The Future of Executive Coaching: Analysis From a Market Life Cycle Approach
Where are we, where are we going, and how do we prepare for what’s next? Sheila Maher, MA., MBA. and Suzi Pomerantz, MT., MCC
[This article first appeared in the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, 2003, 1(2), 3-11. It can be downloaded and printed for personal use only. Please obtain prior written permission for wider printing and d istribution from J ohn L azar, IJCO Co-Executive E ditor, at john@ijco.info .] In launching this journal the editorial board envisioned that the journal would provide a forum for “reflection and analysis…by those leaders of this eme rging field who recogn ize coach ing to be a fixture rather than a fad...” 1 This a rticle exp lores the m arket life cycle o f executive coac hing , considerin g its history and growth, and estimating its current position. We discuss the four stages of the market life cycle: product introduction, market growth, market maturity, and sales decline, exploring the implications for our profession of each stage. Understanding where coaching is in the market cycle allows u s to consider strateg ies to stim ulate the co ntinu ed growth of the pro fession . In this a rticle we present our th esis that “this emerging field” is actually already in the mature stage of its lifecycle and we make recommendations for mo ving the professio n forw ard. It is clear that coac hing is no t a fad an d it is not ne w. Coaching is rooted in a range of philosophies and practices that can be traced back to Aristotle, Buddhist thought, Gestalt theory, and various gurus of ontology and b usiness. It p redates Anthony R obb ins, Stephen Covey, Tom Peters, Thomas Leonard and Ken Blanchard. The taxonomy of executive coaching includes an array of ancient and modern wisdom woven together in a unique tapestry designed to produce real results in real time for busy executives and leade rs. The coaching profession has grown enormously over the last ten years. To keep the p rofession dynamic and relevant it will be critical to address current and future challenges with an understanding of “where coaching stands in the lineage of b usiness and other interv entions”. 2 Coaching is a service industry. Like any other p roduct or service it is subject to a product/market life cycle which occurs in four stages: product introduction, market growth, market maturity and sales decline (Figure 1).3 The product or market life cycle is a well-do cumented conc ept in b usiness literature. “Pro duc t life cycle is the postulate that if a new product is successful at the introductory stage (and many fail) then repeat purchase gradually grows and spreads and the rate of sales growth incre ases. At this stage, co mpe titors often enter the market, and their additional promotio n expenditures furthe r expand the market. B ut no m arket is infinitely expandable, and eventually the rate of growth slows as the product moves into its maturity stage.” 4 The product/market life cycle construct is useful in analyzing the profession of executive co aching bec ause it provides a frame work for considering ma rket interv entions designed to maximize the growth and maturity stages of the cycle, when the market is most profitable. It also allows for the design of interventions that will forestall decline, such as refining and re-launching the product to better meet the changing nee ds of the market. App lying the market life cycle construct allows us to use our knowledge of where executive coaching has been and where it is now in the cycle in order to predict and offset a future decline. We can use this analysis to bring a new awareness and conscious action to the intentional design of the future of executive co aching — not unlike how we as coaches guide o ur clients in their businesses.

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Editorial board. “The International Journal of Coaching in Organizations: A New F orum for an Emerging Field.” International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, W inter, 20 03. 1 (1). W inter, p.7 2 ibid. 3 E. Jerome M e Carthy, Basic Marketing, 6 th ed., H ome woo d, Illinois. Richa rd Irwin, 1978. p. 241 4 : M. McDonald and W . Kee gan. Ma rketing Plans that W ork, New Yo rk, NY. Butterworth-Heineman,, 1997, p. 50

