According to a 2010 Executive Coaching Survey however, nearly half of managers spend less than 10 percent of their time coaching others. So why is this? When employees are transitioned into management roles, often it’s their technical ability that gets them there rather than effective leadership skills. Leadership skills often need to be learnt on the job and many managers aren’t given the coaching they need to become great coaches themselves.

When managers lack coaching skills, it can be detrimental to the development and engagement of the people they manage. Managers who lack coaching skills often fall into the habit of instructing their team what to do. By directing individuals on what to do rather than giving them the tools and guidance to solve problems on their own, managers hinder the development of their team, hurt productivity and inhibit overall company success.

So, how can managers put coaching skills into practice within the workplace?

It all has to do with communicating effectively.

Build relationships of trust

One of the most important coaching skills for managers to maintain is the ability to build a relationship of trust among individuals. This can be achieved by fostering lines of communication between you and your reports. A great coach will organise regular one on one meetings with their reports to gain insights into their strengths, weaknesses, challenges and successes. This is a great way to help facilitate a relationship of trust and to help the employee develop, overcome challenges and reach their potential.

Ask the right questions

How do you see yourself growing in this role? What options do you have to overcome this challenge? What do you think you should do?

Each of these questions encourage an individual to think about and seek solutions to their own workplace problems. By helping an employee find solutions on their own, rather than telling them what to do, the individual will be better equipped to solve problems in the future, helping your team and company to reach success.

Listen intently

After asking the right questions, a coach will listen intently to what their reports have to say. Listening isn’t just about hearing what they have to say. It’s about taking onboard the challenges, questions and queries that employees have and thinking of ways to help them reach their goals. It’s about being patient and determined to facilitate long term results among their team and organisation. A great coach will let employees express both their workplace and personal struggles without passing any judgement.

Provide regular feedback

Managers who lack coaching skills will often wait until there is a problem in the workplace to give feedback. This can hurt employee confidence and engagement. A great coach will provide feedback on a regular basis. They will congratulate successes and strengths as well as identify problem areas. When identifying problem areas, a leader with coaching skills will concentrate on the problem area alone, rather than questioning the individual’s character. They will make their reports accountable for their own success and failures in order to improve engagement. They will also provide encouragement to employees with the aim of empowering them to reach their goals independently.

Let it spread

In order to become a great a coach, one can benefit greatly from being coached effectively.

A great coach will pass important leadership skills onto the person they are coaching, thus strengthening coaching techniques within the entire organisation. The idea of coaching is for it to spread throughout an organisation so that every employee has a coaching mindset. They will then be equipped to encourage the development of other employees so that together, teams can reach important business goals.

For more information on how to leverage the power of coaching, check out our article on the power of coaching for your team.

To find out more about how to incorporate a coaching mindset into your workplace, contact us today for an obligation free discussion.

The post The forgotten skill set of good leaders – Coaching appeared first on Directions Unlimited.

When you’re in a leadership position, you’re in charge of helping people grow and thrive within their professional roles. But who in an organisation helps leaders grow and thrive? Leaders are often left to their own devices with limited, if any, guidance and support. Being a leader can sometimes be likened to being the angel on top of the Christmas tree, the closer you get to the top the more uncomfortable it gets!

Executive coaching can help leaders meet their highest potential as key members of an organisation and therefore drive company success. Coaching gives leaders the opportunity to learn new skills and put them into practice effectively.

What is an executive coach?

Executive coaching involves a professional, confidential relationship between a coach and a key member of an organisation which facilitates individual development and performance growth. As opposed to a mentor, who offers professional advice and guidance, a coach is someone that professional leaders can lean on for support. Coaches help leaders to think about things differently, they challenge an individual’s beliefs and help them to reflect on any limiting assumptions they’re making; coaches hold leaders to account and support them as they move beyond their comfort zone.

So why is coaching such a powerful business tool?

Find out by reading the full article on Business Woman Media. 

The post The power of coaching for leaders appeared first on Directions Unlimited.

By coaching your team you can improve their performance, build their skills and drive engagement. Skills like communication and strategic thinking are crucial for business success and can boost employee engagement. When individuals are given the time by their leaders to communicate openly and productively, they are more likely to be loyal, engaged and self motivated. Gaining communicative skills through coaching can help managers to develop the skills needed to help other individuals reach success.

