3 major reasons why coaching is on the rise as a profession

Professional coaching as a profession has experienced significant growth in recent years, with more individuals seeking coaching services and more professionals choosing to become coaches.

As a chartered accountant, having worked in corporate finance for almost two decades, my last assignment 3 years back was at a C-suite position.

Then I came across coaching, fell in love with it and decided to setup my own venture into leadership & executive Coaching as I wanted others to experience it.

Several factors have contributed to the rise of coaching as a profession.

Here are top 3 from my journey of why I took it up as a profession:

I demand holistic (personal and professional) Development

I used to earlier keep personal and professional lives separate. There was always a quest to find more fulfilment but did not know what it was. When travelling or pursuing my hobbies, I touched contentment in some ways, but it was transitory in nature.

Coaching helped me to realize that I needed to keep personal and professional life together and not look at them separately.

Coaching provides an effective approach to address a wide range of challenges, such as career transitions, leadership development, work-life balance, and personal growth.

A Shift in my Leadership and Management Style

Early on in my career, as an individual contributor, I used to thrive on being told what is to be done. As I started to climb the corporate ladder and took on new roles and responsibilities, I found that having an entrepreneurial mindset is more rewarding, both to me and the company.

As I wanted my own space to think and work, I decided to lead my team by giving them space to be themselves as they deliver on their targets. They surprised me with their performance which I felt was better than how I would have done the same task.

The traditional top-down, authoritarian leadership and management styles are giving way to more collaborative, empowering, and employee-centric approaches. There is a growing acceptance of coaching as a critical component of talent development and organizational success.

I have access to technology and knowledge

I began my coaching journey during the pandemic times. With more days spent at home, and access to the whole world through online platforms, I was fortunate enough to come across my mentor Peter Reding who is based in Florida, US.

I understood that coaching has been there as a profession for 25+ years but was limited to top leadership in most companies.

The rise of technology and the internet has made coaching more accessible than ever before. This increased accessibility has expanded the potential client base for coaches, leading to a surge in the demand for coaching services.

According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the leading global coaching organization, the number of professional coaches worldwide has grown substantially in the last few years, indicating the rising popularity of coaching as a profession and I am happy to be part of this growing profession.

Sunny is founder at Sunny Connect, a firm specialising in curating programs for Conscious Leadership Development and can be reached at coach@sunnyconnect.in