Leadership coaching is a style of leadership that focuses on developing individual team members and helping them understand how their role contributes to the success of the larger team. This type of leadership is characterized by collaboration, support, and guidance. Coaching leaders strive to get the best out of their teams by providing guidance and support as they work towards goals and overcome obstacles. This style of leadership is in stark contrast to autocratic leadership, which relies on top-down decision-making. The coaching leadership style is all about building strong relationships and addressing the unique needs of each team member.
It often takes a mentor-mentee approach, balancing praise, support, and constructive feedback. While this type of training can take time to yield results, it can also bring up deeper emotional issues that need to be addressed. One of the most important aspects of coaching leadership is providing effective feedback. At its core, coaching leadership is about empowering individuals and teams to do their best. By focusing so much on interpersonal relationships, coaching leaders may struggle with time management, making it difficult to provide each team member with the necessary support.
Leadership training becomes increasingly important as organizations focus more on boosting employee engagement through career initiatives. Many companies are now adopting a coaching model in which managers facilitate problem solving and encourage employee development by asking questions and offering support and guidance instead of giving orders and making judgments. Executives are presented with a case study and asked to play the role of a manager who must decide whether to fire or train a direct report who is not performing up to the task. Complete situational coaching, balancing management and non-management training moment to moment is not always the answer. From holistic to authoritarian, all of these training styles can be effective depending on the company, project, or team itself. If coaching seems like just another trend driven by Human Resources, employees may roll their eyes and meet the requirements as little as possible. At its best, coaching leadership is about building relationships between mentors and mentees and between mentors and their team members.
It provides each individual with a unique path to truly thrive.
