Once there was a time when the manager’s job was to supervise and control the people they managed – that is, to tell them what to do, help them to do it properly, measure their performance and reward are correct that performance as needed. Those days are long gone.
Today the very nature of business is completely different from a generation ago.
The modern leader needs a broader repertoire of management styles sometimes ‘hands on’ and sometimes ‘hands off’ to suit the situation, constantly making extensive use of coaching techniques.
They must harness the talents of their team by taking the time to understand them, involve them and allow them opportunities for long term growth and advancement.
Removing barriers and driving effective collaboration between teams (or team members) will move the organisation towards shared goals while driving the highest standards – a must in the pursuit of excellence.
A leader must be an accomplished team builder – inspiring, motivating and resolving conflict – to create committed and empowered teams. They must focus on long term results and guide others towards those desired commercial outcomes.
Recognition is also fundamental to the development of high performing teams. Leaders can motivate individuals by delivering positive feedback in response to positive actions. And by setting ambitious goals they can prevent this from leading to complacency.
Companies don’t have ideas, only people do – and it is the interactions between and among people from which innovation and insight emerge.
Today’s leadership is about creating the conditions in which those interactions are most likely to multiply.
Most top leaders today recognize that they can’t achieve change alone, that they depend on the contributions of their team members collaborating highly with each other.
But many expect – or hope – that the smooth interaction of capable people will develop naturally.
That almost never happens.
The business owner-manager has to move from being team leader to team coach.
To move the focus from current and past problems to thinking future-back, and outside-in by asking questions like “Where do we need to get to and what are the expectations of our stakeholders?”
As the team coach, the top leader coaches the team to be constantly learning from each other and to be growing the collective learning and capacity of the team.
This helps to both create and adapt to the future and create greater value for all the stakeholders.
Typically, when leaders are coaches, they’re focused on helping their team gain both short-term and long-term wins. Coaching leaders are focused on continuous momentum, helping people gain traction by gaining short-term wins while working toward long term goals.
Some leaders may already naturally possess many of the skills needed for themselves and their teams to excel.
However, balancing the dual roles of leadership – delivering on short term objectives while supporting and developing your team – can be a challenge for even the most experienced and successful operators.
If people in your team are struggling, the ability to switch to ‘coach mode’, aiding them to problem solve, overcome challenges and ultimately get the best out of them, can be priceless.
The Team Coach challenges their team to think differently, shifting their team members’ thinking from problem to solution. They elicit creativity in the team member which helps progression towards objectives. team members realise a greater awareness of the business’s needs, take greater responsibility for them and with that collective team performance increases.
Undoubtedly as you master the art of coaching, the improved effectiveness of your team will help deliver your desired business performance.
Coaching improves productivity through speed of decision making by empowering employees and managers to make decisions themselves. We see less command and control and more resourceful teams capable of taking ownership of problems and figuring out solutions.
A coaching driven environment creates greater leadership resilience and agility, not simply in the leaders themselves but also in their teams, helping them to manage changing challenges quickly. It allows them to react to uncertainty without paralysis and today there is a real need for this.
Embedding a coaching philosophy across your organisation and ensuring your managers develop effective coaching skills enables many facets of a business to function more effectively – including onboarding, engagement, performance, knowledge transfer and development as well as safeguarding the wellbeing of teams.
Ultimately, by empowering team members to develop their own talents and flourish, they contribute more significantly to the leader’s objectives and the overall success of the organisation. Leaders who are skilled coaches, capable of switching hats quickly, are therefore critical components no organisation can afford to be without.
Coaching is infinitely more than a tool that managers can use in a variety of situations such as planning, delegation or problem-solving. Is it a different way of viewing people, a far more optimistic way than most of us are accustomed to, and it results in a different way of treating them.
As with any new skill, attitude, style or belief, adopting a coaching ethos will require commitment, practice and some time before it flows naturally, and its effectiveness is optimised. Some will find it easier than others.
Want to learn how to move from team leader to team coach and develop the confidence to lead differently? Check out my online training course Coaching & Development.