People expect a lot from their leaders… and they should. A positive leader experience is often rated as the highest driver of engagement. But it also begs the question… what do type of leaders really stand out?
One critical aspect of engaging leadership is coaching. Coaching leaders are those who value results, relationships, commit time to invest toward meaningful interactions and remain positive and constructive throughout each cycle of performance.
Let’s take a look at each of these traits in more depth.
Valuing Results
Coaching leaders understand that results matter, and they work hard to ensure that their team is focused on achieving their goals. It’s disillusioning working for a leader who doesn’t manage the team to high performance. No one wants to be part of a losing effort!
To coach toward positive outcomes, coaching leaders set clear goals so that no one has to guess what high performance looks like. They create clear expectations, communicate regularly and hold the team accountable to stay on track, In short, they create the success infrastructure that everyone wants and needs.
Valuing Relationships
Coaching leaders also understand that relationships aren’t a means to the end of high performance. Positive relationships are the heart and soul of any team’s success.
Each performer can tell if their leader values them. Coaching leaders listen to the members of their team, make it a point to understand their needs and provide intentional support so each person feels valued, respected and empowered.
Committing the Time
When it comes to results and relationships, many leaders mean well but get bogged down by the endless demands of each day, week and month. They’d like to commit more time with their teams but feel so far behind that they invariably let it slide.
Coaching leaders work as hard as possible to stick to their leadership commitments – both with the team and with each individual. It’s hard to perform well with an absentee boss. Coaching is like delegation in this regard: it requires a time investment up front but pays huge dividends along the way.
Remaining Positive and Constructive
Have you ever had a leader who was positive but didn’t show you how to improve? What about a leader who pointed out where you could do better, but neglected to encourage you?
Coaching leaders are consistent with both! Absence of positivity hurts the relationship and absence of constructive input hurts the results. Not only that, constructive feedback can feel extremely positive when delivered within the context of an encouraging and supportive relationship. It’s these types of relationships that sustain high performance beyond any specific project cycle.
You may be a leader, and even an effective one at that. But how’s your coach’s heart? Are your team’s best performances still ahead of you? It may very well depend on your ability to be the coaching leader they need.
This article is included in the Leadership-in-a-Box® program:
Coaching for High Performance
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