Posted by Susanne Earle in News | 0 comments

Coaching in the workplace has been proven to increase performance, morale, satisfaction and bottom line results. When leaders and human resources professionals approach their work with a coaching perspective, their interactions with others and their ability to lead is positively affected. Coaching has become a leadership attribute that is essential in today’s dynamic environment and the need to integrate coaching competencies into one’s repertoire will continue to grow in the future.

There are several features of the coaching model that specifically work well for leaders in organizational settings to support learning and performance. One such critical factor is that the leader as coach holds the assumption that others are innately capable of problem solving, of making effective decisions and of performing at a high level. When the opposite is true and the leader as coach perceives someone as a mediocre performer, they tend to perform at a lower level. Either approach is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Creating an environment where employees are valued and viewed as whole people with lives outside of the organization is another key feature of the coaching model. Their agenda is important and they are encouraged to develop themselves in a way that is meaningful for them. This climate is conducive to employee satisfaction and high individual and organizational performance. The leader as coach supports others in cultivating their unique talents and in reaching their true potential.

Other important features of the coaching model include listening, empathy, trust, challenging, self-management and intuition. These skills are among the least developed in organizations today. As the leader as coach develops these skills and applies them in their interactions with others, their influence and connections greatly improve.

As organizations continue to rely more on accomplishing tasks through others, it is vital to their sustainability that they empower leaders and employees to harness their talents to their fullest potential.