Coaching And Developing

Leadership is an essential part of any organization. If an organization does not have great leaders it is likely to fail, maybe not right away, but eventually it will fail. Great leaders influence people to get things done to a standard and quality above their norm. “Leadership is an art and a science. It is an art because it continually evolves, changes form, and requires creativity. It is a science because there are certain essential principles and techniques required.” A good leader knows when it is time to change shape because they are highly attentive to those around them. By powerfully communicating a vision that motivates, and inspires followers, a great leader is able to transform his or her organization. A good leader needs to be able to laugh; a great leader needs to be able to laugh at oneself (What Makes a Great Leader).

“Leadership can be defined as a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs an organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge and skills” (Concepts of Leadership).

Leaders can also carry out this process by following the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. The first practice is to “model the way”. Excellent leaders know that if they want their employees to be committed and achieve high standards, they must be models of the behavior they expect of others. Leaders establish principles concerning the way people should be treated and the way goals should be pursued. They create standards of excellence and then set an example for others to follow (Leadership Challenge).

The second practice is to “inspire a shared vision”. Leaders inspire a shared vision by imagining the opportunities. Leaders believe they can make a difference. Leaders cannot force an employee to commit, they can only inspire them. People must believe that leaders understand their needs (Leadership Challenge).

The third practice is to “challenge the process”. Leaders venture out and take risks. They don’t wait for opportunities to fall into their hands. They search for opportunities to innovate, grow and improve. Leaders know well that innovation and change all involve experimentation, risk and failure but they accept it anyway. One way of dealing with the potential risks and failures of experimentation is to approach change through small steps and small wins (Leadership Challenge).

The next practice is to “enable others to act”. Leadership is a team effort. Leaders foster collaboration and build spirited teams. Leaders enable others to act not by keeping the power for them but by giving it away. When a leader makes people feel strong and capable they’ll give it their all and exceed their own expectations (Leadership Challenge).

The last practice is to “encourage the heart”. Accomplishing extraordinary things in organizations is hard work. To keep hope and determination alive, leaders recognize contributions that individuals make. Encouragement is how leaders visibly and behaviorally link rewards with performance (Leadership Challenge).

Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow. Success in leadership, success in business and success in life has been, is now and will continue to be a function of how well people work and play together. Success in leading will depend on the ability to build and sustain the human relationships that enable people to get extraordinary things done on a regular basis. Along with leading, comes coaching. To be a great leader you have to coach your employees.

“A form of coaching that is used to create a high-performance coaching culture is called transformational coaching. Transformational coaching is the art of assisting people to enhance their effectiveness in a way they feel helped. To accomplish this, coaching must be a comprehensive communication process in which the coach provides performance feedback to the coachee. A coach acts as a guide by challenging and supporting people in achieving their personal and organizational performance objectives. If this is done as a trusted learning partner, people feel helped by the coach and the process” (Heart of Coaching).

In transformational coaching, you learn to look at business success factors differently вЂ" more broadly. Rather than focusing only on the bottom-line financial results, a transformational coach appreciates and develops the people and the processes by which they achieve those results (Heart of Coaching).

Transformational coaching has many characteristics that make it effective. First, it is “data based”. It is important that any coaching process be based on objective facts. It is also “performance focused”. As a coach we must focus on behaviors and analyze the effect they have on individual and organizational performance. It is “relationship focused” also. Rapport, trust, and permission are the essential building blocks of an effective coaching relationship (Heart of Coaching).

Another characteristic is that it is “slower, not faster”. It requires people to slow down, listen more deeply, learn and become less reactive. Coaching also “requires dialogue”. Assuming nothing, sharing feedback, asking questions and exploring options are essential. It “requires more heart” as well. Being able to value and esteem people establishes openness, compassion, vulnerability and humility on the part of the coach. This improves the quality of the human connection and the coach’s ability to work effectively with people (Heart of Coaching).

Another characteristic is that it “requires humility”. Coaching is based on mutual dialogue, with the intentions of eliminating arrogance and encouraging a mutual understanding between the parties. It also “requires balance”. The intent is to improve the balance in the thinking, language and behavior of both the coach and the coachee. And last, it “requires self responsibility”. People sometimes need encouragement to be fully accountable for the aspects of their behavior that affects others. (Heart of Coaching)

Along with transformational coaching there are four behavior styles of coaching that are very important. First is the “collaborating style”. People who have this style are sensitive and aware of people’s