Skip to main content

Leaders as coaches and the value of the ‘safe space’

I Stock 650151750

The concept of the leader as coach is resonating with many organisations and leaders, as they recognise that the leadership skills that got us here won’t get us to our next destination. This is because leaders as coaches address many critical leadership capability gaps. Leaders as coaches hold purposeful conversations in the workplace, resulting in greater collaboration, increased awareness and responsibility and overall higher performance from individuals and teams.

Leaders as coaches achieve this by engaging in coaching behaviours such as listening (when a leader is coaching, the team member does most of the talking), using goal-setting to direct and focus efforts and behaviour and creating a reflective space to learn from experience. Leaders as coaches also adopt a coaching mindset; for example, being open and curious, adopting a non-judgemental attitude (they ask rather than assume) and having a growth mindset (they believe people can learn and change).

Professor Rebecca Jones

Professor in Coaching and Behaviour Change
Published 29 April 2022
Topics:
Article

You might also like

Make yourself uncomfortable

9 November 2020
To see yourself as others see you – it’s rewarding, but can you take it?
Article

Rewiring your brain – new pathways to leadership

24 May 2021
This is a precis of an article by Suzanne Pollack, Executive Fellow in Executive Education at Henley Business School
Article

How supplier partnerships can enhance the benefits of working collaboratively with external organisations

17 October 2022
In the past, many manufacturers regarded their suppliers with some suspicion, almost as adversaries. Little loyalty was shown to the suppliers; consequently, the supplier was never certain about their future relationship with an organisation. Often the purchasing or procurement department would see their role as screwing the best deal possible from a supplier.
Article