COACHINGLEADERS/BEHAVIORALCOACHING 63
A successful coaching engagement is one in which the leader embraces
these challenges and arrives at a place of effortless performance and leader-
ship authenticity—a place where the person does not just dothe message,
but isthe message.
The Clarity Challenge
Commitment to credibility begins with clarifying one’s personal values, vi-
sions, and aspirations. It’s impossible to do what you say until you have clar-
ity about what you want to say. The first coaching challenge is to guide
leaders in finding their voice and in making sure they really careabout what
they espouse. The Clarity Challenge involves engaging leaders in an explo-
ration of questions such as:
- What are the values and principles that guide you?
- What do you care about?
- What keeps you up at night?
- What legacy do you want to leave?
- What’s your framework for living?
Once a leader can clearly articulate values and beliefs, we’ve taken the
first step on the road to sustainable credibility. But only the first step. No
matter how noble the principles, constituents want to have leaders that can
execute. Clear values are necessary, but insufficient. You cannot do what you
say if you don’t know how to do it. That means that leaders must be aware of
their strengths and weaknesses. The Clarity Challenge also involves engaging
the leader in gathering and processing valid and useful information about
leadership skills and abilities.
In my coaching and development work, I base the development of leader-
ship competencies on the research in our book, The Leadership Challenge.^4
In our extensive exploration of personal best leadership experiences, we
found that individuals engaged in The Five Practices of Exemplary Leader-
ship™. When leaders are operating at their best they:
Model the Way
Leaders find their voiceby clar if ying their personal values and then express-
ing those values in their own style. Then they set the exampleby aligning
their personal actions with shared values.
Inspire a Shared Vision
Leaders envision the futureby imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities,
and they enlist othersin their dreams by appealing to shared aspirations.