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INTRODUCTION STAGE The focus in the introduction stage of any new product or service is on building consumer awareness as the product is launched into the market. This stage req uires substantial prom otion to raise consumer awareness, since consumers do not know about the existence, benefits, or uses of the product. During the introduction of a new product, consumers first become aware of the product or service as a result of promotional efforts in launching the product. Consumers read or hear about it, gain minimal knowledge, and may be motivated to try it. If they like it, they will stimulate others to try the product through word of mou th. As with all products, the launch of executive coaching invo lved a high degree of educating the public and prospective clients about the nature and benefits of the product. Executive coaching e njoye d a thirty-year introduction stage, from the late 1950’s through the late 1980’s. The introduction of executive coaching can be traced back as early as 1958 with seminal articles about coaching as a management function including, “On the Job Coaching” by Myles L. Mace and W .R. Mahler in Developing Execu tive Skills (American Mana gement Association) 5 and M ace’s The Growth and Developmen t of Executives published in 1959 by Harvard Business School 6 . In spite of these early articles, executive coaching did not be gin to gain public attention until the 1970’s, particularly with Ferdinand Fournies’ book Coaching for Improved Work Performance.7 Attention increased in the 1980’s with notewo rthy articles in 1983 and 1984 in which coaching wa s hailed as a management tool for impro ving effective work pe rformance and building effective teams. 8 In the early to mid-8 0’s severa l coac h training programs were born. The Hudso n Institute trained coaches starting in 1986, the Success Unlimited N etwork pro gram started in London in 198 1 and was launched in the U S in 1987. New Ventures West began its coaching programs in 1988 as did the Newfield Network (at that time called Newfield Associates). Then, in 1989, Ro ger Evered and James Selman published an influential article called “Coaching and the Art of Management” in the AMA p ublication Organization al Dyn amics.9 All of these influences fostered the growth of executive coaching. GROWTH STAGE

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M. M ace and W .R Mahler. “On the Job C oaching” In Develop ing E xecu tive Skills. American M anagement Association; 1958.
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The Growth and Developmen t of Executives . Cambridge. MA; Harvard Business School, 1959. Coaching for Improved Work Performance . F. Fournies & Assoc., Inc.; 1978

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Allenbaugh, G.E., “Coaching – A M anagement Tool for More Effective Work Performance” Manag ement Review, May 1983 and G.K. Himes, “Coaching: Turning a Group into an Effective Team” Supervision, January. 1984.
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Evered and Selman, op cit.

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In the growth stage , consu mer awareness gro ws, and increasing num bers o f consumers try the pro duct. Satisfied consumers bec ome com mitted to the product and tell others about their experience, thus building the market for the product. As more consumers successfully try the product they create a “buzz” in the marketplace encouraging more mainstream consumers to try the product and become com mitted to using the product. (Obviously, there is a negative impact and damage to the market if consumers do not have a pos itive experience when they try the product.) At this stage new entrants providing the product come into the market, and the product begins a rapid and dynamic growth. This stage is characterized by market expansion, substantial pro fits, increased compe tition and the subsequent need for p roduct differe ntiation. Executive coaching entered the growth phase in the early 1990s. Both The C oaches Training Institute (CTI) and CoachU were founded in 1992 and began to promote the concept of coaching. The pro fession experienced a marked increase in the number of coaches entering the field as coach training schools became established and grew. The Personal and Professional Coaches Association (PPCA) was formed in 1994, and the Professional Coaches and M entors Association (PCM A ) began in 1996. In the sa me ye ar that PCMA was established , PP CA was transformed into the International Co ach Federation (ICF). The field of executive coac hing was introduced in mainstream business pub lications in 199 3 with the article “The Executive’s New Coach” in Fortune magazine 1 0 . In a 1996 Newsweek article, 1 1 Thomas Leonard, considered to be one o f the fathers of coaching , estimated there to be 100 0 coaches nationwide. By 2002, the Wall Street Journal estimated the number to exceed 25,000 worldwide 1 2 . One indication that executive coaching was becoming mainstream was that major universities began offering executive coaching degree programs. Coach programs began in 1998 at George Mason University and in 1999 at George Washington Un iversity. Geo rge W ashington U niversity wa s the first to offer grad uate credit for coac hing co urses. The growth stage for executive coaching has only covered about ten years. Certainly, the economic downturn exacerbated by the e ffects of 9/11 contributed to slowing the expansion of the market and truncated the growth of exe cutive coaching.

