The previous 30 days, I attended a coaching bootcamp, volunteered at the Jobing.com career fair, ran a focus group on my own business, interviewed a few successful coaches, looked at six coaching surveys, and read Coaching Millions.  If you don’t mind, I would like to share a few thoughts with you about the Future of Coaching. 

[Reprint of President's message to Denver Coach Federation.]

As you know, most coaching is done one-on-one, via the phone, in 50 minute sessions, 3 to 4 times a month, but is this what clients want?  Is this the most effective model?   Pragmatically speaking the answer is, “It depends.”  However, I can confidently say that many other coaching models are emerging and making an impact.  Now is a good time to be aware of these trends and to be open to experimentation.

It’s easier to understand the trends by remembering the major skill sets of coaches.  We help clients:

• Gain clarity
• Commit to change
• Overcome barriers (like fear, procrastination, distraction)
• Plan, act, and develop new capabilities

Of course, clients don’t care about the process; they have problems.  They are looking for solutions so they can achieve new, rewarding results. 

Face-to-Face Coaching:

In the executive coaching world, the clients aren’t happy with the telephone model. They want coaches to come into the office at least once a month.  Meetings are held in nearby coffee shops or behind closed doors in private offices or conference rooms.  One very successful executive coach meets each client for 90 minutes, once a month.  That’s it.  Phone calls and emails are ad hoc and a small part of the practice.  Why?

Face-to-face communication is richer, and executives want the intimacy and focus of coaching to match the nature of the work: leadership, relationships, and work-life balance.  Being at the top is lonely, often highly political. Executive coaches earn their fees by helping their clients with clarity, priorities, and focus.  Strong personal bonds and trust are necessary for a successful coach-client relationship.  Further, seasoned executives don’t have time for 3 or 4 hours a month just for coaching. 

In addition, expect consulting firms to expand their businesses by adding coaching services.  It’s easier to train consultants to become coaches than the other way around.  Also, it’s easier and cheaper to train seasoned executives to become coaches, than it is to teach executives to become consultants.

The trend here is for fewer sessions, long-term relationships, done face-to-face, and for executive coaches to be former executives, working for or subcontracting to service providers.

Blending with Training:

Most of you are aware that training alone is only 20% effective, while training + coaching is 80% effective at transferring skills and changing behavior.  The training industry is at least 10 times bigger than the coaching industry.  A lot of competition and opportunities in the coaching field will come from training companies adding coaching packages on the back-end of training. 

Take Robert Middleton for example.  He provides marketing solutions and programs to independent service providers.  His business evolution is typical.  Robert did just seminars for many years.  Then he added information products and reached ½ million a year in revenue.  Last year, he added back-end coaching.  He has certified and hired dozens of coaches to support clients who buy his products and attend his trainings.  Coaching is a no-brainer, product extension and up-sell for training companies.  These coaches focus on planning, doing, and skills development.

Expect the “tutor-coach” role to grow at a double-digit rate for decades.  Why decades?

This “tutor-coach” role will take off in 3rd party training companies first, but it will also move into internal corporate training, and eventually shake-up the entire field of education.  For example, 1/3rd of private colleges will disappear in the next couple of decades, giving away to online learning + tutor-coaching.  Within 20 years, expect all knowledge transfer to be done by computers with students, while teachers will manage experiential learning and act as tutor-coaches when needed.  Others tutor-coaches will support students while they do their homework or while learning online.  (“Click here for Coaching”)

On-Demand, Laser Coaching:

Volunteering at Jobing.com career fairs is a wonderful introduction to the laser coaching model.  Job seekers queue up, while a bank of coaches service the queue.  Although it sounds like an assembly line, it’s anything but boring.  Most sessions are 15 to 20 minutes long, (going longer tends to become repetitive). People show up with in a specific problem-state, and the coach shifts them to a more resourceful one.  It’s very rewarding work, and many job seekers say that their coaching session was the best thing that happened to them all day. 

The author of Coaching Millions, Milana Leshinsky, shared her model in an email.  She offers 20 minute slots.  Clients can sign up for an unlimited number of 20 minute sessions a month.  They can sign up whenever they want, if the slot is available.  Cost is $345 / month.  Her model produces impressive results. 

• Average usage: 1.1 session / client / month
• 14.5 hours of work / week for Milana
• $20,000 revenue / month

People lead busy, dynamic lives.  Shorter, problem-specific sessions are attractive to many clients.  Further, they want it now (or at least very soon), and they don’t know when they will need it, until they need it.   Flexibility and access to you are valuable benefits that people will pay a premium for.

In a Down Economy, being a Generalist is Dangerous.

I learned this lesson, the hard way, with my consulting business back in 2001-2002.  When money is tight, people want targeted solutions aimed at specific problems.  Marketing messages like, “I can help anyone, accomplish any goal or feel better about themselves in their business, personal or spiritual life,” are not wise. 

The good news is that in times of uncertainty, people look outside themselves for the answers.  The bad news is you have to have the answers.  This is the time to focus on articulating the greatest, clearest, most measurable benefit you create for your clients, and then deliver that benefit to them in the form and in the timeframes they prefer. 

For example, I can do many things, but I’ve chosen to focus on Nonverbal Leadership (status).  My clients tell me that they want programs to solve specific problems (increase sales, promote innovation, or improve intergenerational relationships).  They want weekly, short (90 minute), experiential training sessions until they master the skills (about 12 to 16 hours), and 20 minute, near-on-demand, laser coaching to answer questions and help them integrate their new skills into their work life.  I’m listening.

What is the Future of Coaching?

I don’t know.  At best we observe the trends, ask our clients and ourselves the right questions, and do our best to create our own vision using the knowledge and skills we have at the time. 

BTW, this is a BIG topic. I’ve left out creating info-products, expanding into training, group-coaching calls, video calls, and mastermind groups.  Technology is becoming an important enabler of new services in coaching.

My goal, in sharing today, is to stimulate interesting conversations whenever you gather with others who care about the coaching profession, your own coaching practice, or finding solutions that coaching clients want and need.  

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Michael Cushman, The Engaging Guru, helping people master Nonverbal Leadership so they can enrolling others, get the goodies of life, and change the world.  www.engagingchange.com