Integrating Coaching with Training

INCREASE YOUR INCOME AND IMPACT BY INTEGRATING COACHING WITH TRAINING

LEADERSHIP IS ALWAYS AN EVOLVING CONCEPT. THESE DAYS, EMPLOYEES WANT MORE ONE-ON-ONE TIME WITH THEIR LEADERS TO HELP THEM DEVELOP AND KNOW THEY ARE VALUED.

By Marcia Reynolds, PsyD, Master Certified Coach

They also want their leaders to listen and ask questions instead of directing, guiding, fixing them.

Leaders need training to learn new skills in holding effective conversations and making strong emotional connections. Many also need to shift their work values and perspectives, and their own fears around handling difficult situations and varying personality styles. A single training event can start leaders on the path to change. Coaching ensures a return on investment for training by working with the leaders to implement what they learn in class.

For cultural transformation, I might include:

Culture Analysis & Summary Report

Cultural Change Action Plan

Internal Coach Certification Program HR Leaders and Change Agents

2-Day Live Training Sessions on Leader as Coach (Coach Approach to Leadership)

Quarterly Group Coaching Sessions to support the training programs

One-on-One Coaching with Senior Leaders

Annual Program Evaluation & Continuing Plan

For leadership transformation, I might include:

Organizational Leadership Analysis & Summary Report

2-Day Customized Live Training Sessions on Leader as Coach (Coach Approach to Leadership)

Monthly Individual Coaching Sessions for participants for 6 months

Program Evaluation & Long-term Leadership Plan

By combing coaching with training, you create greater success for your clients as well as a new income stream for your business.

Integrating Coaching with Training

Most of my coaching is contracted through organizations as a part of a leadership development program for current leaders or high potentials, or as a package customized to help shift a workplace culture.

I offer a solution, not coaching. You can receive higher fees for a solution than by quoting an hourly rate for services.

Start with doing an analysis of need in the organization. How do they use coaching now? What is the willingness to make a shift in leadership style? What cultural elements support or hinder the shift? Then you make recommendations for how management will support your work in addition to outlining a customized training program with follow-up coaching.

For a medium to large organization, you can offer individual coaching for senior staff as well as group coaching for participants after the training. Consider hiring other certified coaches as your “company” to help you implement the solutions.

Contracting

When clients call you to help them implement coaching in their organization, ask them:

Why did they contact you?

What need do they want resolved?

What result would they like to see?

How much is that outcome worth to them?

It is always easier to sell an outcome than a service.

You can charge higher fees when you include coaching in packages that include organizational assessments, strategy sessions, and training. The greater the impact of your work, the higher your fees. If you can identify specific goals up front, you might be able to measure the results. The ICF has many ROI studies you can access in their online Research Portal.

Training Broadens Your Horizons

Having begun my coaching twenty years ago, my practice is now global. I recently gave a presentation in China how leaders can use coaching in their organizations. My speech was translated into Chinese for corporate coaches, HR practitioners, and executives eager to learn how teaching leaders to use a more “coach-like” approach with their teams can help them gain a competitive advantage.

I also teach and mentor for coaching schools in Asia, Europe and the US. No matter the culture, coaching is now a competency leaders are expected to learn world-wide. This has opened many doors for executive coaching of leaders in addition to training.

When the economy is bad in one part of the world, I get business in another. Combining training with coaching has made significant differences for my organizational clients and for me.

As with coaching, be the best trainer you can be and the clients will follow. Take classes in training design and delivery so you are as successful in the classroom as you are one-on-one. Know that the elements of successful training delivery change with each generation. As with coaching, you must continue your learning and development as a trainer to maintain your edge and impact.

I hope you’ll consider adding training to your list of services to offer more complete client solutions. When you combine training with coaching, everybody wins.