The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

162 / DEVELOPING LEADERS

Coaching for success

Releasing potential

It isn’t easy to find time to invest

in coaching your potential leaders,

but there is a considerable return

to you, your team, and the organization,

if you do.The selection of coaches

needs to be undertaken with care—

the careers of some of the brightest

prospects in your organization

will be in their hands.

Challenging and supporting

The hallmark of a skilled coach is

knowing when to challenge and when

to support the individual being coached.

Successful coaches work to build

self-awareness and release potential,

by, for example, unblocking limiting

or constricting beliefs or confronting

unhelpful behaviors. They encourage

the people they are coaching to reflect

deeply, think strategically, release

their instinctive creativity, and feel

good about who they are.

The results of successful

coaching should be an increased

self-appreciation in your future

leaders of their personal strengths,

competencies, approach, and actions.

These newly developed leadership

elements, in turn, should align with

your organization’s values and aims.

A good coach can accelerate the development of your future leaders,

helping them manage the transitions they need to make to gain

leadership experience and develop the suite of competencies

required to be a top leader within your organization.

VISUALIZE LEADERSHIP

Encourage those you are

coaching to develop a detailed

mental image of themselves

as an effective leader, and to

use this vision to motivate

and commit themselves

to making changes.

Tip

Retention of key

executives

The top organizations

for leadership in the

US are twice as likely

to provide training

and coaching for

their potential leaders

compared to other firms

The right experience

You may choose to coach your

potential leaders yourself, or you

may prefer to appoint other internal

or external coaches. Whoever you

choose, they must have the right

business and coaching experience

or have received training on how

to coach effectively.

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