6 Tips for Leaders as a Coach

In the face of rapid, disruptive change, organisations realise leaders do not have all the answers. It is not sustainable. 

The role of the leader, in short, is changing. In my view, leaders are expected to have coaching skills to build competent and resilient organisations. Follow these six Agile Coaching tips and notice the change you can bring to your organisation. 

1. Focus on environment creation 

First, create a psychologically safe environment for the people you are coaching. They need to feel comfortable and included to feel psychological safety at work. It is easy when you have a non-judgmental approach in your attitude. Provide them space where they can be at ease to take risks and create a rewarding ambiance. If you are the boss, ensure they can open up and let them know your supportive side even when you are evaluating them. 

2. Try and work within the agenda

The motive of providing coaching is to improve the thought process. The primary focus lies in sticking with the agenda of getting a better outcome. It is always great to align the agenda with the organisation’s goals without imposing solutions. The push you provide from your managerial position should always fetch a productive collaboration in the end. Make it a point to stick by expanding the solution space. 

3. Simplify to collaborate 

Simplifying what you are trying to achieve does not always lie in directing. A great leader-as-a coach does not always provide direct answers to ease the process. Instead, make it possible for others to comprehend and come up with solutions. For example, it would help focus on your team’s needs when holding a conversation. Then, provide the necessary feed to fulfill it, so you can collaborate to facilitate the process. 

4. Self-awareness 

Pointing toward the shortcomings or strengths is more accessible when someone directs it. But resolving them or improving the thinking process is only possible when self-awareness kicks in. Good leaders always find ways to boost self-awareness by their behavioural impact. They demonstrate needs and show ways to better identify with them through their coaching skills. It is a prerequisite skill you need to be an able leader. 

Related Article: Coaching Human Behavior

5. Experience and learning 

Coaching does not mean spoon-feeding. Instead, it is a way to guide others to learn more and comprehend better. Giving a chance to gain experiences and learn from them is the right way. Effective leaders who coach ask powerful questions and always encourage using experience to fuel development through their lessons. It is the foundation of self-improvement. It is also helpful to build a competent organization. 

6. Practice what you address 

Lastly, commit to what you are coaching. Limiting yourself to words will not influence the people you are coaching. What you need is a complete outlook demonstrated through your lessons. Imply what you say and make it a point to reflect it via your behaviour. Actions truly speak louder than words, so why not apply them to lead better? 

Remember all these to gain a better perspective in coaching others. You also learn more as you teach others, so it is vital to keep your mind open. Put these six points into practice and notice the benefits.

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Article: How to Measure Effective Agile Coaching

About The Author

Venkatesh Rajamani has more than 17 years of experience delivering working software in short, feedback-driven cycles. He has helped many organizations adopt agile software delivery practices, including large banking, payments, telecom, and product organizations. He started his career as a software engineer and spent almost eight years as a hard-core programmer. He has worked for or with large software delivery organizations, including HP, IBM, Logica, Paypal, Ericsson, RBS and HID. He founded tryScrum.com in 2018 to execute his mission of humanizing organizations. Rajamani is fluent in four languages. He is based in Chennai, India and sets the overall direction for tryScrum. He is the world’s first person to hold PKT, CAL-Educator, PST, CEC, and CTC together.