All forms of coaching are booming post-pandemic, but these expensive leadership ‘whisperers’ have become indispensable, writes The Financial Times’ Emma Jacobs.
Leading a company “can be a lonely place”, observed the chief executive of a British retail chain, who wants to remain anonymous. “But this was magnified further during the pandemic.”
Bhushan Sethi, joint global leader for people and organisation at PwC US, the professional services firm, sees this trend intensifying in the short-term: “Leaders don’t have playbooks for hybrid work, high inflation. New and emerging managers haven’t worked through a recession.” The number of coaches has jumped, according to the ICF, which saw membership climb from 33,594 in 2019 to 56,076 at the end of June. Its last survey estimated the total global revenue from coaching to be US$2.8 billion , a 21 per cent increase on 2015, due to the rising number of coaches, while the average fee rate dipped.
The pandemic blurring of the work and life spheres has been reflected in sessions with clients. Rachel Morris, who coaches senior executives and middle managers, said that she has had more conversations “about self-harm and suicide, which is usually the sort of thing that you take to a therapist”.Such issues are outside the expertise and remit of coaches, who would suggest seeking the help of a counsellor or psychiatrist. But a coach can help clients to prioritise their own wellbeing.
Online platforms have opened up coaching to a wider audience. They can help employers identify problems inside the organisation. Some fear, however, that platforms risk making coaching transactional. There are also concerns that a lack of transparency over fees will result in lower rates and “a race to the bottom”, said Catherine Devitt, CEO of Meyler Campbell, which trains executive coaches.
“We’ve seen a gradual trend, that as coaches come on board, coaching is offered to a wider number of executives [and] lower management [and] wages have gone down. The fee rate reflects that,” he said. The ICF, for example, has rates of US$91 to US$500 per hour – but a top coach can charge a lot more than that.