Tanya coughed up the coffee that unmindfully went down her throat. “Hope you’re alright, Tanya. You don’t look very good nowadays. We miss the sprightly Tanya. Where is she?” It was her manager Sameer. Sameer, with his 25+ years of journey in the corporate world, knew something was amiss. Ever since the last appraisal, Tanya seemed down, dejected and disinterested. He knew she needed help and as a mindful coach, he stepped in!
Tanya looked at him with the same disturbing eyes. “Nothing much, sir. Just lost in my thoughts.” “Lost, for sure. But we do not know where.”, Sameer remarked, “Tell me more, Tanya. What’s going on with you? You have lost the natural charisma you exude as you walk into every meeting. If it’s ok, can we discuss this, Tanya?”
“Hmm. Everything is not ok, sir.” Tanya hesitated. “I have been very low on confidence ever since we upgraded to this new style of working. Everything seems so difficult. I’m unable to focus on my targets. I don’t think I’m good enough anymore. Also, the new recruits fare much better than me. I don’t know if that is ok since I’ve been around for 4 years now. This has got me thinking & worrying. I think I need help.”
Sameer smiled gently even as Tanya heaved a sigh of relief. She finally got it out of her system. As an ICF certified leadership coach, Sameer decided to help her. “See Tanya, now that we know what your concerns are, will you be open to a conversation with us?” “Ok.”, she said, with hesitation still written all over her face. “Well, you see, I can tell with experience that leadership coaching will definitely help you see better.”, Sameer decided to broach this topic with her. “But do people like me also need leadership development coaching? I thought only top-tier management sought such luxuries.”, Tanya was genuinely surprised. “Oh! Tanya. Not at all! Everyone can and should be coached. You, me, everyone! Let’s give that a try. I genuinely feel leadership coaching will do you some real good.”
“Sir, what exactly is leadership coaching?” Tanya was curious. Sameer knew he needed to share what he exactly meant by coaching, its benefits and well, how to find the right coach to help you out.
What is Leadership Coaching?
Leadership Coaching is the process of developing an individual across a spectrum of abilities so that they can interact better with others and perform better as leaders. It seeks to build upon a leader’s current strengths and work on their weaknesses so that they are leading their teams and their organizations with conviction. Coaching creates a safe space to discuss pressing or emerging concerns with an overarching purpose to surface untapped potential in the leader.
Leadership coaching empowers a leader to ask the right questions, knock on the right doors and seek the answers themselves. Leaders own the answers they discover and consequently empower all the team members to be accountable, authentic and responsible. It helps leaders excel and leave behind a memorable legacy of empowered followers.
The innumerable benefits of leadership coaching across all spheres of life and execution have been well researched and extensively recorded.
But on your insistence, outlined below are certain noteworthy benefits of leadership development coaching.
What Are the Benefits of Leadership Coaching?
Improved performance:
New perspective:
Rebuilding confidence & executive presence:
“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” ~Tom Landry
“What can we learn from leadership coaching, sir?”Tanya boldly asked. I understand it has several benefits but can you help me discern how will it help me become a better version of myself?”
What Can You Learn From Leadership Development Coaching?
“Look outside and you will see yourself. Look inside and you will find yourself.” ~Drew Gerald, Author
Listening is the biggest asset for a leader. While having certain conversations, people tend to drop off easily but leadership coaching can train them to listen mindfully! Mindful listening can help a leader identify potential triggers, augment self-awareness and provide value by acknowledging others’ pain and struggles, empathizing with them and empowering them.
✤ Growth mindset: It is imperative for leaders today to convert obstacles that come in their way into opportunities that propel them forward. Leadership coaching familiarizes a leader with the art of resilience & growth. It builds a case to balance creative and critical thinking to drive one’s growth, both professionally and personally. We have always heard people asking us to step out of our comfort zone and put to test our capabilities, strengths and talents.
How to Choose the Right Leadership Development Coaching Programme?
