Results from the items associated with this question about recent coaching experiences are interesting in that a comparable question (which we analyzed above) concerning the long-term perceptions of coaches (“Since you began formally coaching”) yielded some interesting differences. By contrast, there were virtually no differences of any significance in the responses to items about recent experiences. The organizational coaches were a bit more positive than were the personal coaches, but the differences (if any) were minor. Organizational coaches perceive themselves to be a bit more skillful in practicing coaching than do the personal coaches who responded to this survey, and feel more like they have a growing sense of enthusiasm about engaging in the coaching enterprise than do their personal coaching colleagues.
Overall and Current Assessment of Coaching Performance
When respondents reflected back on their coaching (“since you began”) we find that coaches who most often provide personal coaching are slightly more likely that those providing coaching in an organizational setting to identify change in their coaching practices as a decline—though the ratings for virtually all respondents are quite low when assessing potential decline. No one apparently sees much evidence of decline in their own practices, though personal-based coaches are a bit more inclined to admit to some decline.
On the other side of the ledger, we find that organization-based coaches are slightly more likely to identify change in their coaching practices (“since you began”) as an improvement, and are slightly more likely to indicate that they have overcome limits and realized their potential. While these differences between the two coaching groups are not great, they represent a pattern of responses that suggest there might be some important differences among those doing personal coaching and those doing organizational coaching. Are these real differences, or are the personal coaches simply being a bit more candid in their responses?
In general, the differences between personal and organizational coaches disappear when we turn to their responses to similar items related to the coaches’ current practices. While organizational coaches remain a bit more positive, the differences are minimal. On several items, however, there are significant differences between personal and organizational coaching regarding their current practices.
