What Is Leadership Coaching?

We often look ahead at those paving the way for us and glance back at those who have supported us, but we rarely recognise the struggles and lessons they’ve encountered to become the great leaders they are today.

Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi once said,

Leaders are not born, they’re made.

This may sound like a cliche but it is also incredibly true. So often, we throw people into positions of power and leadership without considering what it will take for them to excel in these high-level positions. Learning and Development (L&D) always ranks highly on the LinkedIn Workplace Learning report, but the 2024 edition sees this priority ranking at No.4 for the first time, up from No.9 in 2023.

Just as we wouldn’t place someone in a new role without proper training, we shouldn’t neglect preparing individuals for senior leadership roles with executive coaching or leadership development.

What is leadership coaching?

Leadership coaching sees senior leaders sitting down with an expert coach to work on specific parts of their working lives; namely how they manage others. Leadership coaches help executives and managers recognise the part of themselves that needs some more development and work to uplift them so that they can manage their teams and workloads more effectively.

This top-down approach can cause a ripple effect that benefits many people in the company. Leadership coaching can help leaders feel more comfortable and secure in themselves, and in return, this gives more guidance to employees.

Poor leadership is hard for those exhibiting it to ignore, and it’s something that teams undoubtedly notice. Research from McKinsey found that 56% of American workers claim that their boss was either mildly or highly toxic, while 75% said that their boss was the most stressful part of their workday. No one likes to admit they are the problem, but leaders who don’t will instead just be faced with teams haemorrhaging talent as employees leave for greener pastures. Leadership and executive coaching can be a vital step in heading off these workplace issues to create happier and more stable teams operating at peak performance.

How is leadership coaching structured?

Good leadership coaching will always be tailored to each leader who undertakes it. Everyone is different and so we deserve to learn how to leverage the leadership skills that come most naturally to us.

An executive coach should ideally work on a one-on-one basis with their client to analyse the behaviours and habits that come most naturally to them, and which ones may benefit from some more development.

What challenges do leaders typically face?

Those in leadership roles can face a wide range of challenges. The following issues are not an exhaustive list that encompasses all challenges a leader might face, but they are certainly some of the most common. Regardless of the industry a leader may work in, or the level of seniority they hold, they could encounter these common issues on a daily basis if not managed correctly.

1. Inspiration

Leaders should be inspiring. They should be someone employees actively look up to and want to emulate. When times are tough, we look to the leaders or role models around us to motivate and inspire us to do better.

When a leader does not feel motivated by their workplace, it can be difficult for them to inspire their team. A good coaching process should be able to offer leaders the tools they need to ensure their team is always inspired, even if the leader might not be.

2. Change leadership

Change is inevitable in the workplace, and it can also be really destabilising and upsetting for team dynamics. What’s more, change fatigue can be a real ongoing issue that can cause a workforce to grind to a halt even while they try to move forward.

Knowing how to validate a team’s feelings and help them see the light at the end of the tunnel when things are really tough is one of the vital skills for managers to have. Change management can be one of the biggest challenges an employer might face, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t learn how to approach it in a logical and straightforward manner.

3. Other perspectives

As a leader, it is so important to listen to the opinions and perspectives of other people. Insisting that everything must be done a certain way—the leader’s way—is just going to lead to frustration on the part of the team.

Creating a psychologically safe workplace where people feel like they can speak up and voice their opinions is incredibly important. By listening to other voices, we can increase our own viewpoint.

4. Team management

At the core of any leader’s job is the ability to manage a team. Though this can seem easy to the uninitiated, anyone who has spent a little time as a leader will know that managing people is hard. Ensuring that everyone has what they need to get their tasks over the line and that all business goals can be met properly can take more effort than people might imagine.

5. Imposter syndrome

Self-awareness is a great trait to have, but when it translates into thinking that we aren’t good enough for the role we are in, it might begin to cause problems. Imposter syndrome can be quite common among managers and leaders who have been thrust into the position without any preparation. They feel underdeveloped and out of their depth, like imposters in a world they might be perfect for.

This is one reason why a leadership coach can be the answer to a struggling manager. A good coaching session can help the leader with imposter syndrome sit down and actually work out their strengths. They may have more good qualities than they initially thought!

6. Development

Incorporating leadership coaching programs into an employee’s development plan might seem like jumping the gun when the employee might not be prepared to move into leadership for years. However, it can also teach them some great soft skills that will make them a more confident individual and a better colleague overall.

Investing in the skills of employees in the long term can also help leaders to delegate more efficiently. They will be able to create a team around them that they know can act autonomously and efficiently, meaning that they do not need aggressive micro-managing.

