What are some of the most relevant trends in executive coaching as we hit the mid-point of the decade? If you are considering a career in executive coaching, or are already an established executive coach, it is helpful to know the trends in executive coaching so you can adjust your business model accordingly.

Here are 6 trends in executive coaching that may influence how you do business in the near future.

6 Trends in Executive Coaching

Executive coaching continues to evolve as an executive perk. It is becoming less of a perk and more of a necessity as companies see extraordinary value in providing coaching services for their executives, managers, and supervisors.

Executive coaching is being used less for remedial situations and more as a normal course of business. CEOs and business owners see great value in providing coaching services prior to negaive situations. Executive coaches are not just brought in to fix things; they are hired to make good things and good executives even better.

Companies are focusing on matching the right coach with an executive. It is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. Matching a coach and coachee together can exponentially help the relationship move forward and create even greater benefits. Companies are considering the learning style, the coaching goals, and other traits of the person to be coached when selecting an executive coach.

Anger and stress management is a relatively new trend in executive coaching. As business environments become more pressurized, stressful, complex, and global, there is a need for executives to comprehend the management of stress and anger. This is one of the most ignored trends in executive coaching, but it is becoming more important as markets gets faster, more crowded, and more competitive.

One of the most important trends in executive coaching, and one that will certainly have an impact on an executive coaching practice, is the downward push of coaching. Companies are beginning to see the value of coaching at lower levels of the management scale. If it works at the top, it should work in the middle, and even near the bottom. As an executive coach, this opens up more opportunities for business and increases your target market.

As the executive coaching industry matures, and it can be argued that it has reached a maturity stage, it becomes more of a commodity. This means that price will matter even more. Greater competition in the field, and the fact that clients have become increasingly price conscious, has created a downward push on the prices that executive coaches can charge. This doesn’t mean you will have to give away your services for free, but it does mean that you have to continually calculate your fees, based on a balance between price and perceived value.

The Future of Executive Coaching

To be a successful executive coach, you will need to recognize that your industry is ever-evolving. To keep pace with these changes and your competitors, you should:

• Make price an important component of your marketing strategy. Lower isn’t always better, but your fees should match your perceived value.
• Make education an ongoing part of your business. The best way to keep up with trends in executive coaching is to pursue education for as long as you are a coach.
• Attend seminars and conventions. The coaching industry has a wide range of symposiums, seminars, conventions, and other periodic gatherings. Attending these on a regular basis will also help you keep current with trends in the industry.
• Understand that you can’t be everything to everyone. In a mature market, it is wise to differentiate your services from the myriad other coaching services and disciplines that exist.

Hope you took some great value out of this post today! I’d love to hear your feedback, so make sure you leave a comment with your thoughts or questions. And also, you can click on the Twitter button below to retweet this article… Thank you!

Fred Philips
Business Coach
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