Leaders Coaching Others
Coaching is leadership that instructs followers on how to meet the specific organizational challenges they face.44 Operating like an athletic coach, the coaching leader identifies inappropriate behavior in followers and suggests how they might correct that behavior.45 The increasing use of teams has elevated the importance of coaching in today’s organizations, and recent research has begun to identify the leader’s role in fostering a team’s success.47 Characteristics of an effective coach are presented in Table 13.2.
Table 13.2 Characteristics of an Effective Coach
| Trait, Attitude, or Behavior | Action Plan for Improvement |
|---|---|
| 1. Empathy (putting self in other person’s shoes) |
Sample: Will listen and try to understand person’s point of view. Your own: |
| 2. Listening skill |
Sample: Will concentrate extra hard on listening. Your own: |
| 3. Insight into people (ability to size them up) |
Sample: Will jot down observations about people on first meeting, then verify in the future. Your own: |
| 4. Diplomacy and tact |
Sample: Will study book of etiquette. Your own: |
| 5. Patience toward people |
Sample: Will practice staying calm when someone makes a mistake. Your own: |
| 6. Concern for welfare of people |
Sample: When interacting with another person, will ask myself, “How can this person’s interests best be served?” Your own: |
| 7. Minimum hostility toward people |
Sample: Will often ask myself, “Why am I angry at this person?” Your own: |
| 8. Self-confidence and emotional stability |
Sample: Will attempt to have at least one personal success each week. Your own: |
| 9. Noncompetitiveness with team members |
Sample: Will keep reminding myself that all boats rise with the same tide. Your own: |
| 10. Enthusiasm for people |
Sample: Will search for the good in each person. Your own: |
Coaching Behavior
A successful coaching leader is characterized by many different kinds of behavior. Among these behaviors are the following:
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Listens closely —The coaching leader tries to discover the facts in what is said and the feelings and emotions behind what is said. Such a leader is careful to really listen and not fall into the trap of immediately rebutting statements made by followers.
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Gives emotional support —The coaching leader gives followers personal encouragement.48 Such encouragement should constantly be aimed at motivating them to do their best to meet the high demands of successful organizations.
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Shows by example what constitutes appropriate behavior —The coaching leader shows followers, for instance, how to handle an employee problem or a production glitch. By demonstrating expertise, the coaching leader earns the trust and respect of followers.
Each of the above leadership concepts focus on a different but critical situation that leaders face: making decisions, changing organizations, and coaching others. Each concept has received notable attention in recent management literature. Leaders should not choose one of these concepts as the prime determinant of how they lead. Instead, leaders should internalize all of these concepts so that they can make better decisions, change organizations, and coach others as related leadership challenges arise.