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CINDY WILSON/TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Dave Veale of Vision Coaching Inc. in Saint John says businesses are developing a strong understanding of
the need to develop strong leadership. Training: Forward-thinking companies investing heavily in leadership development
Erin Dwyer for the Telegraph-Journal
Published Saturday June 23rd, 2007
Appeared on page E1 There is a looming crisis in corporate Canada and it has nothing to do with ethics or the Harper government’s move to tax income trusts.
The problem is the dwindling supply of leaders and talent within companies as baby boomers retire and Canada’s pool of available workers shrinks, making a company’s job of retaining bright people even more difficult. According to Statistics Canada, more workers are nearing retirement than ever before. In 2005, an estimated 3.6 million workers were within 10 years of the median retirement age of 61. At the same time, the federal agency is predicting that Canada, and New Brunswick in particular, will lose tens of thousands of available workers as a result of baby boomers retiring and Canadians having fewer kids.
So given the predictable need for corporate managers, what are organizations to do? Forward-thinking firms are investing heavily in leadership development and focusing on building up bench strength, readying their top young guns to take over when the time comes. And more and more, they are turning to executive coaches to help them do that, said David Veale, whose Saint John-based company Vision Coaching Inc. opened two years ago to meet the demand.
"A strong business follows strong leadership," he said. "It seems to me there’s a strong understanding of this and organizations are willing to invest in leadership."
For example, IBM has more than 60 certified coaches in its ranks, and scores of other major companies have made coaching a core part of executive development. New Brunswick companies, too, are catching on, Veale said. They are seeing that one-on-one interaction with an objective third party can provide a focus that other forms of organizational support cannot.
Here’s how it works:
Coaching provides a confidential space in which employees can be honest and hear feedback from an objective party, Veale said. It helps them as they find solutions to build on their strengths. It gets people thinking in new ways and, much like a physical trainer, holds them accountable to their action plan. At the most basic level, it can provide a sounding board to those in the upper echelons who are not receiving it from anywhere else. They may want feedback on their ideas on increasing revenue, the problems they are encountering with a lagging department or how they can improve on their leadership skills without revealing their weaknesses to either their staff or board of directors.
"You’ve got this place where you can download what is going on, you can strategize and work through issues and you’ve got someone who’s keeping you accountable in making a real difference. You want to have measurable results."
But it’s the confidentiality with the outside party that makes external coaching especially attractive, Veale said. "I have no skin in the game," he said. "I’m paid up front so not even that card can be played. I have no other reason to support and challenge someone other than being able to partner in them fulfilling their full business potential."
Veale is one of the founders of Profiles Global (Atlantic) Inc., a human resources consulting firm specializing n behavioural assessments in the workplace. Several years ago, the idea of branching off into executive coaching came up after he kept hearing requests from the companies he was working with. At the time, he didn’t know what executive coaching was all about.
"But I was really intrigued by this and I was really interested in the type of individuals who were asking about coaching."
After studying at the Royal Roads University in Victoria, Veale and his two fellow coaches received their graduate certificate in executive coaching and opened Vision Coaching Inc. in 2005. At first, most of their clients were from outside Atlantic Canada, and as far away as Australia. But quickly, the company began gaining clients in the Maritimes.
At first, the coaching company was focused on providing coaching to top-level executives - a business owner, a CEO or a manager. Already at the top of their company or department, these people often have no one to turn to for mentorship or support. Executive coaching, however, provides that forum for them.
"It acknowledges the leader can’t be all things to everyone," Veale said. "That’s part of what a coach’s job is. If they don’t have the answers, you help them find where to look for the answers."But gradually, the coaching company found itself working with other ranks within the corporate structure at the request of the companies themselves.
"We’ve had organizations pull us in and say, ’How do we develop coaching competencies in our leadership? How do we develop leaders?" Veale said. "It has moved us away from working at the strictly at the executive layer. "So we’ve subscribed to this concept of leader without title," he added. "Leadership falls all over an organization and you don’t have to have the formal leadership to be a leader."
Veale said the changing demographics within the workplace and the new generation of workers with different expectations has created this new way of thinking within the corporate world. No longer is monetary compensation among an employee’s top 12 reasons for job satisfaction, according to Gallup ’s Q12 poll.
"The environment is changing at a rapid pace and that takes a new approach," he said. "It’s important that people start thinking in new ways and at the end of the day coaching taps into new thinking.
"I think if (companies) want to retain top leaders and they want to support leaders, coaching is a great way to do that," he added. "We’re learning that organizations that really foster and embrace new thoughts and creativity are the ones that are growing."
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