How does leadership coaching benefit managers?

Researchers at McKinsey discovered that only four kinds of behaviour account for 89% of leadership effectiveness:

1. Effective problem solving
2. Operating with a strong results orientation
3. Seeking different perspectives
4. Supporting others

Yes, many qualities go into making a great manager, but there are very few kinds of behaviour that actually underpin results. Knowing this, a leadership coach can help a manager focus on where they may be lacking. Together, they can develop workable and tangible strategies that the leader can apply to their working life.

Leadership coaching can also help someone analyse various leadership styles to see which one might work best for them. They may even discover one that is a better fit than the current leadership style they use; previously they had only been exposed to one style of management and naturally thought it was best to work like that.

Leadership coaching is not about telling someone the best way to manage others; it is about working with a coach to find the best solution for you. What works for one leader will probably not work for another, and there is also a high chance that the people working under a leader may not always appreciate their given leadership style.

A coach can also be a sounding board and someone for the leader to confide in. Since they are often outside the organisation, the leader may also feel more comfortable opening up compared to if they were to talk to a colleague.

How does leadership coaching benefit employees?

If leadership coaching is focused on management, how can it be of benefit to employees? Though it might not seem like it, leadership development programs definitely bring benefits to employees.

First and most obviously, executive coaching helps a leader manage their workloads and their team more effectively. They are given tools and techniques to help them think through problems and reach tangible solutions in a way that works best for them as individuals. This will have a trickle-down effect on employees too. With bosses feeling less stressed and more capable, they will be able to assign tasks, support where needed, and motivate as required. Better leadership will hopefully lead to a better work-life balance for all.

Leadership coaching services are also not just for those who are already in positions of management. If senior executives notice high-potential employees who might be good management material, create a leadership pipeline and set those employees up with some coaching sessions. Adopting this growth mindset and encouraging the leaders of tomorrow to begin their development now means that they won’t be overwhelmed and out of their depth when they do get that promotion or new job opportunity.

What makes a leadership coaching program effective?

So, we now know what a good leadership coaching program can offer its clientele, but what about the route that they take to get there?

Any plan that claims to have a unique formula or how-many-ever-step program to follow is probably not going to be worth it. All it will do is tell a manager to act a certain way. Rather than developing their own habits and practices, they will be given those of a stranger to follow, and this could result in a mismatch of leadership styles and bad habits that will take even more coaching to unlearn.

Let’s take a closer look at some aspects of effective leadership coaching we think you should look for when trying to find learning opportunities.

Tailored to the individual

First and foremost, managers need to find a coach willing to work with them to create a program tailored to them as individual leaders. Though business coaching sessions should focus on someone’s working life, there may be aspects of their personal life that could also bleed in and cause issues that have to be addressed. For example, a parent may have to juggle childcare around working hours and their commitments to the job; especially in the summer months when children are not in school.

Everyone is different and deserves to be treated as such. Though some may naturally pick up leadership abilities, others may require more support, and a good leadership coach will account for this when creating a program.

Backed by science

While every program should be unique, it should be backed up by a proven systematic methodology created from real and verified behavioural science. There will always be a structured and consistent way to build a path for someone to follow.

There have been so many studies looking at how best to develop leaders and encourage them to closely assess their behaviours. Asking them to make changes is easy; giving them a structured way to make that change is more difficult and needs to be backed by science to see real success. By leveraging scientific knowledge and expertise, coaches can create development strategies that challenge leaders to grow, learn, and apply their learnings in a manner that brings about positive change in their companies.

A long-term partnership, not short-term wins

Coaching conversations may not last more than an hour each time, but each session should act as a building block leading to a greater understanding overall. This is something that is going to take time. Coaching can help to make changes, but it is not a quick-fix option, and managers should be prepared to know that this is an area of professional development to which they need to commit.

With any coaching experience, the aim should be to build a long-term partnership that could span even beyond the allocated sessions agreed upon initially. The focus should be on making lasting and real change, not just box-ticking and short-term wins.

Start your leadership coaching journey today

One of the hardest parts of any leadership journey is admitting that you need support to become a better manager. Not everyone can step into a role with confidence and hit the ground running, and that is ok. Some need extra support to find a leadership style that resonates with them and learn the techniques they need to be effective leaders.

ChangingPoint’s coaches are all highly qualified and bring years of professional experience to the table. We will help you create a development process tailored to your strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.

Work with our leadership and executive coaching team to grow as a manager and find strength in the way you wish to do business. Get in touch with us today, and let’s talk about how you can grow as a leader everyone wants to work with and for.