Unlocking Potential: What is Coaching Leadership?

Coaching leadership is a type of leadership that focuses on unlocking and enabling potential, as opposed to the traditional command-and-control management style. It is characterized by collaboration, support, and guidance. Coaching leaders focus on getting the best out of their teams by guiding them through goals and obstacles. This leadership style is very different from autocratic leadership, which focuses on top-down decision-making.

Coaching leadership style focuses on 360-degree feedback, communication, and helping people develop. It is based on the coaching leader having good communication and social skills, as constructive feedback is important in this leadership style. The coach must be willing to sacrifice their time to motivate team members to hone their skills and become the best versions of themselves. Coaching leaders are sought after for their ability to motivate, inspire, engage, and appreciate their teams on the path to success.

Short-term firefighting is replaced by long-term strategic thinking (Berg & Karlsen, 201. Coaching Leadership is when a leader trains team members to develop and improve over time. It generates commitment and focuses on improving employees to become better people and professionals in the long term. The coaching leadership style works best with a highly trained leader and team members who are receptive to change. As defined by Sir John Whitmore, a leading figure in the field, specialized training involves “unlocking people's potential to maximize their own performance”.

As a coach, it's important to provide helpful feedback so that employees know how to improve and what they should continue to do. Coaching is no longer just a benevolent way of sharing what you know with someone less experienced or less experienced, although it is still a valuable aspect. Executives receive a case study and are asked to play the role of a manager who must decide whether to fire or train a direct whistleblower who is not performing up to the task. Carnegie began mentoring and coaching Schwab when Schwab became a manager, and this mentoring eventually prompted Schwab to be named president of the company. Coaching is often seen as an investment in talent because it employs education and increases overall morale. If you are committed to the cause, you should seek as much information as possible to improve your training skills.

However, Coach Mills was able to harness that talent and transform it into a skill that propelled Bolt to the top.

Glenda Lokhmator
Glenda Lokhmator

Infuriatingly humble social media trailblazer. Total troublemaker. Wannabe zombie aficionado. Avid social media advocate. Unapologetic pop culture practitioner. Wannabe web advocate.