Research Connection
Building Blocks
Mark Ruth
Mark is ICF’s Director of
Research and Education. He
has been an ICF Global staff
member for more than eight
years. His team maintains
oversight of ICF Member
research and the development
of all global industry studies
commissioned by ICF.
14 Coaching World
As a growing number of organizations realize the value in adding coaching
to their talent management and leadership development strategies, the role
of many professional coach practitioners—both internal and external—has
shifted. While past conversations with human resources (HR) and learning
and development (L&D) professionals focused on why professional coaching
would be beneficial, today coaching practitioners are tasked with articulating
how to design initiatives that will foster emerging coaching cultures.
This process has raised critical questions: What does a successful coaching culture look
like? What’s more, how can coaches and organizational decision-makers collaborate to
design a coaching culture that is impactful, sustainable and aligned with strategic goals?
These questions prompted ICF to create Building a Coaching Culture, a new piece of
signature research conducted in partnership with the Human Capital Institute (HCI).