A Coaching Leadership Style: Just right for 2022

Three key elements of a Coaching Leadership Style are:

• collaboration,
• support, and
• guidance.

A coaching leader is still driven by goals and results but recognises, and seeks to unlock, the potential of their staff.

Even today, in many businesses, people are often the most untapped resource. Training and development are applied at a broad-brush level, or alternatively targeted at those who are considered high performers.  Staff have been assessed, judged and categorised.

A coaching leadership style encourages both questions and feedback to build a culture of creative thinking and growth. Training considers the personal and professional development of individuals.  There still may be certain skills development that applies to the majority of staff, but the pace may differ from individual to individual.

Collaboration is the norm – all staff are encouraged to contribute and communicate. 360-degree feedback is provided by both management and staff. Feedback is honest, respectful and constructive. And such feedback is taken and acted on.

A coaching leader provides the space to try, learn and grow. Short term mistakes or failures, happen, are accepted and learnt from. They support opportunities to change, adapt or be more flexible to meet the needs of their clients or customers.

A coaching leader is a guide, asking questions, listening. They help their team to visualise and connect to the goals behind what they are doing.

A coaching leader will still be decisive and may well need to make hard and potentially unpopular decisions. But they will take responsibility for making the purpose of the decision clear – its downside and its good points.

Fundamentally, a coaching leadership style builds trust, confidence, which of course, many leaders do. The outstanding difference is that coaching leaders encourage self-belief.

And that is why, a coaching leadership style is a good start for 2022.