for poor performance is replaced by the growing perception that coaching can help an individual or group to build sustainable professional and personal skills, better learn, overcome challenges, reach stretch goals and integrate leadership training. ~ US Careers Journal

Recent studies show business coaching and executive coaching to be the most effective means for achieving sustainable growth, change and development in the individual, group and organization.~ HR Monthly

Executive Coaches are everywhere these days. Companies hire them to shore up executives or, in some cases, to ship them out. Division heads hire them as change agents. Workers at all levels of the corporate ladder are enlisting coaches for guidance on how to improve their performance, boost their profits, and make better decisions about everything from personnel to strategy. ~ TIME Business News

In one 2004 study, executive coaching at Booz Allen Hamilton, the business consultants firm, returned $7.90 for every $1 the firm spent on coaching.~ MetrixGlobal

Corporations believe that coaching helps keep employees and that the dollar investment in it is far less than the cost of replacing an employee. ~ David A. Thomas Fitzhugh, professor of Business Administration, ~ Harvard Business School

Employers are shocked at how high their ROI numbers are for coaching. He recalls a large employer in the hospitality industry saved between $30 million and $60 million by coaching its top 200 executives. ~ Accenture, Alastair Robertson, Manager of worldwide leadership development

The Manchester survey of 140 companies shows nine in 10 executives believe coaching to be worth their time and dollars. The average return was more than $5 for each $1 spent. ~ The Denver Post

Executive coaches often are brought in to help a star player navigate a new role or advance faster inside a company. Other businesses, however, hire a coach to fix a manager’s flaws, such as poor interpersonal skills. View an Executive Coach As an Aide, Not an Enemy, ~ The Wall Street Journal

What’s really driving the boom in coaching, is this; as we move from 30 miles an hour to 70 to 120 to 180…as we go from driving straight down the road to making right turns and left turns to abandoning cars and getting on motorcycles…the whole game changes, and a lot of people are trying to keep up, learn how not to fall off.” John Kotter, Author and Professor of Leadership, ~ Harvard Business School

A coach may be the guardian angel you need to rev up your career. ~ Money Magazine

A Conference Board study concludes that corporations are investing more time and money in leadership development due to concerns that the future supply of top executive talent may prove inadequate for their needs

Executive coaches are not for the meek. They’re for people who value unambiguous feedback. All coaches have one thing in common, it’s that they are ruthlessly results-oriented. ~ Fast Company Magazine

“Career management coaches can identify missing skills or style difficulties and other pragmatic tips.”
New York Times

“A coach may be the guardian angel you need to rev up your career”. ~ Newsweek

“….many companies….offer coaching as a prerequisite to proven managers, in the understanding that everyone can benefit from a detached observer.” ~ Harvard Business Review