[MUSIC] Hello and welcome to module 13. In this module, we discuss coaching as a resource for leadership and talent development in organizations, and in particular certain at risk groups. It's well-established in the literature that organizations invest heavily to develop managerial and leadership talent. There are a number of potential reasons for this. Leadership failures are costly to the tune of millions of dollars for large organizations in particular. There's also a perpetual demand for highly capable leaders. In their best selling book, The War for Talent, the authors suggested that organizations will always need individuals who can effectively lead in the midst of unending global and technological advances. The book was published 14 years, ago and from our work in organizations around the globe, we see the war for talent is still raging on, either in bust or boom economies. Organizations are always working to develop and retain the best and the brightest, or if they are not, those folks have probably left. Now, coaching came on the scene in organizations in a conservative way around the year 2000, and has sustained tremendous growth as a leadership development resource. As a result, many organizations around the world offer leaders some level of coaching service. Part of the reason it's growing is because positive workplace outcomes results, especially if the coach approach follows the principles you've learned here. Namely that it's coaching for compassion, not coaching for compliance, that's the approach. Coaching for compliance puts the emphasis on performance at the exclusion or minimization of self-directed learning. And as we've established already, change won't stick under those circumstances. In my dissertation I studied one financial institution's approach to using leadership development and coaching to change the organization's culture. The organization was moving from a culture of performance to one of teamwork and collaboration. The participant group included 107 senior financial leaders, who completed two days of instruction in the classroom on emotional intelligence, a 360 degree feedback tool, and work with an external and internal coach. These senior leaders answered a survey about their job performance, work engagement, job satisfaction, and relationship with their coach. I was able to triangulate that data with job performance data and the 360 feedback data. Coaching followed the intentional change theory. What I found was that the coaching relationship was key. And that a high quality relationship amplified the leaders' engagement in their work and career satisfaction. Coaching can be especially useful as a resource for special groups and organizations who may be considered at risk for different reasons. These groups might include young emerging leaders the organization wants to develop or any group the organization wants to retain. So any minority group falls into this category. As one example, an area that's receiving considerable attention is women's leadership advancement and development. At least in the United States, women remain underrepresented in organizational leadership roles. We also know from research that women leaders do not receive coaching to the same extent that male leaders do. Yet working with a coach often provides a unique avenue for women in organizations to navigate their individual and organizational challenges. Through conversations with a supportive coach, women can find a safe space to reflect upon the sometimes delicate issues of work life integration and career advancement in male-dominated fields. Researchers Deb O'Neill and Meggy Hopkins know this well through their study of women's leadership development activities. We were able to interview them to hear their insights on coaching women. You have the opportunity to hear from them yourself in our interview. Clearly, coaching women is only one example of a special interest group and we recognise there are many more. The main idea here is coaching is beneficial for organizations seeking to develop and retain their best and their brightest talent. Thanks for learning with us, and see you in another module. [MUSIC]
