According to a global study on coaching, commissioned by the American Management Association (AMA) and conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), of the more than 1,000 managers and executives surveyed on the subject of coaching, 60% claim coaching involves high potential employees to a high or very high extent, 42% state the same about executives, and that 37% indicate that they coach problem employees to such a high extent. The survey, Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices defines coaching as "a short- to medium-term relationship between a manager or senior leader and a consultant (internal or external) with the purpose of improving work performance" (Douglas & McCauley, 1999). And this study reveals that coaching is linked to improved performance, both at the individual and organizational levels. "Executive coaching has become one of the tools to achieve effective leadership in today's vastly changing corporate culture. As we increasingly learn how to measure executive coaching, we will find that we manage its role in leadership development better," says Edward T. Reilly, president and CEO of American Management Association. "In going forward, what we have learned from this study will pave the way to a clearer understanding of the possibilities of executive coaching and practice. Change will need to come quickly given the vacancies in top management that are likely to occur due to retirement of the baby boomer generation," Reilly adds. Further findings suggest that raising individual levels of performance is the number one reason for using coaching and that using coaching for this purpose is highly correlated with the success of coaching programs. Yet while there are many ways of designing and implementing coaching programs - not all are equally effective, the study finds. In addition to, when asked to what extent their organizations used certain criteria to match coaches with coaches, survey participants reveal that the most frequent basis for matching was the area of the coach's expertise. In fact, 74% say matching decisions were--either frequently or a great deal--based on finding a coach with the right expertise to address specific issues. Needless to say, matching the right expertise with the right client is associated with higher success rates.

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