Most of our lives have changed drastically, with no or very little room for managing, planning, or getting used to any of these changes. We have been attempting to cope with, and even rise above so much more than the old world’s pressures and changes. Because of this shift in the ‘how we do things’ in companies and by their managers, it is fair to say that the manager’s role has had to shift to that of a coach, begging fresh questions about what makes a great leader today.
We also have new exciting ways of doing things; more flexibility, more time with family and friends, but managing all of this also has turned out not to be the easiest of exercises. So what does this have to do with coaching? A whole lot of good, considering Harvard Medical School’s benefits of coaching for both individuals and organizations. Some of the critical benefits include a demonstrated commitment from the organization to people development, and the fact that employees experience more job and life satisfaction through coaching.
Though a strong coaching culture is correlated to a high performance culture, the Harvard Business Review reported on coaching culture and its critical elements by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) – these clearly articulate that unless trust and safety are vitally present in an organization, the coaching culture will be diluted and even prone to failure. In addition, curiosity and being genuine are key ingredients for coaching to work and the coaching culture to be tangible. At least we have a start on the ‘what’ as well.
Another Harvard Business Review article on the manager’s role becoming that of a coach cites two important aspects on what has been happening in recent times:
- command-and-control practices are being let go in companies, and
- we’re not as good as we think we are.
An early Daniel Goleman study demonstrated clearly that most managers indicated coaching style as their least favorite style of leading, and yet the evidence is clear that this is a key leadership tool for success. But do not despair, even if this style of leadership may not be a favorite, here are some great, and surprisingly comfortable steps on how to become more of a coaching style leader.
If you’re still left with questions or intrigued to know more, give this London Business School’s think article a read: it uncovers five coaching myths, and aids with a 5-step coaching reality check which could prove highly insightful – something all organizations, employees and coaches need right now.