MATURITY STAGE In the market maturity stage, the rate of grow th of the product or service declines. Market share stabilizes and there begins to be a consolidation of the products in the market. Price competition becomes more aggressive, and profits decline as the rate of growth slows. With so many products in the market, the market becomes saturated, leading to price competition, and product quality begins to decline. Consumers begin to demand more for less, and put downward pressure on prices. Profits decline because competition requires increased expenditures on promotion as well as price-cutting to a ttract new clients. In o rder to forestall the decline and demise of mature products, it is critical to redefine the product, re-launch or innovate the p roduct— essentially restarting its life cyc le. By the early 2000’s, the rate of growth of executive coaching began to slow, hastened by the declining economy. W e have seen a decline in attendance at coaching conferences. The number of new coaches entering training has also declined . For example, in 2001, the ICF conference attracted about 1500 coache s. In 20 02, o nly 850 coaches attended the ICF conference and fewer potential new executive coaches entered coach training at Co achU and o ther major training p rogra ms. As executive coaching enters the maturity stage, coac hing is increasingly beco ming a com mod ity, with price being a key differentiating factor. Clients are becoming increasingly price conscious and the increased availab ility of executive co aches has allowed clients to put a downward pressure on prices. Large users of coaching services are negotiating fixed rates for coaches in their programs (e.g., Wo rld Bank, Fannie M ae, Freddie Mac). In addition, large providers of executive coaches are offering clients the services of a wide range of coaches at a set rate. In 2002 we began to see coaching companies such as Coaching.com offer coaches to clients based on one price for any coach. W e also began to see large
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Fortune. (vol. 128, no. 16, Dec. 27 1993, p.126 Newsweek. Feb. 5, 1996, p.48 Wall Street Journal , CCXL( 90) Nov.5, 2002.

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organizations, such as 3Com, Wo rld Bank, IMF, and various U.S. Government agencies, dictate a belowmarket ceiling for coaching fees, while also re quiring a high standard of experience and skill for coaches wishing to provide services to their executives. These trends increasingly treat executive coaching as a com mod ity that increases price co mpe tition. Thus, our professiona l community will need to be vigilant abo ut the quality of services that are being offered under the banner of executive coac hing. Executive coaches are responding to the commoditization of coaching by differentiating their services. Many are defining more sp ecific nich es by client type (e .g., lawyers, entrepre neurs), by client size (e.g., small business, Fortune 100), by service em phasis (e.g., em otional intelligence, spiritual coaching, leade rship development, group coaching, presentation skills coaching, etc.), by client industry, and by geographical regions. Others are seeking to bundle services and/or move into a more products-focused sales app roac h by selling workshops, books, and videos as a way to open new doo rs for selling executive coaching services. The challenge for our professio n is to resp ond to this maturing of our market in a way that will forestall entry into the nex t and final stage of product decline. It is critical at this point for us faced with a maturing product to consider how to refine or re-launch the service—ad ding additional value to make executive coaching responsive to changing client needs, thus restarting the life cycle and holding off the decline stage. SALES DECLINE STAGE In the decline stage, the final stage of the market life cycle, ne w pro ducts are introduced into the market and challenge the declining produ ct. Price competition is more vigorous, but those products that have been successfully differentiated will still make profits. Old products will still retain a few loyal customers and some conservative consumers, who ma y not accept new ideas as easily as others—p referring the old product rather tha n disco vering the new. For executive coaching, this means that if we fail to intervene as our service matures, we are headed for an inevitab le decline in sales, where coaches may still retain some loyal customers, yet the number of new clients will decline. As the market shrinks, coac hes will increasingly find it difficult to sustain themselves with the decreased level of activity and many may be forced to leave the profession. Ultimately, a new product or service co uld rep lace executive coaching . FUTURE DESIGN AND RECOMMENDATIONS Stewa rdship for the p rofessio n of executive coac hing dictates that we pay attention to the product cycle and act accordingly. As stewards of the profession we must do everything we can to ensure that clients have a very positive experience of executive coaching. Clients should not only become committed, loyal users of our product, but become advocates and “raving fans.” 1 3 thus further building the market. As our service matures, we need to determine how to respond as a pro fessional community to keep our service relevant, strong, and agile. We offer the following recommend ations to meet the current challenges of our profession. W e hop e that these reco mmendations will initiate an urgent dialogue and result in actions that will maintain and sustain the health of our profession.

