How to lead by coaching

Peter Drucker once said that managers used to tell but in the future they will have to ask. If the corporate hierarchy is always telling the subordinates what to do (in an echo of school and military life) then how can anyone expect subordinates to take responsibility for their own actions, develop their competencies and realize their potential? The principle of coaching is to maximize the performance of the individual by unlocking their potential (which should not be confused with mentoring which is essentially experience transfer).

The process of coaching was itself first defined as “GROW” by John Whitmore. In his latest book, “Coaching for Performance: GROWing Human Potential and purpose – the principles and practices of coaching and leadership”, 4^th ed, 2012, Nicholas Brealey, his research shows that in order to retain the best staff, successful leaders lead in a coaching style rather than with “command and control”. Similarly, management and leadership style determines the performance of staff: a coaching approach delivers the highest performance.

Here’s how to lead by coaching followed by further implications (“et alors?”)

How to lead by coaching

Within the context of increasing awareness and responsibility, there are four key steps to the process:

Goals

End goals should be distinguished from performance goals. An end-goal might be a dream or a motivator but can actually derail performance if set too high. Focus on the mid-to-long term performance goals.

Goals must be “owned” by the individual. They should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely), PURE (positive, understood, relevant, ethical) and CLEAR (challenging, legal, environmentally sound, appropriate, recorded).

Reality

In defining reality, be descriptive, not judgmental. Choice and control can only be exercised over what we are aware of, “but what we are unaware of controls us”. The reality review is to try to move beyond symptoms to find causes.

Use “what, when, where, who and how much” to investigate rather than “why and how” (which can lead to conjecture, opinion and defensiveness). A thorough review of reality can sometimes throw up the “answers” before moving onto the next stages.

Options and Will

The purpose of options is not to have the “right” answer, but to create a list of as many alternative plans of action as possible. Avoid negative assumptions and hierarchising the options: instead objectively note the costs and benefits of each option at this stage.

The “will” is what the coachee will do: not “should” or “could”, but will! Further, it needs to be defined when it will be done, who needs to know, what support is needed and how that support is going to be obtained. If anything is less than certain, consider adapting the “will” to make it certain.

Et alors?

Notice the fact that “goals” are reviewed and formulated before assessing “reality”. It is quite often the case that reality is reviewed before setting goals, but as Whitmore says “goals based on current reality alone are liable to be negative, a response to a problem, limited by past performance, lacking in creativity or even counterproductive”.

Even if the leader is in an organization with a strong hierarchy, there is no reason for them to not coach their subordinates. Perpetuating the “command and control” by passing on orders is not going to maximize performance! Indeed, one of the key challenges for senior leaders is to develop talent and coaching is certainly one of the best ways to do it (in any culture)!