Leadership Coaching is different. Potential is critical for the future. You cannot polish plastic shoes !

Coaching in the Corporate world, albeit a late entrant, seems to be a rather very common prescription. More so in absence of proper understanding, it is a default option. It is presumed to be a 'panacea' for all corporate performance shortcomings and behavioural deficits. But the effect of Coaching in all situations, is suspect.

Unless the raw material is really rich and potentially polishable, coaching will have slow and marginal effects. Plastic shoes cannot be polished. Aluminium when polished cannot give a shine...brass and silver can certainly be polished.

Talent like wise, needs to be observed at the ground level. Unless it holds a strong promise and has the potential, investment in coaching shall not yield impressive performance results. Infact, it may reflect the Hawthorne effect but in the long run, it will be like polishing plastic shoes.

Plastic has its own advantages for which it may be used but you cannot imagine to polish it to get a better shine. For that analogy to apply, real talent potential identification is absolutely necessary. Only if you invest coaching time on such high potential talent, its yield will really be worth while and desirable.