Some numbers from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) on the benefits of coaching reveal that a vast majority of companies (86%) say they at least made their investment back. (Source ICF). Coaching generates learning and clarity for forward action with a commitment to measurable outcomes. It builds the self-confidence of employees to face challenges, critical to meeting organisational demands. Coaching also maximises potential and therefore unlocks latent sources of productivity in your team.

So, what is coaching?

Coaching is a process that enables the individual to develop and achieve their full potential. It’s about helping someone evolve and advance in their business, role, or life. Coaches collaborate with individuals and push them beyond their comfort zone through unlocking their barriers and facilitating awareness and accountability.

For more information on how coaching can help you check out our article on this topic.

Why is coaching such a powerful business tool?

Once only reserved for leaders, coaching is now commonly implemented with success among managers and teams alike, and everyone reaps the benefits.

Coaching is a valuable, cost effective and motivating tool a business can utilise in order to achieve success. It helps you, as a leader or manager, to reach your highest potential so that you can drive success among other individuals within your organisation.

Here are some of the benefits of coaching for your team:

Improve individual and team performance

When managers adopt a coaching mindset, they can help their team to improve collaboration, problem solve more effectively and strategise to reach business goals more efficiently.

Reduce turnover and help you to retain high performing staff

Coaching is a vital organisational tool for developing talent and also for reducing staff turnover rates. Improving the staff retention rate within your organisation means that you can dedicate less time to training new staff, and more time to achieving your important business goals. A study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management found that it can cost the equivalent of six to nine months of an employee’s salary in order to recruit and train a replacement. When you consider an employee with a salary of $100,000, this means it would cost over $50,000 to replace them! Coaching gives individuals the opportunity to discuss how they can grow within the organisation and also how they can help their company to grow.

Boost team morale

A team in which individuals feel comfortable to communicate openly is one that can thrive. By employing  a coaching approach you can communicate collaboratively and productively within your team and organisation. Rather than telling your team what to do, you’ll be equipped to be a more intent listener and coach to your team, where you can pull on your strong communicative skills and ask them open ended questions to reach a resolution. For those that may wish to read further on how leaders can work more effectively with their team, there is an excellent book by Nancy Kline called Time to Think – listening to ignite the human mind.

Foster company growth and success

Coaching can help your team to meet important business goals. Fostering an environment in which employees reach their highest potential can make a company’s growth-potential limitless. Through coaching your team, they gain first hand access to skills that can propel them forward and lead to success.

For more information on how to develop a coaching mindset check out our article on the three coaching skills you need to be a great manager.

Directions Unlimited’s Director, David Leahy, graduated from the prestigious Institute of Executive Coaching in Sydney, and has coached executives internationally in South America, USA, Europe, Asia and Australia – helping many individuals and companies attain their goals.

If you would like an obligation free discussion, contact us today and see how your team can leverage the power of coaching for success!

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Importantly, this is where management and coaching intersect – every great manager must also be a great coach. According to a study conducted by Bersin & Associates, managers who effectively coach individuals achieve 21% better business results than those who don’t.

So, what is coaching?

Coaching concentrates on individual development, rather than the tasks of the job. Coaches help to facilitate and encourage learning as opposed to teaching. They will ensure that individuals are responsible and accountable for their work and therefore motivated to achieve goals autonomously. Coaches facilitate an environment in which individuals can grow and develop. A manager who utilises coaching techniques will support individuals on their own journey to success.

For more information on the benefits of coaching check out our article on this topic.

What happens if a manager lacks coaching skills?

Managers who consistently adopt a “tell” approach rather than a coaching approach are ignoring learning opportunities and therefore are less likely to achieve outstanding results with their team. It is well known fact that people leave managers, they don’t leave companies.

If you are appointed as a Manager, it is merely a title, however being a leader is something that is bestowed on us by others. Great leaders understand and appreciate their staff. They provide positivity and insight. And they have excellent motivational and communication skills – in other words they are great coaches.

For more information on how to be a successful leader check out our article on this topic.

So, how can managers integrate and adopt a ‘leader as coach’ mindset or approach into their personal management style? Here are our top three coaching skills for every great manager to get the best out of their team.

