Leadership Coaching essentially means working with the leaders in an organisation to help them lead their teams effectively towards their organisational goals. Leadership Coaching came into place as organisations realised that all competent professionals are not effective leaders. It is also a fact that continually hiring new people to lead the organisation is detrimental to morale and growth in an organisation. It is much better to enlist existing leaders in Leadership Coaching Programs.
Leadership coaching programs are ideal for existing or potential leaders who want to sharpen their coaching skills and become competent leaders of their organizations. In leadership Coaching a Coach will often nudge a leader towards active listening, asking the right questions and presenting people with options rather than making the decisions for them. The Coach will along the way allow the leader to find their own path towards becoming a leader who can lead their team effectively.
Leadership coaching is usually a 6 to 8 months coach training program. There is a minimum of 6 formal coach training sessions under the supervision of a coach. The number of coaching sessions is customizable depending on the requirements of the leaders. It is a review-based coaching program, where the progress of the enrolled leaders is reviewed twice, once during mid-session and another at the end of the course.
However, like every other course and company training, leadership Coaching too has its own set of pros and cons.
Advantages (Pros) of leadership coaching
- Leadership coaching gives an organization an edge over its competitors.
Leadership coaching is a leadership development process wherein leaders under the supervision of certified coaches, develop their leadership skills. Enhanced leadership skills empower leaders to work cohesively with their team and deliver to their stated goals. The team under an impactful leader works together to navigate uncertainty and perform effectively, thus delivering positive outcomes in the organization. A motivated, highly-skilled workforce benefits from the presence of an effective, collaborative leader and can be the difference between the success or failure of an organisation.
- Leadership coaching helps the leaders to understand themselves and their team members better.
Leaders with the help of coaches get a chance to understand their own behaviour and the behaviour of others in the team as well. Armed with this knowledge and improved emotional quotient, leaders are able to see each member of their teams as unique, can help each of them identify their strengths and weaknesses and thereby improve the performance of the team as a whole. This process especially helps leaders to connect with withdrawn or reticent team members.
- Leadership Coaching create Empowered Leaders
Through Leadership Coaching, leaders are able to reflect on the road-blocks and self-sabotaging behaviour that may be standing in the way of their progress. Being able to work towards freeing themselves from these road-blocks and begin to see themselves as empowered individuals who can achieve success.
Disadvantages (Cons) of leadership coaching
There are not many disadvantages of Leadership coaching.
- Leadership coaching is not everyone’s cup of tea
Leadership Coaching only works with individuals who are ready to make a change. If a leader is not ready to change or see their behaviour in a new light, a coach would not help. In fact the leadership coaching exercise would be entirely futile in this case.
- Leadership coaching does not guarantee a hundred percent success between the leader and their team if the leader does not willingly and consciously put in his learnings in practice..
Coaching is a two-way road. Skill learned in leadership coaching only works when the team members cooperate with the coach leader. A leader is called effective when under his/her supervision, the team performs well, and the organization benefits from the collaboration. If despite coaching a leader fails to motivate the team or give constructive feedback then the whole process collapses leading to the organization’s loss.
