Make the case for coaching

Getting buy-in for coaching is about more than budget approval. It is a chance to connect leadership development with the challenges your organization needs people to solve.

The original guide points to DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025: only 40% of leaders rated leadership quality as high, while trust in managers fell from 46% to 29%. These figures describe the research context of the guide. They are not a diagnosis of every organization.

Disengaged teams, missed opportunities, and leaders struggling with complexity create a reason to examine whether existing development is meeting the need. A coaching proposal is stronger when it explains how leader growth could contribute to measurable outcomes such as productivity, execution quality, and revenue performance.

Whether you are launching a new initiative or expanding an existing one, the five strategies in this guide help connect the proposed investment to business needs, stakeholder priorities, and a practical measurement plan.

“Understanding how to develop leaders inside a company is one of the biggest challenges for every founder and CEO. Torch helps create better leaders. Pretty much a no-brainer.”

Justin Kan, Co-founder of Twitch, quoted in the original guide.

Source: DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025.

Build a case for coaching as an investment in the work your organization needs to do, not simply another leadership program. Start with the business problem, the relevant development gap, and the evidence you will use to judge progress.

The leadership development challenge

The guide identifies four problems to investigate in an existing development approach:

• Low completion: Are people starting courses without finishing them?
• Knowledge that does not stick: Do participants have opportunities to apply and reinforce what they learn?
• A confidence gap: Do executives believe the current programs help leaders perform?
• Generic content: Does development address the individual's needs and the organization's context?

Why coaching can help

• Personalized growth: Coaching adapts to a leader's strengths and challenges in their actual business context.
• Supported development: A trusting relationship gives leaders space to discuss challenges, examine assumptions, and try different approaches.
• Built-in accountability: Regular check-ins can create momentum and commitment to meaningful change.
• Real-world integration: Leaders work on applying learning in their daily work rather than only discussing concepts in isolation.

Connect evidence to the organization's challenge

If execution speed is the concern, focus on decision quality, alignment, and delivery. If talent flight is the concern, examine retention and the actual cost of replacing leaders. Use organizational data and clearly identified research, not an assumed percentage uplift or a universal return on investment.

The original guide cites the Global Leadership Forecast 2025 in discussing the relationship between a strong leadership bench and business performance. It also cites Torch's 2025 leadership survey: 32% of leaders felt prepared for the demands described in that research, and nearly 40% identified leadership confidence amid disruption as a challenge. Such survey findings establish a research context; they do not establish that a particular coaching program caused a business result.

Define the outcomes you want to test

These are measurement categories, not guaranteed outcomes or standard percentage improvements. The original PDF includes additional promotional statistics that are not reproduced here where it does not provide enough source detail to support the claim.

Research references named or linked in the original guide include DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025, Torch's Leadership Survey Report 2025, and an International Coaching Federation coaching ROI reference. An external ROI figure should not be treated as the expected return for your program.

A coaching investment often needs support from several stakeholders. Each evaluates it through a different set of responsibilities. Understand those priorities before asking for approval.

An executive sponsor

Look for a respected leader who has personally experienced the benefits of coaching and is willing to champion the initiative. Specific, authentic testimony is more useful than a general endorsement.

Likely concerns: Business impact, organizational performance, and the speed and quality of leadership execution.

Approach: Help the sponsor explain how coaching affected their decisions and what changed for their team. Separate personal experience from outcomes that have been measured.

“I was shocked by how much I could learn about myself in such a short time. I feel calmer and more thoughtful. I am more aware of how people respond to certain approaches.”

Joseph T, Engineering Lead, quoted in the original guide.

Finance: build a partnership early

Rather than treating Finance as a hurdle, invite the team's perspective while developing the proposal. Share your thinking, examine assumptions together, and connect the program to business impact.

Focus on three questions:

• Talent economics: What does unwanted turnover actually cost this organization, and which parts could plausibly be affected by development?
• Performance: Which delivery or performance measures matter, and how will you assess whether they change?
• Decision quality: What would better-informed strategic choices look like in this business?

Use real organizational data rather than the illustrative savings and speed claims in the original PDF. Finance needs a thoughtful plan, transparent assumptions, and a clear connection between leadership needs and proposed investment.

Start small and learn

The guide presents a “90-Day Shift” approach: begin with a focused group, clarify leadership strengths and gaps, identify barriers to success, and develop a roadmap before committing to broader expansion. This is the original guide's proposed starting approach, not confirmation of a currently available package or a promise of results within 90 days. Agree the scope, evidence, and decision criteria for any pilot with the people delivering it.

Chief Human Resources Officer or Head of People

Likely concerns: Alignment with business strategy, measurable value, and retention economics.

