“The most powerful incentive for change”: Coaching as a strategic investment in business

The coaching industry in Bulgaria has developed significantly over the past two decades, and its tools go far beyond simple training. Rather, coaching is about provoking and shifting the mindset paradigm so that a person can grow both personally and as an organizational leader.

What are the most popular coaching services today? What are the criteria for a highly qualified coach and what are the pitfalls stemming from the lack of regulation of coaching as a profession? We talked about these questions with Magdalena Nikolova, an entrepreneur, organizational psychologist and business coach with over 20 years of experience.

She co-founded the Bulgarian branch of the International Coaching Federation and is an accredited NLP trainer from the International Trainers and Coaching Academy of NLP—ITCA, USA. She also founded My Leadership Center.

Ms. Nikolova, My Leadership Center is one of the pioneers in the Bulgarian coaching market. How has this market developed and changed over the years?

Coaching as an approach used to be completely unknown, and today, about 20 years later, it is the most sought-after tool by businesses seeking change and improvement of results. The beginning of the coaching approach in Bulgaria can be most strongly linked to the fact that in 2007 the USA approved my project to create a branch of the International Coach Federation in Bulgaria and together with some colleagues of mine we set it up. A little earlier, I also founded MLC International – a business leadership coaching company, later rebranded to My Leadership Center.

At that time, in 2007, in Bulgaria, there were only a few pioneering people in this field. Businesses mainly conducted classical training, and their teams were used to the lecture-type teaching model. The coaching approach was an innovation in the development of potential and a completely different way to provoke a person's mind, to provoke the search for new strategies for action by asking strong questions. Since coaching had already shown strong results in large businesses in the USA and Europe, the headquarters of foreign companies with branches in Bulgaria began to recommend its integration as a service here as well. This was the beginning of the first major projects.

And how does the local coaching industry compare to those in other countries in Europe and the USA?

Until about ten years ago, it was common in Bulgaria to seek the service of "individual business coaching sessions". The trend in recent years, however, is for leading companies to plan, create and integrate a comprehensive coaching management culture. It means that managers use coaching as one of their effective leadership styles in order to ease going through market transformations and the implementation of new technologies and artificial intelligence.

With the ESG regulations, especially in the part for including non-financial information in the audit reports of public companies, I also observe a trend in which the listed public companies require their branches in countries, such as Bulgaria, to optimize their work principles and team relations, management models, behaviors related to values ​​and the transparency of company processes. These processes are also part of the creation of a coaching culture in a company. Today, we are no longer talking about a separate package of individual coaching sessions, but about a comprehensive strategy, including various elements in a specific sequence.

In Bulgaria, there are currently world-class projects, but their volume is not as large as in other countries. After all, our market is much smaller. For example, service quality when comparing Bulgaria and Switzerland, where my experience and career began, is identical. The situation is similar in comparison to other countries in Western Europe and the USA.

How has the attitude of Bulgarian companies and managers towards coaching changed over the years?

I will answer like this: I can say with absolute conviction that the corporate understanding of stimulating thinking, proactivity and a sense of responsibility in managers versus receiving ready-made answers is significantly increasing every year. This speaks to a stronger awareness that coaching is the most effective tool for identifying areas for improvement in the individuals, the teams, business processes and organizational culture and hence the most powerful incentive for change in both strategic planning and risk management.

It is increasingly important for organizations to measure both the quantitative and qualitative results of each project, including the rate of return. Coaching is no longer seen simply as a tool for employee development but as a strategic approach to improving business performance – revenue, team satisfaction and process efficiency. It is establishing itself as a key factor for sustainable growth, not just an alternative to traditional training.

What types of companies and managers most often seek your services? 

My Leadership Center's clients fall into three main categories – corporate environment, entrepreneurs and state administration. In the corporate sphere, these are mainly large companies with coverage in many markets, whose headquarters have already undertaken a policy of creating an organizational coaching culture. We are also observing an increase in interest from Bulgarian companies. For years, we have been working with organizations from the state administration on projects aimed at a fundamental transformation of thinking attitudes at different hierarchical levels with a focus on personal responsibility, motivation, proactivity and effective communication, as well as optimizing processes and giving greater visibility to the way of working with customers. And, of course, there are entrepreneurs and startups looking for a business model that works efficiently and can launch their products. 

Our work covers almost all areas, but the integration of the coaching approach has some specifics according to the context. Our approach in a corporate environment differs in communication style and project management compared to the state administration. There are also significant differences in building project architecture in the service sector compared to the manufacturing sector. That is why the My Leadership Center team has multidisciplinary experts so that we can respond to the current situation for each client.    

