Coach-style Leadership!
It is a different way to lead. Whether you are designated as a supervisor, manager, or not, you are a leader! You get to choose to lead in your life. And at work. But often there is not sufficient training to step into this position and be effective. So we do the best we can. And we model others who may not be leading in the most effective way.
Do You Use COP Leadership?
There is a model we talk about in coaching called COP. It is a way that traditional managers manage. The acronym is Control Order Predict. It is the way I did it for many years in many areas of my life as well. It’s hard. It involves a lot of effort to try to predict the situation and control the outcomes. It requires the leader do a lot because in controlling the outcome, we often do not trust the other people we work with (on teams, in families, in community organizations) to do their part effectively.
Or, Do You Use ACE Leadership?
The coaching model is easier. It is called ACE. This acronym means to Accept, Coach and Empower. It means that we watch, pay attention and truly listen to others. Be curious about (accept) who they are so we can actually reach them. That we “coach” them, which means to be with them in a collaborative and curious way. And that we empower – we don’t tell, force or direct. We help people to find their own motivation and power. This means the leader does not have to do so much. The leader is empowering others to do for themselves. The leader’s position is one of relationship.
All this vastly improves employee engagement, which means the commitment employees have in their work, the buy-in, the desire to show up and offer ideas, to innovate, create and work toward the best for all. This makes it easier for the manager and vastly improves the bottom line, both in revenue and in a lack of turnover. This level of engagement is rare in organizations. Many leaders blame the employee, but often it is a failure to lead in a way that is meaningful to the employee, in a way that supports them in giving their best, in a way that is caring and inspiring toward the employee; in a coach-style way.
Empowering
The “coaching” style is empowering. Empowerment is a word we hear a lot. It means to support a person in finding the locus of power within themselves. As leaders, we do this by listening deeply and being genuinely curious about the person before us.
So try it! Become curious. Learn something you did not know. See what changes.
And if you want to learn more of these skills and you are in Sacramento, come to our workshop on July 12 where we will examine curiosity, deep listening and accountability! Hallmark skills of coach-style leaders!Coach-Style Leadershp!
