Unleash Your Team’s Potential: Become a Leader-Coach (Not Just a Boss)

Ditch the Command-and-Control Model and Build a High-Performing Team (Part One)

The world of work has changed.

In today’s dynamic work environment, where disruptive change is the norm, the traditional command-and-control model of leadership is no longer effective. Instead, leaders must embrace a model where they empower their teams and leverage their individual and collective strengths to adapt, innovate, and deal with challenges.

In other words, leaders must use a coaching approach by integrating coaching into their roles.

While organisations are increasingly expecting their leaders/managers to coach employees, the reality is that many leaders don’t know how to coach well.^{1, 2}  One problem is that they don’t understand what coaching means. Another issue is that they don’t have the skills or mindset to do it well.

Unlike professional coaches, who are not responsible for their clients’ decisions and outcomes, leaders are accountable for their team’s performance. Therefore, they must strike a balance between guidance and empowerment.

As a leader, you don’t have to learn complex skills or frameworks to coach effectively; you are not trying to be a professional coach. All you need are foundational skills, some of which you already possess; you might be surprised by how much you already know but do not use. You will also need to tweak some of your leadership practices and processes. After that, it’s a matter of practice and commitment.

How can you become a leader who coaches effectively and unlocks your team’s potential?

Setting the Stage for Success

Your transformation begins with preparing yourself, your team, and possibly your organisation.

Invest the Time

A coaching approach needs time (though not as much as most people think).

Coaching requires leaders to engage with their people frequently or regularly. Through coaching, leaders support their people by encouraging them to think, reflect, explore, and learn. Sir John Whitmore, a pioneer in the field of coaching, defines coaching as “unlocking people’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.” Learning needs time.

As a leader, you can no longer do things at the last minute (if that has been your habit). You need to plan ahead and give your team members time to work on their tasks and responsibilities, to learn, and to figure things out.

Coaching conversations will typically happen during regular check-ins with your team members to set goals and follow up on progress. If you don’t have regular check-in time with your team members, consider doing so at least twice a month. Regular check-ins will also help foster better employee engagement.

You will also need a buffer in your schedule for ad-hoc coaching conversations when issues arise.

Prepare the Team

I had a client who believed that his people needed to discover their own answers; he asked them questions, hoping to help them think and learn. His people, however, felt frustrated and thought he wasn’t approachable because he wasn’t giving them any answers to help them!

To coach effectively, you need to communicate your intentions to your team. You need to explain your approach to them and assure them that it is about development, not fault-finding. Explain to them how this approach will benefit them and how it connects with your team or organisation’s purpose and its impact. You will have to communicate these before you attempt to coach them and then continue to remind them frequently.

For coaching to work, your team members must be open about their thoughts. You will have to encourage open communication and foster a psychologically safe environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns early and frequently.

“Effective coaching is not a set of do’s and don’ts. It is a fundamental shift in how we view and interact with people.”

Check Your Mindset

The mindset is where most people stumble!

Effective coaching is not a set of do’s and don’ts. It is a fundamental shift in how we view and interact with people.

You need to get clear on your “why”.

• Are you coaching your team members because it is expected of you (i.e., it’s a box to be ticked) or because you genuinely believe in your team’s potential and want to develop them?
• Are you committed to their growth and development, or are you merely interested in the bottom line?
• Do you see them as talented and capable people who need investment or as tools to be used?
• Do you believe they can learn and figure things out, or do you feel they are incompetent and need to be told?

Your mindset will influence your effectiveness as a leader-coach.

Remove Barriers

What barriers in you, your team or your organisation might prevent you from coaching effectively?

If you lack the skills, you can learn them through workshops.

Here are some other barriers that might exist in your team or organisation:

• Does your team/organisation value learning?
• Is experimentation frowned upon? Are there opportunities for experimentation?
• Do team members feel they always need to present a rosy picture? Does the team/organisation culture value and encourage authenticity?
• Does your team/organisation deal with all mistakes or failures punitively? Do you have the buffer or flexibility to allow certain types of ‘failures’ for learning?

You might have to tweak some of your team’s processes to remove existing barriers.

Taking the First Steps

By preparing yourself and your team, you are taking the first steps towards being a more effective coach for your team.

In the following article, we will look at what you can do as you begin to coach your team members.

What about you?

What mindset shifts do you need in order to become a leader-coach?

What steps must you take to enable coaching conversations in your team?

References:

1  Ibarra, Herminia, and Anne Scoular. “The Leader as Coach.” Harvard Business Review, November 2019. https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-leader-as-coach.

2  Milner, Julia, and Trenton Milner. “Most Managers Don’t Know How to Coach People. But They Can Learn.” Harvard Business Review, August 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/08/most-managers-dont-know-how-to-coach-people-but-they-can-learn.