Asking and listening

How amazing is the human mind? Did you know the mind cannot not respond to a question? Our minds are geared to grapple with questions and find answers. What are the possibilities for you if you were to access the combined power of the minds of your team?

By asking open-ended questions, you release this power while simultaneously facilitating the learning process. By asking for example, “In your view what are the options that would deliver success in this task?”, rather than simply instructing an employee on how to do it, employees are given the space to think creatively and develop their own path to developmental success.

A large number of managers are promoted because they demonstrated to their superiors they are great problem solvers and “doers”. These traits have enabled them to be successful and get to where they are today in their role. The challenge for them is that these traits which have served them so well and helped them achieve, may not be effective when they are now faced with achieving results through others.

In addition to crafting great questions, a manager with a ‘leader as coach’ mindset will listen attentively to what their employees have to say. They will resist the opportunity to finish sentences, they will use silence. By doing this they will likely gain opportunities to demonstrate their true leadership by acknowledging to the team on occasions that the team or individual’s idea or approach is superior to their own. By not only listening but taking on board their employee’s concerns and desires, managers can help them to better develop in their role and in the company.

Building trust

The Oxford English dictionary defines trust as: “Firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something”. Successful coaching relies entirely on a relationship of trust between a manager and their employees. Adopting a ‘leader as coach’ mindset requires managers to start with a firm belief in the ability of their team members.

With trust comes accountability, and with accountability comes results. To reach their peak potential, employees need to feel accountable for their own work and therefore for their own achievements. While managers need to trust that their employees have the capacity to achieve success, employees need to trust that their work is being appreciated, that their manager has their back and that their job is secure. Building trust is a gradual process which can be achieved by maintaining open lines of communication and providing support whether it be task-related or emotional.

Giving constructive feedback

Constructive feedback is a developmental tool that is vital for organisational success, but which is often underused by managers. A great manager will give feedback to employees, often. They will make connections between an individual’s strengths and the company’s mission to improve development and drive success. Expressing these connections positively through regular feedback is the best way to achieve results.

For more information on how to deliver constructive feedback check out our article on this topic.

At Directions Unlimited, we understand how important it is for managers to incorporate coaching skills into their role, and we offer executive coaching to help you develop a coaching mindset. Contact us for an obligation free discussion on how executive coaching can prepare you to effectively manage your team.

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Unless these attributes are in balance, however, employees will not follow. Too much of any classic leadership trait can overturn the ship.

And trying too hard is a real no-no. Truly authentic leaders make it seem effortless. They know when to assert themselves and when to let others step up, establishing genuine common ground with those they lead.

While some leadership traits are inherent, there’s plenty of scope to work on others.

Let’s take a look at five fundamentals of successful leadership.

1. Creating a productive environment

The best leaders lay the foundations for a rich, fertile working environment, which recognises potential, rewards excellence and encourages creative thinking.

It’s all about mindset. They start with the belief that every one of their staff, given the right circumstances and support, has the potential to deliver great results.

This involves helping each employee to be the best they can be. Rather than expecting everyone to reach the same dizzy heights, shrewd leaders concentrate on bringing out individual strengths and minimising weaknesses.

Healthy work environments thrive when the leader takes an inclusive and supportive approach to staff, encouraging their feedback, rewarding their problem-solving and understanding their challenges.

So what leadership attributes help build a vibrant workplace?

• Ability to foster robust debate and manage many different personalities and working styles.
• Strong communication skills via clear expression, clever questioning and smart listening.
• Team and relationship building via empathy, motivational qualities and ongoing support.

Read more about how to excite your team to achieve greatness.

2. Building an appreciative self

An exceptional leader will work towards developing their ‘appreciative self’.

Put simply, this involves more focus on what’s working and what they want more of, and less focus on problems and what they want less of.

This theory is outlined by Gervase R Bush in his book, Clear Leadership: How outstanding leaders make themselves understood, cut through the mush and help everyone get real at work.

Bush criticises the traditional notion that problem-solving is the sole province of leaders.

Firstly, ‘top down’ solutions can lead to resistance from those who had no say in creating them.

Secondly, leaders are often too far removed from the actual problems to be able to draft an effective solution without input.

