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Leadership Skills Coaching

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Ryan McAllister

Although offices and management styles have come a long way in the past decade, the command and control style of management remains common practice in many businesses. This management approach basically means that workers are told precisely what to do, when to do it and even how it ought to be done. The supervisor is in charge, has all of the answers, and fixes all of the issues.

It's not surprising that lots of people find this approach demotivating - and that offices with a command-control style are ranked as fairly unsatisfying. If it comes down to it, none of us really enjoys being told precisely what to do, and neither do our workers. When people feel as if they don't have any state and are given no chance to contribute beyond the work jobs, then they turn off and become disengaged.

The command and control approach has been phased out for a more collaborative and engaging fashion - a'Coach' strategy or being a manager-coach. This is a good change - as long as we're clear about what the new expectations of supervisors are.

Training - What does it really mean?

The coaching profession has exploded in the past few years, diversifying across many diverse fields and industries. All these people are devoted to helping others reach their objectives, improve aspects of their organization, or move forward from where they are now.

In a work environment, the role of a manager-coach could be described as:

- achieving excellence and results through others rather than taking care of things, and

- focusing on developing workers to be able to achieve business results as opposed to micro-managing their every movement.

Adopting coaching as a management style requires supervisors to assist other individuals unlock their potential and increase their own performance. It is about helping people to learn rather than telling them what the answers are.

The New Mindset

The mindset of this manager-coach is to create an environment that fosters learning, independent thinking and opportunities to contribute. The manager-coach doesn't wish to be viewed as a solution provider. Rather, they wish to be regarded as a facilitator, paving the way for group members to achieve their outcomes.

Coach supervisors are a role model for others. They are excellent listeners and communicators, providing encouragement and perspective whilst setting high standards and expectations.

There are 8 ways to make training behaviors a part of what you do:

- Stop considering employees as people that will need to be controlled or handled and give them the latitude to take actions and make decisions. Trust is a very important part of this equation. If you can not trust people to do their jobs well, then you have the wrong people in the tasks, or you have the perfect people but you have not trained them sufficiently. A third alternative is that the individuals are appropriately skilled, but the manager just can not let go.

- Listen, listen listen. If there are unhappy or disgruntled individuals in your company, you can guarantee that at some point they have tried to let you know what the issue is. It's likely you were not listening (or did not want to hear ), or maybe your first reaction made the person think twice about bringing the problem for you. Really listening is one of the best skills to develop, irrespective of your role. Good listeners are genuinely interested, convey empathy, and wish to discover what's behind the dialogue. Wonderful coaches are wonderful listeners -without exception.

- Concentrate on developing the strengths of each employee instead of managing merely for outcomes. Identify each individual's development needs and commit to following through on them. When people are growing and improving, their enthusiasm and efficacy is higher. And they feel more connected and loyal to the company for supporting them.

- Endorse attempt and expansion rather than pointing out failures or mistakes. As individuals, most of us know how seldom we're given positive comments, but how often we're reminded of our"mistakes". Rather than pointing out mistakes, the coach-manager takes them as learning opportunities and uses them to develop their workers. The focus is on ensuring the exact same mistake does not happen again by adjusting the source of the problem.

- Stop providing solutions. Managers frequently achieve their rankings after being technical experts, and so will have an opinion or view on how to"fix" situations or issues. The mindset is that it is usually quicker to tell someone what to do, or do it yourself, than give your employees a chance to figure it out. By always providing the answers, supervisors take the learning opportunity for their employees to think of alternative (and possibly better) ways of doing things. If you catch yourself about to offer the answer, take a deep breath and ask a question like:"What would you do in this circumstance?"

- As a supervisor, stop making all the choices. You do not have all of the answers all the time. Engage those around you - your staff and peers - when it comes to finding a way forward. Involvement breeds ownership and participation. The more you may discover opportunities for people to donate to the decision-making process and encourage people to have their say, the more your employees will feel connected and happy with the business.

- Be unconditionally constructive - no exceptions. Do not patronise or be critical of others - take full responsibility for how you are heard. If you catch yourself about to make negative remarks, have a breath and rephrase your words to receive your message across with no emotional attachment. It's possible to phrase everything in constructive terms - even a negative opinion. Practice makes perfect!

- Create an environment where people want to work with youpersonally, and feel respected and valued. Make it clear to your employees what they are accountable for, but give them the latitude to start it in their own manner. In short, treat them the way you'd wish to be treated.

The Wrap-Up

The real success of a leader can be measured by the achievement of the folks who work for them. When supervisors and leaders adopt a coaching style, the productivity, motivation and satisfaction of the workers increases, which filters through to bottom -line success. This makes for an engaged workforce that are dedicated to giving the company as much as it is giving them.

And as an additional incentive, adopting a coaching style of management leads to a much more enjoyable workplace for everyone.