Fiona Lander, managing director, Lander Associates

In boardrooms across the country, “G2” or second generation leadership – the 2008 version of succession planning - is high on the agenda.

One organisation we work with is even looking ahead to G3 leadership and giving early insights into lead functions and competencies to those who are at least three years away from their first leadership role.

We see this as a very encouraging sign as considering; who will be taking charge of your business in the years to come - and ensuring that they are developed into leaders - will be vital to the continued success of your organisation.

Recent research from the CIPD has found that only 42% of UK managers are satisfied with what their organisations offer to help develop their leadership capabilities and there is also research to show that most large organisations quote a lack of leadership as the biggest obstacle to growth. Encouragingly, there are signs that these issues are beginning to be addressed as evidenced by the latest CIPD Learning & Development Survey which says that 70% of organisations are now involved in some form of coaching activity. However, results from the same survey seem to indicate that developing an actual coaching capability is still a challenge for many organisations.

But what is coaching - and who should be delivering it? 

Is it a capability that can be developed internally or should organisations be looking to engage external help? Nobody would argue that using line managers to develop staff is absolutely essential and the manager’s main role within a staff development context should be to support training through coaching – two elements of development that are often confused. Training courses are only part of the management development toolkit.  Coaching is a one to one process while training is much more about the actual input of information.

While internal managers who act as coaches will know the organisation well - will have bought into the corporate vision, culture and goals - and will often be familiar with the people involved, there will obviously be occasions where they are just not senior enough to coach your most senior executives. These are your key people and for them, the need for neutrality and confidentiality is often an important issue. 

While internal coaches may know the company culture very well, this may also mean that there are some pre-conceived ideas and this could actually be a disadvantage for very senior personnel. External coaches can often bring a broader and more objective perspective because of their experience in other organisations - perhaps organisations that are similar to your own in terms of sector, size or structure or stage of growth.

Additionally, coaches need to be trained as it’s a skilled activity which needs to be developed over time and delivered by trained people. It’s not the same as mentoring - another valuable support and development function for leaders, which is where a more senior member of the team acts as a role model offers advice and leads by example. 

Consequently, it can be very productive to engage external coaches to help develop your own internal coaching, to provide professional and personal development support to senior executives and high fliers and to be an integral part of leadership development programmes.

That’s not to say that internal coaches are not vital - particularly when the coaching may be aimed at more junior levels where knowledge of the company, culture and systems is likely to be beneficial. 

What’s clear is that there can be no ‘off the shelf solution’ or ‘one size fits all approach’ - what’s needed is a tailored programme which fits the needs of your workforce and delivers the goals needed to effectively develop your leaders of today - and tomorrow.