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As industries evolve and businesses grow, leaders need adaptability, emotional intelligence, and the ability to build connections across teams. Traditional training provides essential knowledge, but when it comes to sustaining behavior change and creating a culture of collaboration, training alone isn’t enough.
That’s where group coaching comes in. It is a powerful leadership development modality that can standalone, or in the case with several of our partners – it amplifies the impact of more traditional training. The group coaching methodology helps leaders apply what they’ve learned, navigate real-world challenges, and foster relationships that strengthen an entire organization. Organizations that implement formal coaching or mentoring programs see 20% lower turnover, 46% higher leadership quality, and 23% faster role fulfillment—a clear indicator that when coaching is embedded into development strategy, it drives measurable impact at scale (source).
Training and coaching aren’t competitors—they can be partners. Training can help leaders build awareness of and start using tools, while coaching helps them develop the skills and mindsets to practice those tools in real situations.
Group coaching amplifies what training starts. It turns isolated learning into shared accountability. It helps leaders move from theory to application, and it builds relationships that extend beyond any single program.
“Training delivers valuable, predetermined content to build knowledge and skills. At Medley, we blend the best of both worlds - the structure of session topics and frameworks with the responsiveness and nuance of group coaching. Ultimately meeting leaders where they are and turning real time challenges and insights into sustained change.” - Abigail Finck, Head of Coaching at Medley
Southern Company, one of the largest energy providers in the U.S., employs nearly 30,000 people. With the industry transforming, they faced a challenge: How do you prepare thousands of leaders for change at scale?
“The pace of change caused us to rethink a lot of our talent development strategies,” said Sloane Drake, EVP & CHRO, during a recent Medley Moments conversation with our co-founders Edith Cooper and Jordan Taylor. “We wanted every employee—whether they are out working on a line or sitting in a corporate office—to feel like they have access to develop and grow.”
In partnership with Medley, Southern launched system-wide group coaching cohorts to supercharge their Leadership Academy– with Medley group coaching sessions as space to dive deeper on learnings from Leadership Academy sessions. We matched small groups of peers across various operating companies, with each ‘medley’ of 6-8 leaders guided by an expert Medley coach. Each group met regularly over a multi-month period, to reflect on their own leadership, to build cross-functional trust, and to turn training into tangible action and growth.
The impact to date has been clear:
As Sloane reflected, “We’re already seeing the benefits of those relationships. It’s doing everything we imagined and more.”
At Medley, we believe leadership development isn’t one-size-fits-all. Training builds knowledge. Group coaching brings this knowledge to life, creating the conditions for reflection, accountability, and real change and growth in mindsets and foundational leadership skills.
As organizations navigate one of the most dynamic periods in business history, the leaders who thrive won’t just know what to do. They’ll know how to adapt, connect, and lead with purpose.
Interested in exploring how Medley partners with organizations to deliver group coaching that drives measurable impact? Get in touch with us here.
