Cathy Liska How have you seen leaders change through coaching?
To help you recognize how coaching can change leaders, we asked experienced coaches and business leaders this question for their best insights. From gaining empathy to becoming more approachable, there are several ways that coaching has helped professionals bring positive changes into their leadership roles.
Here are 10 ways coaching impacts leaders:
- Leaders Gain Empathy from Coaching
- Leaders Learn To be Persuasive Motivators
- Coaching Makes Leaders Understand Their Leadership Style
- Leaders Learn To Be Patient
- Leaders Realize Challenging Authority is Not Disrespect
- Leaders Learn To Build Effective Teams
- Coaching Makes Leaders More Self-Aware
- Leaders Communicate More Effectively With Their Team
- Leaders Start Taking Obstacles as Opportunities
- Leaders Become More Approachable
Leaders Gain Empathy from Coaching
The demands of a leadership role can make it pretty easy to lose sight of the demands faced by subordinates. Coaching can help leaders take a step back and take a more holistic view of their individual teammates. What makes their roles difficult? What challenges are they facing outside of work? Where is there friction within the team? When leaders learn to step away from the focus on the bottom line and learn to ask questions like these, they’ll get a fuller picture of what’s making their business tick — and they’ll be able to do more to set up their teams for success.
- Elliott Brown, OnPay
Leaders Learn to be Persuasive Motivators
Leaders can often learn to be more persuasive motivators through coaching. Some leaders can be harsh which is a turn off to the people they manage and can actually be counterproductive for encouraging the best work from team members. Leadership coaching can encourage more thoughtfulness and a strategic approach to dealing with team members even in high-pressure situations. Yelling and other displays of frustration can discredit a leader. Coaching can teach leaders to be calm and their calmness can inspire great results from their team members. A leader’s calm demeanor can often persuade their team in guaranteeing a good outcome and this development is achieved through effective coaching.
- Liza Kirsh, DYMAPAK
Coaching Makes Leaders Understand Their Leadership Style
Coaching makes you more aware of your leadership style. Leadership coaching teaches you to capitalize on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses through effective delegation and collaboration. It opens your eyes to how your natural inclinations as a leader affect your team. You learn how to be authentic and adapt to your team’s needs.
- Justin Soleimani, Tumble
Makes Leaders Learn To Be Patient
When the leaders are new, some don’t know how to bring patience into their life. They have no control over their actions and they expect a lot from their actions. But with coaching, I’ve seen leaders developing more patience and learning to be patient in regard to their actions. As a leader, keeping a cool mind is crucial to take important decisions as in business, every action you’re taking is very critical for a business. And when a leader has it, they take every action before thinking thoroughly about the situation and what could be the outcomes which can sometimes save the business.
- Meera Watts, Siddhi Yoga International Pte. Ltd.
Leaders Realize Challenging Authority is Not Disrespect
We always point out mistakes to ourselves, but pointing out a mistake to a person in authority is a surefire way to be noticed – whether the reception is good or bad depends solely on the receiver.
My key takeaway from my coaching is: I should never be offended if anyone corrects me or challenges my authority because this hinders progress and growth.
I’ve learned through coaching that many subordinates do not inform their leaders or higher-ups of mistakes or bad decisions because they’re afraid to be smart-shamed, and this leads to repression of what they have to say; which, in turn, leads to the higher-ups committing the same mistake over and over until someone notices, or they notice it themselves. These small things tend to blow up out of proportion and can even cost clients.
- Collen Clark, Schmidt & Clark, LLP
Leaders Learn to Build Effective Teams
Leaders who are coached on how to build effective teams are better able to create a shared vision, establish clear roles and responsibilities, delegate tasks effectively, and provide feedback that leads to positive results. They learn how to identify the strengths and weaknesses of team members and how to put together a group of people that complement each other’s skills. Team building is an essential skill for leaders because it allows them to get the most out of their employees and create a work environment that is conducive to success.
- Danielle Bedford, Coople
Coaching Makes Leaders More Self-Aware
One way leaders change through coaching is by becoming more self-aware. We become better able to understand and reflect on strengths and weaknesses and how we relate to others. Coaching helps us to develop a deeper understanding of our motivations and goals, and to clarify our own values and priorities.
A leadership coach acts as a participative audience, allowing us to get detailed insight into an outsider’s perspective of our approach. Self-awareness comes when we can see ourselves through the lens of the coach and realize that our unique struggles can be broken down into common and conquerable ones.
- Soumya Mohan, Poised
Leaders Communicate More Effectively with Their Team
I have seen leaders change through coaching in a number of ways. The most common way I see leaders change is through their ability to more effectively communicate with their team. Leaders who are coached learn to listen more, be more present, and ask more probing questions. This allows them to better understand the needs of their team and how to best motivate and inspire them. Additionally, leaders who are coached also tend to become more self-aware and are able to more effectively manage their emotions. This leads to them being more even-keeled, which fosters a calm and collected environment within their team.
- Farhan Advani, BHPH
Leaders Start Taking Obstacles as Opportunities
With a coach putting the leader through challenges and hardships, the leader learns to be resilient. Leaders can adapt themselves better and grow in difficult situations. I have seen leaders have a confident approach to obstacles. They learn to be flexible and think out of the box which lets them rise through any difficulty. I have seen leaders who used to feel anxious over hurdles, learn to turn obstacles into opportunities for progress. Whether it is making a product strategy up based on the situation that leads to better outcomes or dealing with a team setback, leadership coaching molds them to accept setbacks with an open mind.
- Samantha Odo, Precondo
Leaders Become More Approachable
Approachability: It’s amazing to experience a leader’s transformation, and I’d say it’s more felt than seen. Being able to have more open conversations and ask questions without having to also think about disrupting their work brings more ease to interactions. Someone who’s been able to (with the help of a coach) see their laser-focused efforts as potentially closed or guarded from another perspective means they’re more mindful and intentional about being available. There’s more room for mutual feedback and growth, and asking for help doesn’t have to feel intrusive when I know they’re working on how to show up more visibly open and available.
- Marilyn Zubak, Snif
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