Mike Saporito is our guest blogger today. He focuses on the forces leading to the inevitability of the digital coach within the enterprise. I have to admit I was sceptical – how could technology replace the human touch needed in coaching? But Mike’s product is similar to the 30 Day Challenge that I spear-headed through my blog in my previous company, to help people to adopt people development habits. It’s a great way of supporting people to stick to new habits.
Mike writes:
You Don’t Have to be a Top Executive to Have a Coach:
Why Powerful Forces Invite Digital Coaching into the Enterprise
Sports have never been more competitive. Win and you become a hero. Lose and you are forgotten. Everybody is looking for an edge.
Coaches in sports use technology to exceed the rising expectations of competition, players, and fans. A tiny tweak here. A small adjustment there. All in the heat of the moment as the game is underway.
How do these realities apply to you and your organisation?
Good Intentions Fall Short
A high-achiever walks away from a training session, executive keynote, or annual conference. She is ready to take her results to the next level. Her motivation and ability burns bright. Yet the flame fizzles.
How many times have you seen the “fizzle” effect?
Executive coaching is widely viewed as an effective way to solve this problem. Research suggests coaching increases performance by 88% compared to training improving performance by 22%.
That is why the best executive leadership programs for high-potential talent have coaches heavily involved throughout the process.
However conventional wisdom says coaching cannot scale, and should only be prioritized for high investment talent. The cost and time away from the business are reasons often cited for this belief.
Powerful Forces Collide
Digital coaching provides the answer to the fizzle effect. Digital coaching helps leaders take small steps towards their goals during the natural rhythm of the business.
Three forces point to digital coaching as a next frontier tool to win in the marketplace:
- Drive for results: High performance is a must. Expectations will only rise. Most leaders are overwhelmed with business complexity. They yearn for focus, simplicity, and clarity. A new solution is sought.
- Consumerisation of technology: Our lives are impacted by technology more each day. Easy-to-use, unobtrusive tools have the potential to shape how we feel, think and act daily. People welcome this fact in their personal lives. High performers will in their professional lives too.
- Advances in science: New discoveries by neuroscientists and psychologists continue to demystify human behaviour. Assumptions about behaviour and motivation are now supported empirically. Leaders acting on these insights will gain competitive advantage.
The Digital Coaching Difference
Coaching integrated into the rhythm of the business represents a breakthrough in how work can get done. A digital coach creates the key characteristics present in human-to-human interactions. It scales a proven approach to the masses instead of reserving the benefit for the select few.
Powerful questions are asked. New habits are triggered. Awareness and reflection is encouraged. Commitments are kept. Insights are shared.
The stage is set for a new era of coaching. The path to the seamless digital coach will have its bumps, but the benefits and potential cannot be denied.
Question: What could be possible in your organization if everyone had access to a coach to elevate their performance?
About the author: Mike Saporito is a founder of SmartHabit, an organization bringing together executive coaches, business leaders, behavioural scientists, and technologists to build the digital coach for the enterprise. Learn more at www.smarthabit.com. Contact Mike at mike@smarthabit.com
