At last! A study of the effectiveness and best practices in executive coaching by a respected non-coaching organization. The AMA has published “Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices”. It’s a very large publication that even someone passionate about the topic may shy away from reading, here are a few of the study findings from the introduction:

• Coaching is used by half of today’s companies (52% in U.S., 55% International)
• Coaching is gaining in popularity. 37% of U.S. companies and 56% in the international arena say coaching programs will be implemented in the future.
• Coaching is correlated with with higher performance. Companies using coaching more than in the past are more likely to report that their organizations have higher levels of success in the area of coaching and are more likely to report that their organizations are performing well in the market.
• Coaching is primarily used to boost individual performance.
• Clear reasons for using coaching will boost the chances that the coaching process is viewed as successful.
• Evaluating coaching’s performance may help boost success rates. Measuring effectiveness seems to correlate with success in a coaching program.
• Having an interview with a prospective coach has the strongest relationship to reporting a successful coaching program.
• Matching a coach and client according to expertise and personality is a top strategy for success.

There are others, but these were the ones that caught my attention. It’s great to see such positive news about executive coaching from a well respected organization.