MiraNous Coaching & Consulting

Professional Development for Groups and Teams

A Case for Leaders Using Coaching Skills

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A female leader using coaching skills with a male in a conference room

There is a strong case for why leaders should be using coaching skills. Leaders who coach their team members create greater engagement and enhance the development of their direct reports. Have you considered how using coaching skills can enhance your leadership? 

“Coaching is designed to be the leadership approach of the 21st century.”

~ James Belasco

From 33% to 70% Employee Management

First, “The Gallup (2017) State of the American Workplace Report” helps make the case for leaders using coaching skills. The report shed light on what makes some organizations relish in 70% employee engagement versus the norm, which is 33% employee engagement. The enhanced engagement was attributed to leaders’ ability to hold coaching conversations. Here is a previously written article about the report.

In the Gallup report, they defined coaching as: “a conversation about progress, obstacles to progress, and triumph in progress. Coaching also teaches the coach to initiate and drive conversation about progress.” The following are the five conversations that leaders can have using a coaching style:

  1. Role and relationship orientation – Occurs when employees join the company, when job responsibilities shift and when employees change roles
  2. Quick connects – Allows managers to assess quickly how an employee is doing and to identify successes and barriers
  3. Check-ins – More formal opportunities to seek and give feedback on goal achievement, priorities, progress on projects and employee needs
  4. Developmental Coaching – Aims to direct and guide an employee to improved performance and individual career development
  5. Formal reviews – Formal reviews of progress on goals, expectations, and planning for future opportunities

Effective Bosses

In 2017, Michael Schneider, made a case for leaders using coaching skills in his article titled “Google spent years studying effective bosses. Now they teach new managers these things.” In the list included six items and two of the six times related specifically to leaders using coaching skills. Google defines coaching as: 

The following is a graphic from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for “Managers and leaders using coaching skills.”

In addition, The ICF 2017 Global Consumer Awareness study revealed that 670 respondents from human resources, learning and development, and talent management, internal coaches, and individual contributions – indicated that 65% of organizations aim to expand the scope of managers/leaders using coaching skills over the next five years. 

If you believe that a case for leaders using coaching skills was made there is more to come. In the next article and Leader’s Turn video, we will share a study that reveals how long leaders need to acquire a coaching approach. The study also illustrates what strong skills leaders already have to leverage in coaching. Moreover, the study sheds light on what skills leaders thought they were proficient in…but; in reality, were not. (link to Leader’s Turn Video) 

You can ensure that you receive the next article or video by subscribing to our YouTube Channel. You can also request that the Leader’s Turn series (produced once per week) be sent to you by using the link provided link or visiting our website at www.miranous.com or www.professionaldevelopmentforemployees.com

References 

Gallup (2007). State of the workplace report. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://news.gallup.com/reports/199961/7.aspx?utm_source=SOAWlaunch&utm_campaign=StateofAmericanWorkplace-Launch&utm_medium=email&utm_content=nonopener-reminder

Shneider, M. (2017). Google spent years studying effective bosses. Now they teach new managers these things. Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2019 from https://www.inc.com/michael-schneider/analysis-10000-reports-told-google-to-train-new-managers-6-areas.html

Coaching is this and not that…

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“Coaching isn’t therapy. It’s product development, with you as the product.” 

~Fast Company

female coaching male

The external and internal pressures to become high-performing amid constant change has lead individuals, teams, groups, and organizations to leverage the power of coaching. 

But – what is coaching? And how it is different than mentoring, consulting, training, or counseling? 

This is a common question.  

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

Coaching is different than mentoring, consulting, training, and counseling.  

Mentoring – is an engagement that is formed because of the expertise and experience that the mentor has. In this relationship, the mentee seeks to learn and receive guidance from the mentor to grow and excel professionally or personally. The mentor leverages his or her expertise and experience to help the mentee. 

Consulting – is provided by a consultant, who helps clarify a problem and provides a solution, using data, information, and her or his expertise to resolve a specific issue. 

Training – is designed so that a trainee acquires new information or skills with the intent that the trainee will apply the latest knowledge in his or her professional context. The trainer is seen as an expert who is responsible for learning to happen. 

Counseling or therapy – are treatments intended to help individuals resolve or heal problematic behaviors, thinking, feelings, and elevate the level at which an individual is functioning. Often these experiences involve delving into and understanding the past. 

On the other hand, coaches: 

  • Are partners. There is no power differential in the relationship. 
  • Do not give solutions; they use a process that allows the client to arrive at a solution. 
  • Do not teach in the traditional sense of inculcating or disseminating information. Instead, they use a process that allows clients to bring forth what they know and identify that they may need to know.  
  • Do not heal or delve into the past. They use a process to help clients move from the present to the desired future. 

In the first ICF study, the 2012 Global Coaching Survey, coaching clients were asked how they would define coaching. The words that clients used were that coaching is a process that leads to goal-setting, awareness building, and accountability. 

At MiraNous we define coaching as, “a partnership and process that is intentional and focused and which leverages metacognition while addressing the internal and external landscape of the client, to help the client achieve greater self-awareness, mastery, and actualization in what matters to the client.”

We hope this helped clarify what coaching is and how it differs from other support modalities. We will continue this discussion in new videos and articles that we have for you. This link will help you request access to future content. 

References

The International Coaching Federation (ICF). 2017 Annual Report: Committed, compassionate, connected (2017). Retrieved August 8, 2019 from https://coachfederation.org/app/uploads/2018/09/2017ICFAnnualReport_FINAL_SPREADS.pdf