William Carrier and William Bergquist
[Guest Editor: John Lazar]
“What’s the point of all this, anyway?”
If you’ve ever heard the question—and we’re pretty sure that we have all heard that at least once—you already knew that you were in trouble. Your questioner couldn’t see the brilliance of the project you’d produced; or he’d missed the exquisite reasoning in your eloquent remarks; or she’d not taken in the enormous impact of the outstanding coaching you’d provided her organization.
In the case of these examples and this question, ROI was, at least, temporarily AWOL–and when return on investment is absent without leave, you can be sure that others’ investments in your ways will leave, too.
This issue of The Future of Coaching is dedicated to the proposition that we leave that pointed question behind instead. We will explore various perspectives on what people and organizations get out of coaching in comparison to what they put in—and we hope you gain much for your reading!
For important foundations and historical background on the ideas of ROI, we’ve included two articles from the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations (IJCO). First, we have the article on ROI written by Mary Beth O’Neill, one of the leading figures in professional coaching today. Her article was selected as one of the best in the first five years history of IJCO and was featured (with Mary Beth’s updated 2007 commentary) in the journal’s five-year anniversary issue.
An ROI Method for Executive Coaching
The second of the historic IJCO issues was written by two of the primary thought leaders and ROI practitioners in the field: Patricia Pulliam Phillips and Jack Phillips.
Measuring ROI in Executive Coaching
Both articles are republished here with the generous permission of their authors, for which we are very thankful.
In our third article, Noah Blumental, Elisa Malis, and Karlin Sloan deliver a brief overview of contemporary ROI and a short ROI analysis of a high-impact engagement at Accenture. They call for more use of measurement in support of our profession. Unsurprisingly, you’ll find that they’ve noted the work of the Phillips and Mary Beth O’Neill.
Keeping Your Coach Accountable
Rey Carr details many of the best ROI resources available in “The State-of-the-Art in Return-on-Investment (ROI) in Coaching.” This article, first posted in The Library of Professional Coaching in 2011, includes an excellent, curated selection on this critical topic in an annotated bibliography.
The State of the Art in ROI in Coaching
Our next set of articles broadens the horizon regarding the evaluation of coaching programs. Lory Lanese, an executive and coach at Intel, provides us with a prime example of measurement in action. She writes about coaching a team of engineers—and her focus on measurement provides the point of the exercise.
Leadership Change Ending Blindness and Igniting Intention
John Lazar, our guest co-editor for this issue, introduces us to the big picture inside which ROI sits: evaluation and its inherent judgments. His very experienced—and very ontological—take is well worth the read.
Finally, one of us [WB] offers a particularly broad view regarding the evaluation of coaching programs, pointing to the important distinction between formative and summative evaluation, and identifying the Four Ds of program evaluation: (1) description, (2) documentation, (3) diagnosis and (4) determination of outcomes.
The Essentials of Coaching Program Evaluation
We conclude this issue of The Future of Coaching with our coaching bookshelf and toolbox.
Our bookshelf reviews Measuring the Success of Coaching: A Step-by-Step Guide for Measuring Impact and Calculating ROI by Patricia Pulliam Phillips, Jack Phillips, and Lisa Ann Edwards. In this solidly useful book, the authors outline the ROI methodology and apply it directly to the profession of coaching.
Book Shelf: Measuring the Success of Coaching
Our coaching toolbox is a brief set of interview questions to be asking when a coaching engagement comes to an end. What type of information is of greatest value to both the coach and client?
Coaching Questions: The Exiting Process
Lastly, we’d like to recognize and give our thanks to our first-ever guest co-editor, John Lazar. John’s expertise and experience in ROI made this issue richer and fuller—in fact, in the spirit of ROI, we can say that this issue has 37.5% more articles because of John. Moreover, when we consider an important intangible, his collaborative spirit made the process even more enjoyable for both of us.
May you find great value in what you read. (And when you do, please let us know your ROI!)