How Literacy Leads to Leadership: Our Commitment Beyond the Classroom

Leadership development programs are often understood in terms of the organization itself: improving performance, building capacity, reducing turnover, and so on. Of course, these outcomes matter and the research consistently supports the need to focus on these areas. But there is a broader question that I think is worth asking.

“What does it actually mean to develop better leaders? And where does that development begin?”

At The Coaching Academy for Leaders, our mission is to support better leaders for a better world through coaching. That’s not just a tagline for the website. It reflects my genuine belief that leadership, when developed with intention, extends its impact far beyond any single organization. It impacts individual teams, their families, and their communities. It changes how people communicate, listen, and support others around them in all aspects of their life, not just at work.

This blog is about what that looks like in practice, including why we at The Coaching Academy for Leaders are a proud supporter of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, and why we see that support as a direct reflection of our values.

What You’ll Find Inside

Inside this blog, we will cover why leadership development extends beyond organizational walls, the connection between literacy and leadership capacity, and what the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation (CCLF) 2025 Impact Report tells us about early literacy in Canada.

We will also review why The Coaching Academy for Leaders is a sponsor of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, and how you can take your first step towards becoming a coaching leader and have a positive impact on those around you. 

Leadership That Expands Outward 

One of the things we see most often with the skills developed through coaching-based leadership programs is that they do not stay within the professional environments they were initially intended to improve. When leaders build the capacity to coach (to listen actively, ask better questions, create space for reflection and growth in others), those skills stick with them whether they are in the office or not.

The International Coaching Federation (ICF)’s 2025 Global Coaching Study found that the coaching profession now generates approximately $5.34 billion USD in annual revenue across the globe. This is a 17% increase from the 2023 study, with more than 122,000 active coaches worldwide.

The growth in the industry isn’t an accident. It indicates an increased recognition that coaching skills such as communication, empathy, critical thinking, and the ability to develop those around you are foundational leadership competencies, not optional add-ons for leaders.

Research from the 2023 Human Capital Institute report Defining New Coaching Cultures found that 89% of organizations identified communication as a key reason for investing in coaching, and that 72% reported a direct correlation between coaching and increased employee engagement. 

These are organizational outcomes, but they trace back to human-first skills. And those skills will show up more broadly in how a leader parents, how they interact with their community, and how they treat the people around them who are not names on an org chart.

This is what we mean when we say better leaders for a better world. The ripple effect of leadership has a real impact.

Our Commitment to the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation 

The Coaching Academy for Leaders is a proud sponsor of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation (CCLF). The CCLF is Canada’s national charitable organization dedicated to ensuring every child has access to the early literacy skills they need to thrive.

Each year, a portion of our enrollment revenue goes directly to supporting CCLF’s work. This is a values-driven decision. We truly believe that leadership development does not begin in a boardroom or within a coaching program. Instead, it begins in the earliest years of a child’s life, when language is being formed, curiosity is being nurtured, and when the foundation for future learning is being laid.

The CCLF’s 2025 Impact Report reflects significant growth in their reach and impact. In 2025 alone:

• 75,000 children were reached through the Early Words program, a 17% increase from 2024
• 751 healthcare providers were trained to have early literacy conversations with families, a 66% increase from 2024
• 2,200 early years educators were trained through the newly launched Early Words for Early Years Educators program
• 67,032 books were distributed to families across clinics and hospitals, a 34% increase from 2024
• The Early Words program now operates across 121 sites in nine provinces and all three territories.

These numbers represent real lived experiences happening across Canada. A parent learning for the first time that it is totally fine for their baby to explore a book with all of their senses, or an educator now equipped to incorporate literacy into everyday play. They are small moments, but as CCLF’s 2025 Impact Report notes, families are 2.5 times more likely to read to their children if they are advised to do so by a healthcare professional. We know that simple, consistent actions compound over time.

The Connection Between Literacy and Leadership

We know the link between early literacy and leadership capacity later in life is strong.

In the CCLF 2025 Impact Report, Dr. Alika Lafontaine, an Indigenous physician, former President of the Canadian Medical Association, and CCLF Board Member, explains the connection clearly. Having navigated a learning disability himself as a child and having even been told he would never graduate high school, Dr. Lafontaine spoke from personal experience about the impacts of literacy:

“Being able to read and express yourself through language is a necessary aspect of inclusion and equity,” he said. “If people aren’t literate in the languages they need to navigate education, health, or employment, their ability to advocate for themselves will be limited.”

What Dr. Lafontaine is describing is not basic reading skills. He is describing the foundation of effective communication and the ability to understand, to be understood, and to participate fully in the systems and conversations that shape life. Those also happen to be the foundations of leadership.

The themes we return to regularly in our blogs, newsletters, and social media content (communication as a core leadership skill, coaching as a mechanism for developing others, the importance of creating environments where people feel supported enough to grow) all trace back to something that starts very early.

Children who develop strong early literacy skills enter school with better language processing skills, a broader vocabulary, and stronger foundational cognitive capacitive. According to CCLF, children who are read to daily right from birth perform better in language, literacy, and cognitive assessments when they reach preschool and school age.

There is a direct line between a child who is given access to language and storytelling in their earliest years, and an adult who is capable of communication with clarity, empathy, and confidence. Leadership development programs like The Coaching Academy for Leaders build on that foundation. They cannot build leadership from scratch. 

It may be surprising to hear, but Canada currently faces a significant literacy gap. According to the CCLF, one million children under the age of 15 have below-grade-level literacy skills. Children who start school behind are far more likely to remain behind, limiting their opportunities and compounding their inequities over their lifetime. Investing in early literacy is, very clearly, investing in the leadership potential of future generations.

What it Means to Lead With Values 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a term that is used by many organizations but can mean different things for each one. The most meaningful definition is that CSR is a direct expression of what an organization actually believes. It is not a separate initiative, but an integrated part of how it operates each day. 

For The Coaching Academy for Leaders, supporting the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation is consistent with the work we do every day. We train leaders to develop others. We invest in the human skills (listening, communication, empathy, etc.) that make leadership something more than positional authority. And we believe that those skills matter at every stage of life, and that everyone should have equal access to them.

When someone enrolls in The Coaching Academy for Leaders, a portion of that revenue goes directly towards children who are just beginning their own learning journey. Leadership development is a long process, and we recognize our responsibility to contribute to the full arc of the development, not just the part we are directly involved in.

We are proud of and intend to continue our commitment to supporting the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation.

The Leadership Opportunity in Front of You Now 

If you have read this far, you likely already sense that leadership is about more than someone’s title or authority in the office. You understand that the way you communicate, the questions you ask, and the space you create for others to grow are things that determine whether your leadership style has impact.

Leadership development programs like our Coaching Fundamentals program are designed to help you build those capacities, with structure, rigour, and credentials that meet the standards of the International Coaching Federation. The program is an ICF-accredited Level 1 pathway to the Associate Certified coach (ACC) designation, and is designed for leaders, managers, and professionals who are ready to integrate coaching into how they lead.

If you are ready to take that step, to invest in a leadership development program that takes both your growth and its broader impact seriously, we invite you to enroll in our next Coaching Fundamentals cohort. 

Whether you are just beginning your leadership journey or are ready to take your skills and impact more seriously, The Coaching Academy for Leaders is here to support you.

Leadership Development Programs and CSR – FAQs

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