Business Coaching

The activity becomes ‘autotelic’ - meaning it is an end in itself. ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’ - a wise coach will bear this in mind, and pay attention to the levels of enjoyment within a creative team. This doesn’t just mean whether people are nice to each other or can share a laugh (although that certainly helps) but whether they find the work itself enjoyable and stimulating. If they do, then you don’t need to worry about ‘motivating’ them - and you can all concentrate on creating work that exceeds expectations.

12. 
    The Business Impact of Coaching
    

Having spent a lot of time outlining the What and How of coaching, it's time to revisit the Why - the key benefits to a business where coaching is an integral part of managing performance and developing people’s talents.

I've left this till late in this guide because until we're clear about what coaching is and how it works, it's hard to consider its impact on an organisation. With all complex 'people skills', it is hard to draw a straight line between particular skills and practices and business results. This is particularly true of coaching, as it is essentially a facilitative approach. Whether managers or consultants, coaches act as catalysts for various processes within an organisation, which means it’s often hard to separate out the different elements that contribute to success.
However we can identify factors that coaching seeks to influence, and consider how it does this. In each case, note how the personal benefits (to both coaches and coachees) are intimately linked to the business benefits. Ideally a company should be looking for a dynamic balance between the two, especially in the context of a creative business.
Commitment
It's impossible to create commitment - but you can encourage it by giving people an opportunity to (a) work towards goals they find personally meaningful as well as delivering business results, and (b) use their creativity and initiative to do the job in their own way. Coaching offers a wealth of options for doing both of these. In fact, the coaching approach is founded on the assumption that the coach's role is to act as a facilitator, while the coachee has the biggest emotional investment in the goal and the responsibility for committing to action.