18

The line manager as a coach

Being a line manager who adopts a coaching style as part of their day-to-day managerial practice is probably one of the most common scenarios you will face. In order to be successful as a ‘line manager as coach’ you must create the environment, demonstrate the skills, build relationships with your people and develop a reputation as someone who is genuinely interested in other people. People will make their decision on whether or not they want to be coached by you based on your behaviour and how you relate to others in all your day-to-day dealings with them. This means that if you are truly committed to coaching as part of your managerial philosophy you will need to genuinely demonstrate this behaviour all the time. Consistent behaviour is important.

As a line manager coaching one of your direct reports there are, of course, a number of challenges you will have to be aware of:

• As you are in a position of authority they may simply tell you what they think you want to hear; or worse, they may even tell lies.
  
• The conversation could simply be at a superficial level because they are afraid to tell the truth for fear of negative consequences – ‘If they don’t trust they won’t tell.’
  
• The importance of total confidentiality.
  
• Being non-judgemental, meaning that in a coaching scenario you may explore issues that affect a person’s performance in their day-to-day role. It is important to be able to remain objective and to decouple what you hear during coaching from a performance review discussion.
  

As a line manager, there will be two circumstances in which you typically coach people. First, when one of your reports initiates the discussion where, for example, they ask for help, or they are experiencing a problem with a colleague. This is the easier of the two circumstances as the coachee has shown a desire to be coached by you. The second circumstance is when you perceive an issue where you believe they need coaching. This is more challenging, as your first step will be to persuade the coachee that there is an issue on which they need coaching. Do not start by telling them they need coaching. Start by gently asking questions to establish their view of the situation. If you are lucky and they recognise that they have a problem, then you can suggest you work together in a coaching conversation. If they still don’t accept that there is an issue then ask them a more specific and detailed question about the issue you perceive. If they still don’t recognise the issue, then the time has come for direct feedback and informing them of the need for a coaching session.

Tips for success

• Listen first.
  
• Show you are interested.
  
• Don’t interrupt.
  
• Don’t judge.
  
• Avoid saying things like, ‘If I were you …’, or ‘Why don’t you …?’
  
• Be appreciative of efforts the coachee has already made.
  
• Ask open questions.
  
• Try and get a bit deeper so you understand more.
  
• Show empathy.
  
• Focus on understanding, probing questions and moving to specific actions.
  
• Make sure any goals are specific.
  
• Ask your coachee to summarise their next steps and their timeline.
  
• Agree when you will next meet.