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Ken B lanchard

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Pro vide leadership In a maturing market it is essential to meet the increasing demands of clients. As a profession we must assure the quality of services, support innovation, document successes and im pact, and comm unicate the results of these efforts in a unified voice. To acco mplish these ends, the executive coaching community needs leadership. Our com munity currently lacks a comm on visio n com pelling us to act in alignment. Executive Coaching Summ its starting in 1998 have provided a forum for advancement of the profession of coaching in its earlier stages. These summits increasingly need to strategically address executive coaching as a mature pro duct. applaud the birth of this journal as an essential step offering a wider forum for dialogue. the will We this

W e, as executive coaches and as an executive coaching community, can't be everything to everyone. As a community, we need to differentiate executive coaching from other types of coaching so that our clients understand that not all coaching meets the standards of executive coac hing. T his focus is required b y the market maturity phase to d ifferentiate our service fro m the m yriad o f other coaching disciplines that exist in the market. Executive coaching needs dedicated leadership, distinct from the leadership provided by IC F, P CM A and o ther organiza tions that serve a broader coaching comm unity. Executive coaching as a profession needs a common purpose and standards around which we can align and m ove forward. Is the urgency of an inevitable market decline a compelling enough focus to unite our p rofessio n? W ho will lead us to take the necessary actions to forestall such a decline?

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Create specific credentials for executive coaches As a profession, we need to take the necessary steps to ensure the quality of executive coaching services. It is critical that consumers uniformly have a successful experience of these services so that their word-of-mouth will support the continued expansion of the market, even if the rate of growth is reduced. Man y new schools of coaching are emerging and the existing ones are striving to differentiate themselves. Some coaching programs promote the idea that anyone with a coaching credential can effectively coach senior executives—whether or not they have experience in the business wo rld or a background of working with executives. Unfortunately, the lack of standards specific to executive coaching means that some executives’ experience with coaching may not be positive and, thus, may harm the image of our profession. To ensure a consistently high level of service to our executive clients, there is a need for a credentialing process specifically for executive coac hes. Credentialing can help ensure that when executives hire an “executive coach” they can be assured of skills and experience either working in business or working with senior executives, and a tho rough understand ing of business and the boardro om. The International Coach Fed eration credentials of MC C (M aster Certified Coach) and PCC (Pro fessiona l Certified Coach) m ake no distinction between personal and bu siness coaching. The credentials for personal/life coachin g should differ from those granted for executive coaching. Not all coaching is about personal transformation, although executive coac hing often incorporates person al transformatio n elements. T he difference is that any coach working with executives and leaders must understand how to navigate the business environment, and operate in a boardroom to attain and sustain critical credibility with the client. Coaches lacking critical business skills who seek to work with executives can do a disservice to the executive coaching profession.

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W e propose that executive coach credentials be comparable with the existing ICF coaching credentials and credentialing processes. Professional Executive Coach (PEC) and Master Executive Coach (MEC) designations would correspond to the existing Professional Certified Coach (P CC) and M aster Certified Coach (M CC). How ever, the executive coaching credentials would require specific experience in business as an executive, or working as a coach or consultant with executive clients. Likewise, an executive wishing to become an executive coach must demonstrate defined levels of coach-spec ific training to qualify for an executive coaching credential. We recommend a grandfathering of current executive coaches with substantial executive coaching experience and a proven track record as a contributor to the field—as was done previously with the ICF credentials.

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Demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) and business impact. There is an increasing need to document the specific and quantifiable ben efits of our service as we enter the market maturity stage. Manc hester, Inc. contributed to this process in a study published in January 2001.1 4 Their study revealed that executive coaching services provide a return on investment of six times the cost of the services. A study published in an online newsletter of the ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) cites an R OI o f 529 % fo r executive co aching . A Novembe r 2002 article 1 5 favorably highlights recent studies indicating high ROIs for executive coaching. Much more research needs to be done, and o n a global sca le. W e must be able to speak definitively about bottom line benefits for worldwid e organizations as well as individual executive clients. For example, do organiza tions that provide executive coac hing to their executives experience higher retention rates for those executives and possibly for their staff as a whole (the premise being that the whole staff would benefit from increased effectiveness of the executive team)? Do executives who have received coaching have a higher job satisfaction and increased management effectiveness ratings?