If the first step in the journey to hiring an effective coach is knowing the benefits of leadership coaching, the next one is to find the most appropriate leadership coaching programme that best suits the needs of an aspiring leader. Though there is no strict maxim that helps choose a coaching programme, below are certain guidelines
✦ Safe & Supportive environment: As a basic prerequisite, leader coaches, coach trainers and the coaching institution must create a safe, non-judgemental and supportive environment for the coachee. It is in blind faith and comfort of this safe space do aspirants emerge as good leaders.
✦ Focus on aligning agenda: Like mentioned, the coachee’s goals are at the centre of the leadership coaching programme and thus, it is only apt for the entire programme to be focused on and build on the coachee’s agenda. Goal setting is the most critical step in the coaching process.
✦ Targeted feedback: Customized to help the coachee achieve his goals, the coach must focus on giving critical, impactful and specific feedback to the coachee. It is such timely feedback that guides and nudges the coachee to progress in the direction of his goals.
✦ Consistency: Like everything in life, a leadership coaching engagement is efficacious only if there is a consistent effort from both the parties involved, a streamlined process of targeted feedback and follow up and most importantly, steadfast focus on the target at hand. Consistency is the key to the success of the leadership coaching engagement.
Tanya sat up straight. It all began to fall in place now. “Sir, one last question. You told me that coaching is a unique, one-to-one programme, completely customized to suit the coachee’s goals. Don’t you think, apart from knowing how to pick the right leadership coaching programme, I need to find the right coach, someone who shares the same vibe, who shares the right professional chemistry with me?” There! Sameer was pleased to see the Tanya he always knew surface in bits and so, he put across, from his experience, how to choose the right leadership coach.
How to Select the Right Leadership Coach?
Everyone needs a coach. The client, to the best of his ability, has to invest time and energy to select the right leadership coach. It is quite similar to choosing the right doctor to train for a critical relationship. While at the outset, one may run a check on the credentials, span of experience and client reviews, it is imperative for the client to venture beyond that too.
➤ Credentials: One could start with a thorough background check and span of professional experience including coach training, certification, and ICF credentials.
➤ Client review, experience and stories: It is important to browse through client testimonials, success stories of transformation and more so, stories of failure. This can help us gauge the impact the coach has had on his coachee.
➤ Return on Investment (ROI): Having a clearly chalked ROI for the evaluation of the success of the engagement is a must before one commits to leadership coaching.
➤ Process flow: All said and done, the coachee must be comfortable with the entire process. As mentioned earlier, they must share the same vibe and get along together, realize the value of the goals they are working towards and trust in each other.
“That’s all from me, Tanya. I guess I’ve done the talking. Now it’s your turn to take the first step and from there, progress by leaps and bounds.” Sameer rubbed his hands with the tissue on the table. He had finished his coffee too. A sceptical Tanya now believed there was some light at the end of the tunnel. “Sure, sir. Thank you for helping me around with this.”
Sameer guffawed. He was not wrong at all. Tanya was brilliant and he had vouched for it since she came on board. “You see, Tanya, everyone needs coaching. I am sure, it will make you a better leader and a better human being. It did for me, well, you only should tell. He laughed again. Give it your best shot, Tanya. Rest assured, it will do wonders.”
Leadership Development Coaching with Regal Unlimited
“I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum capabilities.”
– Bob Nardelli, Former Chairman & CEO, The Freedom Group
Leadership coaching is for everyone. Regal Unlimited is committed to offering value to aspiring coaches and leaders via their extensive basket of offerings tailor-made to suit their needs. One such exciting programme is the ‘Leader as Coach’ programme rolled out by Regal Unlimited which seeks to prepare today’s leaders and executives eager to step into leadership roles to excel in performance, build exceptional personal brands, develop confidence, empathy and live life as the best version of themselves. The time is now, and the stage is set. Sign up and see yourself blossom!
