Do we really understand coaching? How can we make it work better?

Coaching has enormous benefits for both organisations and for the individuals they employ. When good coaching is widespread, the whole organisation can learn new things more quickly and therefore can adapt to change more effectively. Individuals not only learn the new skills they are coached in, they also become better and proactive learners. For coaching to be effective in an organisation, a supportive climate is required; one where coaching is regarded as a normal part of managing and where greater importance is placed on learning from mistakes than on blaming people for them. This is too often overlooked by many organisations which wish to introduce coaching. Effective coaching requires that both organisations and the learning establishments that support them adopt a more informed strategy to develop coaches and to build and maintain a climate where coaching can happen.