Empowered leaders shift problem-solving away from themselves, encouraging their staff to come up with their own solutions and solve problems at source, Bush claims.

This clears the decks for these ‘appreciative’ leaders to concentrate on positive solutions, honing in on areas of the organisation where things are going right and building on the gains.

With this approach, leaders’ beliefs are seen to be self-fulfilling. If biased towards seeing the best in people, the best is what they get. When focusing on the worst, they will receive more of that.

3. Building an authentic self

Fed up with slick personas and faceless ‘suits’, workers are increasingly demanding that their leaders are real people.

Today’s bosses can no longer hide behind a facade or remain aloof from their organisation’s people, as pointed out by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones in Managing Authenticity: The Paradox of Great Leadership.

Building a genuine presence is tricky though, and it’s not something you can claim for yourself, Goffee and Jones say. Your employees and managers are the true judges of how authentic your leadership is in practice.

This is where balance makes its entrance. Expressing yourself whenever and however you like doesn’t make you an authentic leader – it’s more likely to make you a huge irritation to your staff.

Developing a truly authentic leadership self, according to Goffee and Jones, means striking the subtle balance between expressing your own personality and managing the multiple personalities of the people around you.

This is done in two main ways. Firstly, by ensuring your words are always consistent with your deeds, so leading by example.

Secondly, by finding genuine common ground with those you are leading.

The latter point is particularly important as staff instinctively know when their bosses are faking.

So an authentic leader must show different faces to different members of the organisation, while ensuring every face has a true element of their own self.

This is not impossible, but it’s not easy either, and requires some genuinely creative thinking to hit the right note each time!

4. Managing change

Organisational change is just as inevitable as any other change in life.

Nothing in this world stays the same, and we spend our lives working out how best to adapt to changing personal circumstances, working environments, national shifts and global trends.

Yet we often resist it, until we hit upon a solution to the new challenge – be it technological, behavioural or attitude-based.

The best leaders understand our inherent fear of change and are adept at guiding us through.

They know how to calm our anxieties, showing us the benefits of moving forward and mapping out new ways of doing so.
Leadership Management Australasia (LMA) points to the evolutionary nature of change in the contemporary workplace, claiming that change is not only inevitable but essential in terms of business sustainability, functionality, efficiency and profitability.

According to LMA in Leadership through Understanding, smart leaders negotiate change by:

• Skilling up the workforce. This equips staff with the tools and techniques to embrace change.
• Involving staff early and deeply. This increases staff commitment and helps them ‘own’ the change.
• Communicating wisely. Real staff input is gained by communicating change widely, regularly and consistently.
• Being supportive. Specific, ongoing support is essential to help staff successfully deal with change.

5. Eagerness to go on learning

Learning never ends. No matter how accomplished we are, and how high we climb in our chosen field, we can never know all the answers.

This is partly because human beings are inherently imperfect, and partly because the world is in a constant state of flux.

Even if we know everything there is to know about today’s labour force and economy, next month – or next week – it will change.

And we never stop learning about human psychology, constantly finding better ways to understand and relate to others.

The best and most respected leaders learn from their staff, managers, colleagues and peers on a daily basis, knowing that even the lowliest employee has something to teach them.

While people are the chief asset of every organisation, it takes a quality leader to exploit their full potential and ensure that the company thrives and grows.

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Skills can be learned and experience and qualifications gained, but there is no substitute for the enthusiasm, motivation and passion great leaders possess. These people can mean the difference between an average team and a high performing team – they are the leaders every company wants to keep, nurture and develop to their full potential.

Great leaders are acutely aware of the strategic goals they are striving for, and what they need to do to get there. They share company values, strive to be the best at what they do, identify areas for improvement and actively engage with their own leaders to perfect their craft and leadership method.

Leadership style isn’t a perfect science – some leaders are skillful communicators, some are experts in resolving delicate conundrums, while others advocate for their team when a plan doesn’t come to fruition. But what all great leaders have in common is their ability to be authentic. Great leaders ensure they are consistent and that their actions match their words, but they also have an ability to get people to relate to them. They understand their autobiography and surround themselves with people that give them good honest feedback, not just what they want to hear.

So what makes a leader tick, and what can managers and CEOs do to guide their leadership group to true greatness?

