Accredit where it’s due

Once upon a time, coaching’s natural home was the sports arena. Within the corporate world, it was seen as the preserve of the screwed-up or self-important. Today it’s commonplace. According to CIPD research published last September, coaching occurs in 90 per cent of organisations.

Clearly, the industry has mushroomed – so all the more reason to select suppliers like funghi: with absolute care. Get it right and you strike the developmental mother lode. Get it wrong and, in the hands of the incompetent or unscrupulous, that well-known coaching acronym “Grow” all-too easily becomes “Shrink”: Scout around; Hype yourself; Research a bit; Invoice up front; Network wildly; Keep moving.