How a Coach-Approach to Leadership can Improve Corporate Culture
Posted on January 08, 2020 by Lisa Moffatt, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
Being a coach for your team helps them feel seen, heard and understood. Read on to see how you can employ a coach-approach in your leadership.
I was working with a coaching client on her leadership skills recently. She found our coaching sessions very useful and wanted to know how she could incorporate some of what I do with her with her team…
Great leaders know how to guide their staff to solution. Each of us is the best knower of ourselves: what will work for us, what we are able to do, where we want to be challenged and where and how we want to take risks. Understanding this about your team facilitates using a coach-approach to your leadership.
Leadership fails when you give the answers to your staff. Doing the work for them or micromanaging them leads to resentment and prohibits growth: personally, interpersonally, and professionally. It also has negative affects on your corporate culture.
Being a coach for your team makes them feel seen, heard and understood. This is important for your individual staff, team morale and corporate culture. Dr. Leon Seltzer says feeling understood is more important than feeling loved(!). When we feel seen, heard and understood, we have an enduring sense of security and well-being for the following reasons:
- We’re known.
- Our identity is confirmed.
- We exist.
- We belong.
- We’re part of something larger than yourself.
- We’re accepted.
- We’re empowered.
- We understand ourselves better.
- We experience more satisfaction in our relationships.
- We’re shielded from the depths of depression because feeling misunderstood or not understood leads to feelings of separation and estrangement.
Pretty powerful stuff. Good news is, it’s fairly easy to accomplish with some practice. Here are six steps you can take to employing a coach-approach in your leadership:
1. Listen. When a team member comes to you, give them your full attention. Put your phone down, turn away from the computer, make eye contact. Avoid thinking of what you will say next. Just listen. Pay attention to their body language: are they waving their arms (frustration?); are they sinking in their chair (defeat?); are they smiling and can’t contain themselves (excited or passionate?).
2. Respect silence. Once the person is finished speaking, let the silence be there. If given the opportunity, many people come to solution on their own. If you offer your idea, you are doing the work for them and preventing their personal and professional growth. By holding the silence, you are also building trust with them. You are letting them know you know they have the answer.
3. Mirror what you are hearing back to them. Instead of repeating exactly what they said, repeat what you heard them say – in your own words. This will let them know if they are communicating their idea effectively and if they need to rephrase. It will also help your staff understand themselves better.
4. Ask open-ended questions. Asking open-ended questions creates space for your staff to explore options and gives them room to grow. A good trick is to ask “What” and “How” questions.
5. Give constructive feedback. First of all, get permission. Ask them if they are open to receiving feedback. Then give them constructive feedback to set them up for success. Use examples from your own experience to illustrate your point. Ask them if they find your feedback useful.
6. Hold them capable for goal-setting. Ask your staff to set goals with timelines to keep momentum and take action on their area of concern or excitement. Set deadlines with them and ask them what they need from you to support their success. Follow up with them to see how they are doing.
You’ll be amazed at how this improves the effectiveness of your team, their ability to problem solve and be more successful in their work, and the positive culture it creates.
Lisa Moffatt is a Certified Executive Coaching based on the lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, Coast Salish Peoples, namely the səlil’wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations (now called Vancouver and the Lower Mainland). This calls her to learn about the effects of colonialism on the indigenous and to act as an ally for the indigenous whenever she has the opportunity. She facilitates conversations and workshops with organizations about social equity and she coaches women and feminists to overcome internal and systemic barriers to be more effective leaders.
