The transition from manager to coach is challenging and confusing at times. It needs a unique skill set that helps in working with different people in the team. A leader emerging as a coach needs to be impactful enough to influence others positively. To lead in such a manner, you can develop few essential coaching skills for leaders.
It is not that you lack these skills, they are just bottled-up, you have to turn over a new leaf. You don’t need to uphill a battle for this, all you can do is improving three key skills to inherit the true leadership quality. Using these techniques help you have a significant impact on the way they engage with their teams, peers, and senior leadership.
Listen
To listen when coaching your team member is more than an auditory activity. It involves empathy and creating space so others can share their concerns and perspective. It is one of the essential coaching skills for leaders, they need to put off the desire of jumping to the solution or getting to the point quickly.
Moreover, the coach is expected to actively respond while listening to the others to make them feel heard and understand their message without adding your judgment, suggestions, or beliefs.
Ask Questions
Another critical coaching skills for leaders include asking questions. It provokes thought and assessment process in the person coached. Asking a question, however, not about getting answers that the coach wants to hear. It is instead the process of encouraging meaningful thoughts in the person you are coaching and preparing them to take up a challenge on their own. This is what the foremost purpose of coaching
Planning Action
The job of leaders as the coach is not assigning tasks or actions to team members and watch them perform. They should rather partner with them to define those actions based on their own abilities and knowledge. While coaching, you should participate in brainstorming with your team members and help them dig out alternative opportunities. But, make sure you don’t impose your thoughts, and the actions should be taken as per their ideas. Let them take full responsibility and accountability for it.
As a coach, you should support their progress and motivate them to find new paths if their original plan of action does not work out as expected.
Leaders when adapting to the skills of listening, questioning, and planning activities with a coaching perspective, become able to build impactful relationships with their team members. They influence and empower them to lead and make clear decisions on their own, eventually driving the comprehensive growth of the organization.
If you are looking to develop these coaching skills for leaders, you can come to Coach Masters Academy. It offers advanced coaching skill training courses and workshops to improve your coaching competencies.
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