Coaching Leadership Style
Coaching Leadership Style Explained – Examples and Use Cases
In this article you will learn everything about using the coaching leadership style, with detailed examples and use cases. This guide provides you with a template for successfully implementing a coaching leadership style in your company.
The most important facts
- A coaching leadership style focuses on improving employees as individuals, which in turn improves the entire team.
- Using the coaching leadership style can help build trust between team members and leaders.
- Coaching leadership focuses on long-term success rather than immediate success.
What is coaching leadership style?
In a coaching leadership style, the leader focuses on developing team members as individuals. This style also enhances a team’s overall performance by making each member realize the importance of their position within the group.
The key elements of the coaching leadership style include:
- Focus on goals. Managers help their teams define and pursue their professional goals.
- Continuous feedback. Leaders provide constructive feedback to their team members to help them develop their skills.
- Mentorship. Managers often take on a mentoring role because they focus on personal conversations.
- A look into the future. Leaders understand that success doesn’t happen overnight and set long-term goals and strategies to achieve results that pay off in the long run.
The difference between coaching and management
The difference between coaching and management is that management focuses more on the work while coaching focuses more on the employee.
A managerial leadership style assumes that the leader knows best. They directly supervise their team and push them toward specific results without worrying about the person behind the work.
The opposite is coaching, in which the manager creates close cooperation between himself and his teams in order to improve their work. It is inspired by a more positive view of life and is based on psychological practices designed to help people thrive.
The benefits of a coaching leadership style
The benefits that a coaching leadership style can provide your company include:
- Stronger communication. A coaching leadership style focuses on developing a supervisory-like relationship between leader and employee. These strengthened relationships often lead to more effective communication, which improves the work results of everyone involved.
- Encouraging constructive feedback. The feedback stimulated by the coaching leadership style helps employees improve their skills and achieve better quality results.
- Drive personal and professional development. A coaching style is characterized by managers creating detailed development plans for their teams so that they can develop their skills in the long term.
- Encourage support (and not judgment). With this style, a leader builds a stronger bond between team members by explaining to each individual how important their role is to achieving the overall company goals.
Leadership Coaching: Disadvantages
Some disadvantages of coaching leadership are:
- Requires a lot of time and energy. Because leadership focuses on the growth of each team member, it requires much more effort than other leadership styles. Depending on how much help a team member needs to develop, a team leader may not have time for other things.
- Changes don’t happen overnight. Even if the manager and the rest of the team constantly work on it, growth will not occur immediately. A coaching leadership style is best for long-term results that pay off in the long run.
- May not fit the goals of fast-paced companies. Because the coaching leadership style requires a lot of time and energy to achieve results, there may be better solutions for a high-pressure work environment.
Examples of a coaching leadership style
Below are some examples of the coaching leadership style to help you get a better idea of how it might impact a workplace.
This will allow you to make a more informed decision about whether you should encourage this leadership style in your own organization.
1.Facebook
Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg places high demands on her team and expects a certain level of quality and productivity from them. She demonstrates a coaching leadership style by offering high praise when a team member meets or exceeds those expectations, while also providing feedback to help them perform better next time. Sandberg also uses the close connection between herself and her team to find obstacles and what they need to overcome them.
2.Microsoft
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella uses a coaching leadership style to focus on the employees responsible for creating and maintaining Microsoft products and projects. Instead of directing these employees on his own terms, he focuses on building a culture of growth in the workplace. Nadella provides support and feedback when needed, while encouraging his employees to improve their skills and bring new ideas to the brainstorming process.
3.Allen & Overy
David Morley is the Global Managing Partner of law firm Allen & Overy and has made the coaching leadership style one of the fundamental aspects of the business. He focuses on the value of having meaningful conversations in the workplace to build stronger connections between teams to promote higher quality work. Morley’s change in the way Allen & Overy operates has led to a 175% increase in annual profits.
When does coaching make sense in leadership?
Leadership coaching can provide long-term benefits in many circumstances, but there are some situations in which this style is particularly effective. Some of these situations are:
- A leader must build trust between team members and a stronger working relationship between them and the team.
- A team works towards a long-term goal.
- A leader wants to help his team develop personally and professionally.
- The team or an individual member experiences a setback in their professional development.
- The leader must align the goals of their team with the goals of the company as a whole.
5 steps to becoming a coaching leader
If you are interested in adopting a coaching leadership style, there are a few key behaviors you should cultivate to ensure the success of this style. The priority of each behavior may vary from team to team, but all contribute to building a work environment influenced by leadership style.
1.Arrange team meetings
One of the most important aspects of the coaching leadership style is building a relationship with your team. Regular meetings are an effective way to achieve this. Scheduling time for one-on-one meetings with each team member can ensure they receive your undivided attention and you can focus on steering them toward their preferred career goals.
Ask them in which direction they would like to grow within your company, help them identify their strengths and weaknesses, and assess whether they are comfortable in their current position.
When you have this information about the entire team, you can work toward growing employees beyond their current skill level. Additionally, these team meetings create familiarity between you and your team, creating a more positive and productive relationship.
2.Set goals for each member
Once you know more about your team and how they want to develop, you can start setting development goals for members. These goals are the catalyst for long-term growth because they help determine the skills each team member should learn and the development opportunities they can take advantage of.
A goal system can be used to ensure that each development goal is accurate and achievable. SMART goals, for example, are a guide by which each goal should be
- Specific. Goals should be crystal clear to avoid confusion.
- Measurable. You should be able to measure an employee’s progress.
- Reachable. The goal should be based on the employee’s current performance to ensure it is realistic.
- Relevant. Your team’s goals should align with company-wide goals to ensure the skills learned benefit the organization.
- Time bound. Each goal should have a reasonable time frame for achievement so that your team stays motivated to work towards it without feeling overwhelmed.
3.Be there for her
A lack of support can have a negative impact on each employee’s ability to develop due to a lack of motivation.
Consistently demonstrating that you’re invested in your team’s future will help ensure they continue to learn new skills and come up with innovative ideas to accomplish their tasks.
You can support your team with constructive feedback and offer them strategies to help them overcome obstacles. However, one of the most effective ways to be there for your team is to always lend an open ear when challenges arise.
4.Give credit where credit is due
Celebrate every time someone on your team reaches an important milestone in their development goals. Recognizing their achievements, big or small, helps them stay motivated and achieve more.
How you celebrate isn’t that important as long as the employee feels valued. In most cases, a simple congratulation is enough. When big milestones are reached, you can host a party to recognize the entire team for the work they’ve done.
5.Review and adjust your approach
The coaching leadership style is about long-term results; The best chance of success is when you are willing to change your approach.
Monitor your team’s progress, watch for unexpected obstacles or signs that the development strategy isn’t working, and adjust as necessary. A willingness to explore the path to the optimal plan can ensure your team can reach its full potential.
Frequently asked questions about coaching leadership style
What is the coaching leadership style?
In the coaching leadership style, the leader focuses on developing their team as individuals through personal communication. This style helps employees grow and creates stronger bonds with their team members and leaders.
How can you use coaching leadership?
Work with each team member individually to discover what they need to grow within the company. Develop a strategy to help them develop these skills. Support them throughout the process to ensure they stay motivated to keep going.
What are the benefits of a coaching leadership style?
The coaching leadership style offers, among other things, the following advantages:
- Stronger communication in both directions
- Encourages constructive feedback
- Drives professional and personal development
- Promotes support rather than judgment within a team