Approach: Connect coaching with the people strategy and explain how reduced unwanted turnover or improved execution would be assessed. Use the organization's own cost assumptions.

Learning and development leaders

Likely concerns: Program effectiveness, resource optimization, and whether learning is applied.

Approach: Show how contextual coaching connects individual development with work. Describe the behaviors participants will practice and the evidence that will indicate application, rather than relying on a fixed short-term improvement claim.

Business unit leaders

Likely concerns: Team performance, execution speed, and alignment with functional goals.

Approach: Relate the proposal to their specific challenges, such as decision-making, cross-functional collaboration, or market responsiveness.

Technology and security leaders

Likely concerns: Platform security, user experience, integrations, and implementation requirements.

Approach: Arrange review of the actual security documentation, system requirements, and implementation responsibilities for the proposed program. Do not assume that every deployment has the same integration needs or IT workload.

Department leaders

Likely concerns: Team performance, departmental priorities, and resource allocation, particularly where the department will fund participation.

Approach: Involve them early in selection and connect coaching with the work their team needs to accomplish. Give them a role in defining meaningful performance evidence.

“Without Torch coaching, I would not have identified areas to focus my growth efforts. My coach was able to visualize what areas to work on and offer real advice on how to improve.”

Robert B, Executive, quoted in the original guide.

Financial return matters, but a useful measurement plan also examines the changes that could contribute to it. The guide connects trust, feedback, individual development, team behavior, and organizational execution.

It cites DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025 in discussing how trust in managers relates to openness to feedback, coaching, and development, and how development integrated into a broader strategy relates to leadership capability. These research relationships are not proof of causation for a proposed coaching program.

Use the following matrix to organize the business case. The timing is the guide's suggested planning framework, not a guaranteed schedule for change.

The matrix helps stakeholders see several connected pathways to value. Agree which measures are available, who owns them, and what other influences could affect the results.

For a Torch program, confirm the actual reporting available and the frequency and scope of data collection. The original PDF's broad statement about all these metrics being captured in real time should not be read as a current, universal reporting promise.

Source linked in the original guide: DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025.

Urgency should come from the organization's situation, not from a generic claim that everyone needs the same intervention. The guide cites DDI's 2025 research describing a 20% decline in frontline leaders' sense of purpose since 2020 while purpose increased among C-suite leaders. It uses this disconnect to prompt a discussion about support, alignment, and the demands on different leadership levels.

“Why now?”

Prepare a concrete answer:

• What challenges will leaders continue to face without additional support during the next month or quarter?
• Are the demands becoming more complex while current development remains unchanged?
• Is there evidence of a disconnect between senior leadership and the frontline that affects the organization's mission or execution?

Use the historical purpose finding as context, then establish whether a similar issue exists in your organization.

“We already have training programs.”

• Training introduces concepts; coaching can help leaders apply them to actual decisions and relationships.
• During market shifts or AI integration, coaching can provide a place to work through emerging challenges as they arise.
• Existing training may address known requirements, while coaching can help a leader explore an unfamiliar situation. Explain how the two approaches would complement each other.

“The ROI is not clear enough.”

• Connect the program with specific business priorities and define measures of goal attainment, alignment, and execution quality.
• Where feasible, use a suitable comparison group or other evaluation design. The original guide proposes A/B testing; comparisons need appropriate design and interpretation rather than automatically proving causation.
• Compare the investment with your organization's actual costs of leadership gaps, turnover, and replacement. Do not assume a universal replacement-cost multiple.

Quantify the delay

• Estimate unwanted turnover costs for the leaders in scope, including the assumptions behind the calculation.
• Examine the effect of stress or burnout on performance and innovation. The guide cites a DDI 2025 finding that 40% of stressed leaders had considered leaving.
• Consider relevant evidence about how other organizations are investing in leadership, without assuming competitors' results or attributing unmeasured advantages.

Offer strategic starting points

• High-impact leadership transitions.
• Critical teams navigating significant change.
• Leaders with substantial organizational influence.
• Areas experiencing engagement or retention challenges.

Connect the timing to a real initiative or challenge, such as AI transformation, a market shift, or cultural change. Explain why the proposed population and intervention fit that need.

Source: DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025.

A business case becomes more actionable when it includes a funding model and a practical path to implementation. The guide cites DDI's 2025 research reporting that only 20% of HR leaders felt confident in their leadership pipeline. Its recommendation is to connect investment with the future leadership needs of the business.

