Four Ways Coaching Helps Leaders Take Charge
As more workplaces shift back toward in-office working after a year of Zoom meetings, remote work, and other changes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be different leadership challenges. Like the pandemic, or “now normal,” the “new normal” will bring many changes to workplaces of all types, but strong, communicative leaders can guide their teams through the uncertainty. For leaders, now is the perfect time to grow and improve their leadership skills through coaching. Here are four ways coaching helps leaders prepare to take charge in a changing workplace.
Coaching Improves Communications
For leaders, communication is key. Coaching helps leaders improve their communications in areas such as:
- Increasing clarity
- Choosing the best words for different situations
- Listening to and understanding other views points with attention to different perspectives
- Paying attention to non-verbal communications
Through coaching, all leaders can improve or hone communication skills, which they can use to foster productive conversations, handle workplace conflict, and keep their team on the same page, even when dealing with unprecedented changes.
Coaching Identifies Strengths and Weakness
Everyone has areas where they can improve, and leadership coaching helps leaders identify and address those areas. For example, if someone has a workplace issue like poor communications with a specific team member or trouble with accepting negative feedback, coaching can help them delve deeper and find the root cause of the issue. With that new knowledge, they can discover ways to proactively address future problems.
At the same time, coaching pushes leaders to fully embrace their achievements, improvements, and strengths! By helping leaders know where they excel—and where they need to grow—coaching helps leaders approach challenges as the best version of themselves.
Coaching Encourages Goals and Growth
Setting and meeting goals is an important factor in any workplace. Through coaching, leaders can learn about the best practices for setting goals and ways to improve in areas like:
- Setting attainable milestones for themselves and their team
- Identifying key objectives
- Identifying issues that could hinder their goals
- Encouraging their team to meet goals
- Recovering and improving after failing to meet a goal
Coaching encourages leaders to set goals that challenge them, while also helping them grow the skillset they need to meet and exceed their business objectives.
Coaching Helps the Entire Workplace
When a leader improves their skills through coaching, their entire workplace can benefit. By improving themselves in areas like communications, goal-setting, and empowerment, leaders can implement their new strengths in their workplace and:
- Provide stronger management
- Handle conflict more efficiently
- Better understand other perspectives
- Inspire others
When a leader improves and showcases these skills, it can make the workplace better for everyone else, and can even encourage others to step up, find ways to improve, and become budding leaders themselves.
Sources:
- https://hbr.org/sponsored/2021/03/leaders-need-professional-coaching-now-more-than-ever
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/07/16/the-top-three-leadership-skills-needed-post-pandemic/?sh=7187fb25caa
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/leading-emotional-intelligence/202001/6-reasons-why-all-leaders-need-coaching