The January 2009 issue of the Harvard Business Review includes an interesting article on coaching, What Can Coaches Do For You? The author, Diane Coutu, points out that the popularity and acceptance of leadership coaching continues to rise.  She also mentions a trend that I applaud.  And, that is most companies have moved away from engaging executive coaches as a way to address derailing behaviors in the C-suite and toward developing the leadership capabilities of high-potential performers (also known as hi-po’s in talent management lingo).  The author also points out some issues in this growing field of coaching.  One issue is that of measuring return on investment.  As a former HR director, I believe this is a pretty common problem when the investment is in people development.  The value of coaching is primarily in the eye of the beholder and most measurement is at Level 1 on Donald Kirkpatrick’s scale.  That being said, any attempt to measure the value of coaching, even if it is qualitative, is better than none.

There are a number of other interesting observations and statistics about coaching in the HBR article.  It also has a great graphic that illustrates the relationship between coaching and psychotherapy.  If you are interested in more on this topic, you can:

• Get a free copy of HBR’s research report on executive coaching
• Order a reprint of the article What Can Coaches Do For You? at www.hbrreprints.org
• Buy the January 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review at your local bookstore or newsstand