Executive Coaching vs. Leadership Coaching - Can you spot the differences?
Are You A Great Leader? This reminds me of those games that use to come in the newspaper, where you were supposed to look for differences in two pictures. Sure you could spot the missing hat, the extra leg, but sooner or later you came to realize there was much more that the pictures had in common than anything else. Leadership Coaching happens to be hand in hand with Executive development. In fact, many executives that hire coaches do so to work and develop their leadership skills. So, from a coach's point of view, how can coaching help you as an executive to develop your leadership skills? Leadership is something that's hard to box in. I don't believe there's one set of traits for every leader out there; styles vary, people are different. We do know something that's certain... leadership can be learned. You'll find many sites that will teach you leadership abilities from A-Z; facing different situations every day that require many skills is probably the bread and butter of an executive's job. It's always good to add some more to your toolbox; the saying "if all you have is a hammer; everything looks like a nail", serves as a reminder that change requires learning new techniques. There's a little door that's not used often enough though. It leads to an inner game; a vast ocean of unknown waters that we choose to ignore most of the time. As much as we need to work on our leadership techniques; our most valuable results will come from working on ourselves. My mentor coach, Paul Litwack often remarked that we should keep it in our minds that "I AM the most important project I will ever work on". Self-knowledge is at the root of leadership. A coach will not point out what you need to define yourself as a leader; you are perfectly creative and resourceful enough to find the solution yourself. Coaching will provide the questions that ask you: What's your vision as a leader? Ok, there are many more things that a coach will ask you to do. Fieldwork, powerful questions and requests are common; these are meant to move your questioning nature. A coach will hold up the vision you have created for yourself and push you to go for it. Time For A Role Play!"Josh wants to be coached around his leadership skills. For some reason, he feels, his direct reports are not up to standard. He frequently notices a passive-aggressive attitude from his co-workers, as well as a general lack of motivation and creativity. He thinks "they just don't get it". Although he considers himself a good leader, he can't get to the what he needs to do to change this behavior."This is an oversimplified example of something that happens often in many Companies. You'll find that there's a lot going on if you scratch beneath the surface. Many leaders find themselves lost in trying to understand why others don't see it their way, without giving much thought at how their personalities may be the a big part of the problem. As a coach, what questions would you ask Josh that would help him with his situation? Let me share some ideas:
Focus on finding solutions; not on the problems and you'll start noticing opportunities for growth. This requires honest curiosity and it's a sign of respect towards your peers. Positive change might be somewhat down the road but it will come, with a trickle at first and then with a gush! I came up with the following acronym to remind myself of what it takes to be a leader, if you find it helpful feel free to use it: Take time to look at other perspectives you may find what you're looking for. Realize that it takes a lot of self-knowledge to be a good leader. Understand that everyone wants to grow. Stop and consider how you can make things better. Temper your mind with awareness and attention.
Return from Leadership Coaching to Executive Coaching
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