Freedom to develop their own leadership style

According to the Australian Leadership Foundation, the ideal leadership style is active and engaging, resulting in an autonomous yet productive and efficient team. Another concept suggests leadership style can be identified by three major tendencies – those who lead with their head, heart or hands.

An effective leader doesn’t just think with their head and focus so hard on the bigger picture they forget the needs of their team – they adapt or take a step back to actively engage their team and draw them into the strategic goal. Another simple trait that all great leaders have in common is that they enjoy leading their team, so developing their own means of communicating is essential to their motivation.

How does a leader develop their leadership style? Authenticity plays a key role, although learning by example from mentors who display their own passion and motivation while adapting to the needs of others, and to the project or goal, is also very powerful – especially during the formative years.

Managers need to recognise the emerging or apparent leadership style of their employees, and show guidance or reason for improvement where needed.

Do they lead with their heart? They may be a good motivator by praising the efforts of their team, but struggle when challenged by others. Are they a headstrong leader – constantly finding new opportunities, but complaining about a lack of progress because strategic goals are not being met?

Recognising a leader’s strengths, habits and idiosyncrasies can help you develop their talent to its full potential.

A clear understanding of what drives leaders

Great leaders have a firm goal and a clear strategic path to follow. It is this goal that truly gets them fired up and gives them the unbridled passion and enthusiasm they display every day and inspire in their team – no task is too hard, too boring, too trivial.

A manager or CEO should have a clear understanding about what drives their leaders and understand their goals and motivations – why are they so passionate about what they do? Motivation has a clear impact on behaviour, so knowing why your leader works they way they do will help you provide the most appropriate guidance.

Recognising the importance of human capital

An effective leader recognises that not all human capital is created equally, but works with the given skill set to maximise growth and get the best out of the team. Effective leaders have the ability to turn mediocre teams into high performing teams through their drive, passion and motivation. Leaders who tend to think with their head invest time and effort into their team and thoroughly explain processes and procedures to capitalise on staff efficiency, yet great leaders can go one step further, exercising patience and avoiding setting unrealistic targets or standards.

Great leaders in turn are excited by the opportunities to take their skills to a new level, and thrive on personal development to help them achieve strategic goals – they cannot be the best without active guidance and means of improvement. They are recognised as an important resource in the business plan, which only adds to their enthusiasm for the role.

It’s lonely at the top though, which also explains why an increasing number of leaders engage an executive coach to challenge their thinking and be that “unreasonable friend” that is often needed.

Loyalty is rewarded

Employers can benefit greatly by managing relationships with employees who rise through the ranks to seniority. An effective leader is supported in their decision to exercise company loyalty, and ideally should be rewarded in return.

Great leaders realise the importance of starting at the bottom, because later it allows them to keep the individual needs of their own staff in mind, while learning how to recognise the potential for future leaders. It also helps them to know who they are, and to accept their identity anchors, which in turn contributes to their authenticity as a leader.

Succession planning is a crucial factor in employee loyalty and retention. CEOs and managers may include their leadership team in succession planning details in a bid to further understand their motivations and foster their career goals.

Potential for leadership starts at the recruitment process

Job fit is an important concept when recruiting leaders or potential leaders. It relates to an individual’s compatibility with the job, and the tasks that are performed as part of that job. It is linked closely with organisational culture – a poor job fit can result in a poor team culture.

A leader who is not compatible with the tasks they are required to perform, including engaging and motivating staff, will be a poor addition to the company. Poor recruitment decisions can result in high turnover, wasted time and resources and low quality leadership, affecting many facets of the business.

Recognising job fit and potential for leadership begins during the recruitment process. Behavioural interviews can help identify personality traits and motivation. Behaviourally-based interview questions can also indicate suitability with the existing team culture, reveal an employee’s potential for prospective leadership, or indicate future leadership style.

There is no perfect leader, but each possesses a combination of skills and attributes that have resulted in their acceptance to a leadership position.

Discovering what fuels their passion, what style of leadership they practice and what areas can be improved will not only help you understand their motivations, but guide them to become the best at what they do.

The post Leading Leaders: How to Uncover Drive and Foster Potential appeared first on Directions Unlimited.