Is Generative-Leadership Business Coaching Worth the Money?

In this article, I will explore how the Institue for Generative Leadership (IGL) addresses fundamental concerns of coaching in a business environment.

This is part 4 in a series on the value and effectiveness of business coaching with coaches from various backgrounds. Please see the other articles in the series below.

1. Business Made Simple Coaching (BMSU)
2. International Coach Federation Business Coaches
3. Certified High-Performance Coaching for Business
4. Institute for Generative Leadership (IGL) Business Coaches
5. Masters of Business Administration (MBA)
6. Criteria for Choosing a Business Coach

IGL – The Institute for Generative Leadership

The Institute for Generative Leadership (IGL) does not train people to become coaches. Instead, they work with existing leaders and coaches who want to serve clients within a business environment.   For the latter, it is a requirement that one has already completed formal training as a coach, typically through an ICF program.  That way, IGL supplies many business distinctions that are otherwise missing in coaching or MBA programs.

IGL programs are highly practice-based, and IGL practitioners must show results within their client organizations to proceed through each year of the three-year program.  The courses have a high level of structure and rigor and operate at the level of a master’s degree program.  The IGL is outstanding for learning to navigate the critical conversations that exist in every multi-person business.  In particular, IGL addresses issues arising from human interaction in business, such as:

• Generating commitment to a shared mission, vision, and values 
• Coordinating action to fulfill the mission and satisfy the customer(s) 
• Producing and maintaining trust
• Developing the appropriate moods (emotions) within teams for success
• Fulfilling the roles within a team’s division of labor (who does what).
• Committing to a team’s norms and standards of behavior and excellence.
• Committing to the structure of authority of the team 
• Understanding and using the role of politics (power) to achieve larger goals
• Developing practices for planning, innovation, and anticipation 
• Committing to taking care of the future of the company, team, and the careers of the team members 

Most IGL coaches go through their program while already working within organizations or with existing business clients.  Graduate coaches guide students in the direct application of what they learn toward acquiring new skills with their teams.  That forced practical experience means that by the time one achieves certifications through the IGL, the coach will have already encountered many of the challenges that their clients will face within their teams as leaders.

Who Is an IGL Coach For?

If you are working in an organization that is dealing with any of the following, then an IGL-certified coach will be a significant asset for you:

• Rapid growth
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Culture change
• Restructuring
• Missed deadlines
• Elevated conflict
• Low trust
• Recurrent breakdowns

Where Does IGL Fall Short for Business Coaching Clients?

Although the IGL is exceptional at developing a coach’s skills working within an organization, they are not well-positioned to help you grow your business directly.  While IGL recognizes that customer acquisition through sales and marketing is essential, they do relatively little to develop its practitioners’ skill to coach in that area.  An IGL coach is uniquely situated to improve processes and communication within an organization but may not be the right fit to grow the business through marketing and sales conversations.

In some ways, IGL is a mirror image of The Business Made Simple program. A coach with both skillsets combined is in a phenomenal position to help a business grow from internal and external perspectives. 

My Experience with the IGL Coaching Program

I graduated from IGL’s Coaching Excellence in Organizations (CEO) program in 2017. I found it one of the most practical business coaching programs that I’ve taken. I already had a Masters degree in Behavioral Science when I went in, and the IGL program was far more practical toward addressing real-life organizational challenges.  Fundamentally, an  IGL coach is uniquely suited to identify and resolve breakdowns within organizations.  

During my time with the IGL program, I worked on three major projects.

• For a large Internet Service Provider, I reduced the recurrent breakdowns of trust from failures to meet internal promises.  The project shifted how the team made agreements, increased the number of deadlines delivered, improved quality standards, and reduced turnover. 
• For a professional service group, I shifted the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to factors more relevant to bottom-line results.  The project resulted in an additional $587K in top-line revenue, for a 66% gain year over year.
• For a software QA team, I led efforts to increase automation, which allowed them to reduce iteration speed by 88% and drive quality metrics earlier in the development process.

If you are facing recurrent breakdowns with communication and internal processes, then let’s have a conversation about how to address them and grow your business.