Are you a Coaching Leader?
Ask yourself these three questions.
When it comes to leadership styles, one approach has gained increasing recognition and prominence: coaching leadership. Gone are the days of directive leadership models that relied solely on top-down decision-making. Today, successful leaders understand the power of cultivating their team members' potential, and achieving collective success through coaching.
In this blog post, we will explore three key questions that will help you assess whether you are a coaching leader or if there is room for growth. These questions will serve as a compass, guiding you towards self-reflection and providing insights into your leadership style.
What is Coaching Leadership?
Coaching leadership is an approach where leaders act as coaches to their team members, focusing on their individual development and growth. It revolves around empowering individuals, encouraging their self-discovery, and unlocking their hidden talents. Coaching leaders foster a collaborative and trusting environment where employees are motivated to take ownership of their work, develop their skills, and achieve their goals. This leadership style is all about building strong relationships, facilitating learning opportunities, and nurturing the talents and strengths of team members.
How do I know whether I am a Coaching Leader?
I often ask Management Workshop participants if they consider themselves to be coaching leaders. Inevitably, they do. Coaches are approachable, caring, respected, and bring out the best in people. We’d all like to fit this description – and it sounds easy. But let’s take a moment and look more closely at the behaviors that fuel coaching leadership. By honestly asking yourself these questions, you will gain valuable perspectives on your approach and uncover opportunities to be a more effective leader.
Are you speaking more than listening? Coaching leaders listen deeply to learn how their employee processes and synthesizes information. They listen early so they can guide positive change when it’s needed, and they listen consistently to cultivate a culture of innovative thinking and collaboration. When you listen more than you talk you are able to make informed decisions that consider the needs and perspectives of your team members.
Are you providing great answers or asking great questions? This is perhaps the most difficult coaching behavior to adopt. Instead of soliciting ideas and solutions from an employee, we may quite naturally jump in to provide the “right” answer. Consider an employee who is running into some challenges with an assignment. As a leader, you may know exactly what will work to move them forward. But each time you provide the right answer, you shut down longer-term strategic thinking in favor of short-term fire fighting. When you ask great questions, you enable and empower employees to navigate through challenges with agility and autonomy. And don’t forget, employees may offer innovative solutions and insights that you have not yet considered!
Are you going beyond training to invest in development? Often used interchangeably, training and development are two very different aspects of leadership. We train employees to establish the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do a given job. The process of training employees may even be delegated to others who excel at the job. A coaching leader goes well beyond training to facilitate professional development. This means forging a developmental partnership with clear goals, learning opportunities and ongoing feedback. Consider transforming one-on-one meetings from the “what are you working on now?” agenda, to a “where are you headed, how will you get there, and how can I support your efforts?” focus.
Becoming a coaching leader is a journey. Making the shift from transactional to coaching leadership takes practice but it is worth the effort. By embracing a coaching style, you can unlock the potential of your team members, and foster a culture of collaboration and innovation. The three questions presented here can serve as guideposts for assessing your leadership style and identifying areas for improvement.
Want to learn more about how to become a coaching leader? Sign up for an upcoming session of our live, virtual workshop: Coaching for Peak Performance.