What do leading and coaching have to do with each other?
Well… a lot… I’ve been thinking a lot about this subject because if you want to develop your team,… no LEAD your team, you’re going to have to get into coaching sooner rather than later.
A leader gives direction, focuses on the future, on strategy, is a visionary and a change agent. Leaders lead based on their world-view, their values, beliefs, and personal life-mission (spiritual quotient=SQ), their history and experience of working and interacting with and leading others (emotional quotient=EQ), and of course their IQ, your basic intelligence, education – formal or learned on the streets.
In my experience and observation, IQ and EQ are sufficient conditions for good leadership, but SQ is a necessary AND sufficient condition of OUTSTANDING leadership. Self actualization occurs where IQ, EQ and SQ thrive and co-develop. Leaders establish the clear link between motivation and performance. Leaders understand, respect and even encourage different styles of leadership from their teams – if they are “safe” in their SQ.
A coach develops skills, listens, probes, questions in order to help you release your full potential – reach your self actualization. A coach can be directive (providing direct guidance even making suggestions) or non-directive (paraphrasing or giving feedback). Some coaches push. Some pull. All good coaches help you increase your awareness of the situation and your options as well as highlight your responsibility to decide and to act. You know the drill.
Coaching is a core leadership competence that is too often neglected. You will follow a leader who cares about you, tells you, shows you. Someone who tells you what they expect of you, gives you reflective, real, personalized feedback, lets you know how you are performing and why. Provides you with skill development how to get to the next step, next level, deeper complexity – and most of all who is committed to helping you find your mission, reflect on your core belief system, values and how all that comes together with what motivates you and where and how you perform.
Coaching is a core leadership compence – focus on it. Sooner rather than later.