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Develop partne rships with mental health p rofessio nals and other c ollatera l professionals. Though executive coaching is focused on helping clients navigate the demands of being an executive, our clients are whole human beings who have a range of needs outside our expertise (financial planning, estate planning, medical, psycho logical) that require us to refer our clients to other professionals. Because we are working with the whole human being it is imperative that executive coaches stay vigilant about the line where coaching ends and the expertise of other disciplines is required. In order to best serve clients, we, as executive coaches, need to have a ready referral network of highly skilled experts in a variety of disciplines with whom we work over time in order to assure the highest level of service to our clients. The availability of these networks might be an element of the credentialing pro cess for executive coaches. In the June, 2002 Harvard Business Review article “The Very Real Dangers of Executive Coaching”, Steven Berglas 1 6 raised concerns about the overlap of coaching with therapy. W e, as a profession, need to have standard procedures for referrals to m ental health professiona ls who are qualified to handle issues that we as coaches are no t. We m ust develop clear lines of distinction be tween coac hing and therapy, especially since increasing numbers of therapists are entering the coaching pool. Licensed therapists who become coaches will have to carefully distinguish for themselves and their clients when

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Manchester, Inc . (www.manchesterus.com). Jan. 2001 Talk, Vo ss and W ise. www.heidrick.com/publications/pdfs/TalkVossWise-execcoach.pdf 16 Berglas Steven, “T he V ery Re al Da ngers o f Exec utive Coaching”, C amb ridge, MA. Harvard B usiness Review. June, 2002

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they are practicing coaching and when they are providing therapy in order to avoid ethical violations and p otential lawsuits. W e mus t maintain ethical integrity so that executive coaches without mental health licenses are not harming clients with issues better served by thera py than coac hing. W e believe that it is important for executive coac hes to deve lop p artnerships and strategic alliances with licensed clinical psyc hologists or psychiatrists to ensure that clients needing therap eutic treatment have access to the appropriate course of action. Such partnerships will allow us to have clear paths for referring our clients for evaluation and treatment whe n suspected and w arranted. 5. Internationalize executive coaching. W e recommend that as a profession we actively support the internationalization of coaching. The very fact that coaching is growing internationally will reflect back positively into the US market -- providing vitality to our whole profession. This journal can be a forum for sharing strategies and evidence to build the executive coaching profession internationally. W e also recommend that our international colleagues learn from the product lifecycle of the US market for executive coaching. Gro wth and expa nsion o f executive coaching in Europe and A ustralia will likely follow a similar product/market life cycle as the United States—though executive coaching in these countries might experience quicker passage through the preliminary introduction stage as a result of the experiences in the US. Our European and Australian colleagues will be able to leverage and expand upon the market created in the U S by m ore re adily sho wing the bene fits of executive coaching. Thus, our international colleagues can be nefit from this analysis at earlier stages of their respective market life cycles. They can apply the market lifecycle analysis earlier given the unique dynamics o f their specific market. CONCLUSION The role of this professiona l journal, IJCO, ca n be p ivotal thro ughout the market maturity stage. We can use it as a forum to share best practices and evaluative studies to improve executive coaching services so that they continue to meet the changing needs of executives and the market place. It can provide a forum for the discussion of the leadership issues of our profession. It can disseminate the results of research on the impact of executive coaching and ROI fo r clients. It can facilitate the dialogue and development of executive coaching credentials either in alignment with the existing coaching credentials of MCC/PCC, or as a sep arate p rocess. Through this journal we can encourage and support the intern ational growth of our product. We offer our recommend ations in this article to initiate discussion about strategic actions for our profession as it progresses through the mature stage o f its lifecycle. We believe these actions will increase demand for executive coaching services and ensure a dynam ic future for our p rofessio n. W e challenge each o f you to take action that will forward at least one of these recommended actions—or another of your own design. W e invite you to take this action before the end of the year in order to maintain the vitality of our profession.

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Suzi Pomerantz, MT., MCC Executive Coach, Owner Innovative Leadership International LLC Germ an to wn , M D www.innovativeleader.com suzi@innovativeleader.com v 301-601-1525 f 301-528-9501 Suzi began coaching executives in 1993 and has provided executive coaching and facilitation to over 1000 executive and attorney clients in corp orations such as D uPont, We lch’s, Sears, Lockheed Martin, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Am erican Express Financial Advisors as well as law firms, government agenc ies, and educ ational institutions around the world. Specialties include leadership, busine ss development/sales, communicatio n, presentations and diversity.

Sheila Maher, MA., MBA Business and executive coach ExecuCoachingWashington, DC. www.execucoaching.com smm@execucoaching.com v 202.362.0607 f 202.362.3949 Sheila brings over 20 years experience as a successful executive and management and marketing consultant to her coaching practice. She has served as President and Vice President for a variety of firms and has extensive expe rience working internationally with both private and non-profit organizations. Before becoming a coach she founded an international consulting firm and created over $25 million in business within its first two years.

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