Coaching leaders

Coaching is a partnership between a leader and the individual who reports directly to him or her, in which the coach focuses on helping the direct report optimize his or her potential.

Characteristics and skills of a coach:-

 Helps people in planning for their personal and professional development.

 Works closely with employees, observes their behavior in different situations, and at various organizational levels.

 Is supportive and non-judgmental.

 Has expertise in the area in which people have to be coached.

 Has a thorough understanding of the culture in the organization and knows how employees’ behavior is evaluated in that culture.

 Sets the right goals, is honest and realistic.

 Takes personal interest in those he/she coaches. Invests time in building relationships aimed at employee development.

 Shows empathy in regard to personal and professional matters of employees.

 Has a clear idea of the macro picture of the whole organization.

 Is comfortable and secure. Allows people to grow under him/her.

 Provides both formal and informal feedback.

Coaching is of 2 types: - Performance management and performance enhancement coaching.

Performance management coaching comes into picture when the leader finds that there is a gap between his subordinate’s actual and expected performance. In such a situation, the leader takes the initiative and tries to bring in the necessary corrections in his subordinate’s behavior through coaching.

Performance enhancement coaching takes place when a subordinate is performing up to the expectations and wants to acquire new skills to perform at higher levels.

The process of coaching involves the following steps: - making observations, conducting an analysis, giving feedback, engaging in inquiry, setting goals, planning action steps and recognizing improvements.

Why do some leaders shirk from coaching?

 They think it is low priority work

 They fear confrontation during feedback sessions

 They lack adequate time and patience

 They have a concern that they’ll appear weak in having hired or promoted the employee

 Some feel the person undergoing coaching will feel insulted. They do not want to insult that person.

 They expect people to figure out what they want to learn.

 They do not know how to coach

 They are ignorant of the benefits of coaching

 They feel people do not need coaching at that level

 They find it easier to ignore, circumvent and terminate the problem employee

 Some feel that coaching is no longer a part of their duty. Rather it is the duty of the HR department.

David Ogilvy’s, the founder of Ogilvy & Mather, leadership is characterized by his coaching style. He was known for having deep conversations with his employees. These conversations went beyond the short-term concerns of his employees. During these conversations he used to explore and try to understand the employee’s life, dreams, goals and career hopes.

When looked at the style of Jack Welch (CEO of GE from 1981-2001), he sometimes sends hand written memos to the target employees or trainees and would ask them to be prepared to describe a leadership dilemma they have faced in the past 12 months.