To coach or be coached – that is the question
Coaching is a powerful management tool and a resource for managers to develop into more effective business leaders.
The personal and organizational benefits to coaching are many and I have personally experienced both sides of the coaching relationship – coach to others as a leader, and being coached to become a better manager. Coaching is about helping an individual to consider different approaches to their usual go-to habit. A coach guides you in the process to evaluate the best course forward. It is a highly reflective exercise and – when successful – provides long lasting results and a change in mind set. The art of coaching is about asking questions. Discussing the reasoning and the consequences of different approaches. Considering the outcome of various communication styles and choices.
Having worked with and managed leaders for many years, it is apparent that coaching can be harder to do than it seems on paper
Leaders often lean on experience or initiative to provide answers and solutions (that’s partly what got us into management in the first place..). In the moment it is a longer, more time-consuming process to coach rather than instruct people what to do. But you gain a lot more in the long run. Coaching is an invaluable tool for developing people across a large spectrum of needs. Equally, the advantages are wide-reaching and often lead to a fundamental shift in people’s approach to their work:
- 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence
- over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills
- 86% of companies report that they recouped their investment on coaching and more (stats: ICF, 2009)
Let’s dig further into why managers should learn to coach their teams and employees.
A few years ago I had complaints from employees that their team leader was doing all the work. Taking all the glory. Keeping the exciting projects for them self. The solution to a more engaged and high performing team? I coached the team leader to provide more autonomy and purpose when delegating. Describing the goal and listening to the employee walk through their proposed approach instead of being directive and telling people how the solution should be arrived at. In turn, my team leader learnt how to start coaching the team. And in just a few months, employees reported improved satisfaction and the team was delivering higher quality results – more independently. The team leader also re-gained confidence and satisfaction in the manager role.
Thus, the employee and business both benefit from creating a coaching culture.
For me, it goes back to the age old proverb: “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”. Help your team members problem-solve, and you will get a snowball effect of benefits. Including, stronger self-reliance to address issues, increased initiative and action toward goals, and greater accountability and ownership. In addition, they will enjoy more job and life satisfaction (hint: as will you).
I agree with the benefits of coaching employees listed by the Institute of Coaching:
- Empowers individuals and encourages them to take responsibility
- Increases employee and staff engagement
- Improves individual performance
- Helps identify and develop high potential employees
- Helps identify both organizational and individual strengths and development opportunities
- Motivates and empowers individuals to excel
- Demonstrates the company’s commitment to employee development
What about being coached as a leader? Managers run it alone most of the time – but I’ve found that it is invaluable to stop and gain a fresh perspective.
[read more=”Learn more…” less=” _ “] In my experience of managing teams, leaders (myself included) have so many responsibilities and irons in the fire at any given time. No wonder we sometimes forget to stop, reflect and evaluate options to choose the best way forward. Believe me, without deliberate focus on learning and reflecting, you will hit a ceiling as a leader. I adopted the habit of scheduling “reflection time” in my busy calendar – the truth is that you have to prioritise it and make time. That’s a good start. You need that alone time to reflect on what’s going well, what’s not working, and identify the next opportunities that lie ahead. However, external input and bouncing ideas off of others is important. And, almost always, leads to better decisions and outcomes. I have often experienced as a manager that it can be “lonely at the top” – but it doesn’t have to be.
In my experience, the leader who leverages a coaching relationship for their own development, benefits in many ways too.
I have had numerous mentors during my career and have learnt invaluable things from every one of them. This has usually either been a superior or someone that is far-enough removed from my business unit who can be objective. Your superior tends to have valuable experience that you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to learn from. But it is equally important to find advocates where you build a professional relationship built on mutual trust and transparency, and where objectivity and confidentiality will be upheld so that you can explore freely and maximise the benefit of being coached without fear of reprisal.
These are the benefits I’ve experienced from receiving coaching in my role as a manager:
- Dedicated time to step away from daily routine to reflect – celebrate the wins and learn from the set-backs
- Deliberate, targeted leadership growth to become a more effective leader
- Explore new ideas and opportunities for individuals and the business
- Build confidence in your leadership qualities and ability
- Set goals and tap into strengths to take action toward them
- Increased job and life satisfaction
If you are a manager who wants to start coaching, one of the first steps is to find someone who is a good coach – listen and learn.
My advice to you? Start thinking of coaching as a must-have rather than a nice-to-have. If you value coaching you will find that taking that time isn’t a problem. You will experience for yourself the benefits it has in the competition for talent, operating in a fast moving market, trying to retain up-and-coming leaders, or aiming to grow solid employees. Managers who coach believe that they simply have to take the time.
Get started – Strategic Leadership Team offers coaching for managers to become more effective and inspiring leaders Partner to Leaders. Or arrange coaching for key employees in your team Managing Talent
Sources:
Institute of Coaching (2018)
Harvard Business Review: 4 Reasons Managers Should Spend More Time on Coaching (Weintraub & Hunt, 2015)