Funding options

• Centralized model: A core investment from the learning and development or HR budget, aligned with the people strategy.
• Shared investment: Costs distributed among benefiting departments based on participation.
• Graduated expansion: Start with high-impact groups and expand when the evidence supports doing so.
• Blended funding: Combine a dedicated coaching budget with individual development allowances.

“I’ve become more intentional about how I communicate, ensuring that I’m actively listening, showing empathy, and understanding different perspectives. This has led to stronger collaboration and a more supportive work environment.”

Azam M, Business Leader, quoted in the original guide.

Match the model to the organization

The original guide offers the following experience-based suggestions. They are starting points for discussion, not evidence that one model will always perform best.

Source linked in the original guide: DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025.

The guide proposes four phases. Adapt the schedule to the population, business need, and delivery plan; it is not a promised time to impact or a fixed package specification.

1. Partner and plan: 0 to 1 month

   • Assess leadership strengths and business needs with the coaching partner.
   • Define success measures aligned with organizational goals.
   • Select and match coaches around the development needs in scope.

2. Start coaching and collect insights: 2 to 4 months

   • Launch engagements focused on real-world challenges.
   • Use agreed feedback mechanisms to identify leadership patterns.
   • Provide targeted resources that support application between sessions.

3. Use insights and integrate: 6 to 12 months

   • Connect coaching insights with organizational initiatives.
   • Measure initial individual and team outcomes using the agreed plan.
   • Adjust in response to participant feedback and business needs.

4. Scale and sustain: 12 or more months

   • Consider expansion to a broader leadership population.
   • Embed coaching in leadership development pathways.
   • Document costs, outcomes, and experience-based stories to inform the next investment decision.

The aim is to start at an appropriate scope and make expansion evidence-informed. Contextual coaching connects the development agenda with the organization's needs; no approach can guarantee maximum impact from every dollar.

The guide describes five elements of Torch's approach to connecting individual development and organizational needs:

1. Partnership

   Understand the organization's goals and context so coaching can address real business challenges.

2. Coaches who understand leadership

   Combine coaching practice with relevant leadership experience to help leaders navigate complexity and change. Discuss the experience and matching criteria required for the particular population.

3. Capacities that last

   Go beyond task-specific skills to develop capacities such as seeing the bigger picture and navigating uncertainty.

4. A contextual feedback loop

   Use agreed patterns and insights from the program to inform organizational learning. Confirm the actual confidentiality, consent, reporting, and aggregation arrangements; this is not a promise that every program shares the same information or privacy design.

5. Practicing development internally

   The guide describes coaching as part of how Torch's own team learns and grows, alongside its work with clients.

The five strategies work together: present relevant evidence, understand the decision-makers, define a broader measurement plan, explain the cost of delay, and propose a practical implementation path.

The case is not simply for a budget line. It is for a development approach that connects individual growth with the capacities the organization needs, including resilience, adaptability, and human connection.

Use the worksheet below to turn the guide into an organization-specific proposal. A useful conversation with a coaching partner should explore your challenges, the population in scope, the outcomes that matter, and how you will know whether the program is helping.

Step 1: quantify the business impact of inaction

• What leadership execution gaps are directly affecting business performance?
• Where is leadership turnover or team disengagement affecting revenue or customer outcomes?
• How are decision delays or execution problems affecting market responsiveness?
• What happens to quarterly performance if leadership effectiveness remains unchanged?

Use actual business examples and financial implications to make the stakes clear.

Step 2: map key approvers and champions

• Who controls the budget allocation: executive leadership, Finance, HR, or another owner?
• Who faces the most direct business impact from improved leadership?
• What objections is each stakeholder likely to raise?

Engage decision-makers early by connecting the proposal with business objectives.

Step 3: define specific business outcomes

Choose the top two or three priorities the program is intended to support:

• Faster strategic execution and decision-making.
• Improved cross-functional collaboration.
• Revenue performance and market responsiveness.
• Talent retention and succession readiness.
• Another priority specific to your organization.

Explain how coaching could contribute to these challenges and what evidence would show progress.

Step 4: plan a focused starting phase

The original worksheet labels this the “90-Day Shift” implementation approach.

• Which leaders offer the greatest opportunity for business impact? Consider their strategic position, team size, and influence on performance.
• Which performance measures could demonstrate early progress?
• Who will own implementation and accountability for the results?

Use this phase to clarify the leadership landscape and develop a roadmap. Confirm any program name, availability, timing, and scope with the delivery team.

Step 5: anticipate and address objections

• Which business case elements will each stakeholder need to see?
• Which credible competitor benchmarks or industry comparisons are relevant?
• How will results be communicated to leadership?

Use specific outcomes, sound economic assumptions, and business examples. Distinguish measured results from projections and identify what still needs to be tested.