3 Reasons Why Business Coaching Fails

A 2016 study found that the return on investment (ROI) in coaching is 7x the initial investment, with more than 25% of coaching clients reporting an ROI between 10-49x the cost.

If this is true, and business coaching is proven to be an effective way for executives to improve the performance of their business, why does coaching sometimes fail?

There are obviously some occasions where the client is not committed or willing to make the changes recommended by the coach - but what are the pitfalls that business coaching can fall into?

There are three specific reasons why coaching can sometimes fails, but first it's important to remember that the majority of CEOs believe they don’t have time for coaching. 

In fact, most financial advisors already work more than 40 hours per week. They often are involved in client meetings long after the working hours are over.  

Time is almost always the biggest factor in the success of a coaching engagement.  But it’s not why you might think. The reality is that most financial advisors are so consumed working in the business, that they do not have time to work on the business. Ironically, it’s those leaders that often would benefit the most from coaching!

To be specific, we have found that if a CEO will dedicate as little as 5 – 10% of their time to working on their business, coaching is the fastest way to improve it. 

Now, let’s look at the three reasons why some business coaching doesn’t work.

Lack of an Accurate Assessment 

In The Trust Edge, David Horsager says the “single uniqueness of the greatest leaders and organizations of all time is trust.” In the book he points out how trust is a bottom-line decision, and that a lack of trust can be your greatest expense.

How can this trust be established early in an engagement to ensure that mutual collaboration is possible?

One thing in particular helps coaches build trust with clients at the outset: the ability to rapidly and objectively understand the client’s complete operational profile. 

A coach who can quickly see with clarity the operational maturity of a client’s business establishes credibility and is best positioned to deliver what the business actually needs: results. 

It's important to verify the coach’s track record of business success, as well as the recommendations from previous clients. But unless the coach has an accurate way to evaluate and quantify your business, how can you expect them to be able to improve it?

The coach who has a way to rapidly understand in-depth the client, instead of  “one-size-fits-all” approach earns that trust. Without the use of an objective and scientific assessment, a coach can struggle to build trust with clients, and simultaneously is challenged to build a comprehensive strategy to empower their client to reach their goals. 

Lack of A Clear Strategy with Actionable Steps

Without an objective analysis of the firm’s challenges, opportunities, and resources, most coaches are confined to giving a subjective approach which often relies on a “let’s try this…” mentality. 

Even if the coach brings an exhaustive expertise with proven processes, building an effective strategy with actionable steps in a sequential and prioritized manner is difficult without having the right data to back it up. 

In order to build a strategy, you must have goals. Coaching to a strategy requires your goals to be clear. Each goal should have an attached metric. An achievement date or deadline transforms a dream into a goal. 

Strategy is defined as a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim. In business, the objective of strategy is the pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage. It defines what the business needs to do to reach its goals, which can help guide the decision-making process for hiring and resource allocation. If a strategy does not define clear goals, as well as a prioritized and sequential plan, the probabilities of success of coaching fall significantly. Technology helps firms provide better advice.  Technology creates better coaching results as well. 

All great business achievement begins with a plan that is both strategic and tactical. Planning produces the best outcomes when it is built with proven processes and customized for the specific client.

A clear plan includes a systematized set of processes that are measurable, manageable, prioritized, and sequential. These processes create clarity and not complexity and allow team leadership to always know the status of all projects and initiatives. The entire firm is being coached, through the coaching delivered to the leader of the firm. Responsibility, accountability, and authority are granted to team members.

Lack of an Execution Framework

Strategy without a tactical implementation plan provides little value to the business. The strategy guides our behaviors, but someone must do something in order for this strategy to be effective. An implementation plan includes processes, accountabilities, timelines, metrics, and implementation tools.

Reaching your goal requires a strategic plan which is implemented with accountability. Which role within the firm owns responsibility for the goal? 

A clear view into responsibilities, or what you might call an accountability chart, provides the leadership team with a complete picture of all initiatives, as well as informing the coaching relationship as to what is being coached and who is responsible. 

The success of business coaching lies in accurate assessment to create data driven strategy and clear implementation steps, yet many business coaches and their clients take a shotgun approach and try to do too many things at once. 

You can’t fight all your battles on all fronts at all times; you must pick your battles. Action steps must be prioritized and sequential, creating momentum and building growth by accumulating small wins. 

Airline pilots tell you that when all else fails, they must trust their instruments. Coaching clients benefit enormously when they trust a mutually agreed upon process with their coach. Patience with the process for results while an impatience for a lack of execution of strategy pays big dividends to growth-minded CEO’s and their firms. 

Business coaching provides the potential to be one of the best ROI decisions a business leader can make. Coaching that does not provide a clear picture into the specific business situation of the individual client, insist that all strategies follow prioritized, sequential steps of action, and ensure that the implementation plan is followed with accountability is not worth your time.