If you were offered the services of an executive coach, would you jump at the chance? According to a new survey, most of us would. But a significant proportion of executives sometimes refuse the coaching their employer offers.
A survey by AMA Enterprise of senior managers and executives at 230 American organizations found that a almost two-thirds of employees seldom or never decline coaching when it is offered. But that leaves around a third of executives who are less convinced of the benefits of coaching and who will sometimes refuse to accept it.
AMA Enterprise's Sandi Edwards said that while smart executives recognise that coaching can be a key to their advancement, coaching engagements still need to be handled with tact.
"So long as the objectives for the initiative are transparent for all involved, our experience has been that most coaching assignments are well–received," she said.
Individuals often ask for coaching support, too, said Edwards.
"It seems people request coaching more often than refuse it. Indeed, I think we can infer from our data that people are twice as likely to request coaching as refuse it."
But the survey also found that coaching is usually kept secret at two-thirds of organizations and sometimes secret at a quarter. So why the secrecy? Is there still a stigma or ambivalence around coaching, despite its gaining ground as a sign of status?