What are the most sought-after coaching services currently?

The services that we provide from My Leadership Center as a partner to businesses and organizations are individual and team business coaching sessions, accredited programs for mastering the coaching approach, as well as comprehensive projects for integrating a coaching culture for growth and sustainability in the organization. 

The Business Coaching Sessions for Strategic Leadership service is aimed at clients working in the positions of Executive Director, Board of Directors member, and CEO-1 positions. Some of the topics there are strategic planning, restructuring, market positioning, leadership and management style, implementation of new regulations, creation of sustainable management practices, improvement of commercial strategy, and preparation of individuals with potential for career growth and development, among others. 

In Business Coaching sessions for operational-level managers, we work with middle management in the company. The main focus here is creating and optimizing processes in the team, improving communication, creating an environment of trust, provoking creativity, strengthening loyalty and commitment, goal-setting models, delegation and performance tracking, and more. 

In Business Team Coaching sessions, the focus is on current case studies – such as processes, interpersonal team relationships or strategies for market positioning and effective access to the client. This format encourages improved communication, faster-informed decision-making, proactivity and creativity in finding sustainable market solutions. The end result is not only optimal case resolution but also improved team dynamics, taking responsibility and more effective interaction between units.

Accredited coaching skills programs can be internal to the organization and are aimed at its employees, where the goal is to build a coaching culture, a culture of growth and stronger results. However, twice a year we offer an open accredited leadership program "Business NLP Practitioner with Coaching Skills", in which the most practical models of coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming are mastered. The program lasts three months and focuses heavily on organizational psychology. It ends with a three-level certification and an internationally recognized certificate for successfully completed participants.

For those who want to change their professional path or field of work, we also offer career coaching. The service is particularly designed for young people looking for the most suitable degree and career. It has the aim of forming the future leaders of Europe while they are at the end of their secondary education. 

What are the criteria for becoming a professional coach in Bulgaria today? What qualifications and certifications are required? 

Here’s the big picture - coaching is not a profession. It is not regulated as such, even in the USA. Those who wish to develop in the approach can complete 1-2 levels of courses and begin working as a coach; there is no regulation that limits it. But this can also end up misleading the business clients and damage the image of our service. The International Coach Federation in Bulgaria has created a framework and a Code of Ethics, according to which there are an increasing number of people working professionally with this approach. 

Specifically in my practice, I find that the good results are linked to the fact that I am an organizational psychologist and have been working as such with businesses for 20 years. Coaching with the NLP approach is an additional tool. And this is my formula for the success of the clients I work with. I believe in the serious foundation and experience in understanding human cognition and behavior and in specifying them in an organizational environment. We have modeled the business coaching service of My Leadership Center after the best experts in Switzerland, England, France, the USA and Canada and we continue to upgrade and develop it.

In the My Leadership Center team, our highly qualified experts undergo accredited coaching programs and are proficient in high-level coaching with an NLP approach. Additionally, some are certified in project management (PMI), and others in Employer branding or Agile. By combining solid theoretical training with many years of professional experience, we have created a team of leading specialists who apply the coaching approach at a world-class level, and the results and feedback from clients confirm this. 

Is coaching accessible to different client segments (such as small and medium-sized businesses or individuals)?

The accessibility of a product or service depends not only on the financial capabilities of customers but also on the perception of received value from it. Every successful business or professional invests in its development – ​​the question is in choosing the right tools and their long-term value. A short course can cover a broad topic but does not always provide the necessary answers. There are different formats depending on the case and the individual. Our clients perceive coaching as a strategic investment. Managers promoted to a higher position confidently prepare for their new responsibilities and the next step in their careers. Entrepreneurs, after 5–10 coaching business sessions, sort out their priorities and build effective processes that accelerate their growth instead of wasting time and resources with a “trial and error” approach. Global statistics show that the return on investment (ROI) from coaching reaches over 600%.

Which new technologies and methods are used in coaching today?

Nowadays, we achieve the highest results by combining coaching and NLP models. Coaching is key to leadership, strategic thinking, prioritization, active listening, understanding the client, and effective communication. NLP helps with profiling, change management, and building a personal brand. With the advent of artificial intelligence, this trend will intensify. The question is not man versus AI, but how the right skills, combined with AI, lead to the best results. The manager of the future will be a leader in thinking attitudes, someone who provokes creativity. That way, professionals will not fear that AI is going to replace them but will rather focus on becoming a valuable resource together with new technologies.

The interview was prepared with the assistance of My Leadership Center.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov