Leader as Coach

Change is a dominant feature of organisational life. Operating in the “fourth industrial revolution”, organisational environments now experience unprecedented levels of speed and change. Leaders are regularly presented with ambiguous scenarios that they are no longer expert at solving. To achieve superior results in this type of environment requires a shift in approach.

While the common leadership practice of advice-giving may feel like the fastest option, this approach is no longer going to achieve the solutions or long-term results that organisations require. In his book, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, the World Economic Forum’s founder, Professor Klaus Schwab, states: “…The changes are so profound that, from the perspective of human history, there has never been a time of greater promise or potential peril. My concern, however, is that decision-makers are too often caught in traditional, linear (and non-disruptive) thinking or too absorbed by immediate concerns to think strategically about the forces of disruption and innovation shaping our future …”

The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2020, the top 3 skills required by organisations will be complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity. Look further ahead to 2022 and the outlook is the same – leaders will need to continually evolve in order to better support their organisations to successfully navigate the situations they are now presented with.

Shifting to more of a “Leader as Coach” approach can tap into the need for personalised solutions, as well as contribute to building the skills that organisations require. Coaching has been proposed to increase empowerment, help people to embrace ambiguity and encourage the freedom to express new ideas and possibilities. The extent of this shift however should not be underestimated, especially when considering the common practice of promoting technical experts to leadership roles. “Leader as Expert” is a heavily ingrained mindset. Taking on more of a coaching style is a shift not only for many leaders, but also for their staff who are used to the leaders providing advice and solutions.

An important first step towards adopting more of a coaching approach is to understand how to do it.  A recent study covered in the Harvard Business Review article “Most Managers Don’t Know How to Coach People. But They Can Learn”, found that many managers still view coaching as a form of consulting and revert to providing advice and solutions when they think they are coaching. Interestingly this belief even led to the reinforcement of this approach during the study when participants were asked to observe and rate their peers’ coaching ability. A consulting approach was initially rated highly because that is what they understood coaching to be. 

Along with understanding how to coach, it is also essential for leaders to understand when coaching is and isn’t likely to be effective. Adopting a coaching style does not mean that leaders shouldn’t ever solve problems or provide advice, rather they need to demonstrate flexibility by considering which approach will be most effective in each circumstance. Considerations for coaching opportunities include the level of risk involved in a decision, timeliness requirements and relationship status with the coachee.

As greater interest and research into the effectiveness of coaching continues, more organisations are investing in upskilling their leaders on this misunderstood skill. More advanced organisations are already forging even further ahead by shifting their coaching focus to a more strategic one – developing a coaching culture.  

Learning systems will need to evolve in order to nurture a creative confidence in leaders. By supporting leaders to adopt more of a coaching style, organisations can support their talent to create innovative solutions and maintain relevance in this ever changing business landscape.  As bestselling author and coach, Michael Bungay-Stanier says, “… Shift behaviour so that people stay curious a little bit longer and rush to action and advice-giving just a little bit more slowly …”