Course Guide

Coaching For Strategic Leadership

In a car race, one of the biggest factors in winning the race is the drivers themselves. Although the type of vehicle, the parts and the engine may contribute to the speed and performance of the vehicle, a driver’s skill, experience and strategic thinking are the factors that enable the vehicle to overcome any obstacle that may cross its path and focus it on the right path to the finishing line.

The same thing goes with today’s organisations – to stay ahead in this competitive global marketplace, a company’s name and even the brilliance of its employees may not be enough for an organisation to survive the competition. There has to be strategic leadership.

Strategic leadership is defined as a leader’s ability to cast a strategic vision over the organisation, motivate and persuade others to act according to that vision, and own the results. It is the ability to maintain competitiveness and profitability in a globalised environment, operating ethically and responsibly and being able to train and retain valuable talent.

In the book Positive Psychology Coaching the author, Susanne Knowles, states for strategic leadership to happen in an organisation, a leader should be able to perform the following responsibilities:

 Finance: ensure the financial viability and sustainability of the organisation.
 Technology: utilise technological advances where practical and financially viable to do so.
 Structure: Structure the organisation’s operations in the best interests of the firm.
 Strategic Partnerships: Develop strategic partnerships and collaborative business ventures with companies where there is mutual benefit.
 Transformational change: implement organisational transformation when it is deemed that cultural change is required to take the organisation forward.

To be able to deliver the said responsibilities, a leader should possess competencies such as strategic thinking and decision making, critical and analytical thinking, creative innovative thinking, and ethical and moral judgement. These competencies enable strategic leaders to be mobile, flexible, resilient, focused, and operate at speed in order to capture market opportunities or fend off possible threats.

So how can coaching for strategic leadership help you develop strategic leaders in your organisation?

A strategic leader’s ability to lead their people and manage their organisation is strengthened when they are emotionally and socially intelligent.. Having yourself and the key leaders of your organisation coached will not only help you develop the core competencies of strategic leadership, but would also help you possess the four fundamental capabilities of emotionally and sociallyintelligent people which are:

1.  Self awareness. The ability to know your internal states, preferences, resources and intuitions. Leaders who are lacking in this area have the tendency to over-estimate or under-estimate their capabilities. Those who over-estimate their capabilities might think of themselves as competent and inspiring, despite their colleagues thinking otherwise. They do not learn from their mistakes and feel threatened when they are confronted with opposing ideas and excelling colleagues. Meanwhile, those who underestimate their capabilities are insecure and are afraid to go out of their comfort zones which makes them underperform in the workplace.

2. Self Management. The ability to manage your internal states, impulses and resources. Leaders who are weak in this area may react impulsively to conflict and stressful situations. Because of this, they easily fall prey to anger, stress and depression which may lead them to under-perform and even quit their jobs.

3. Social Awareness. The ability to be aware of others’ feelings, needs and concerns. Leaders who lack social awareness are insensitive and are often in conflict with other people. They have difficulty getting things done and are more likely to pass the blame onto others.

4. Relationship Management. The ability to be adept at inducing desirable responses in others. Leaders who have poor relationship management skills are poor communicators and inefficient leaders. They lack vision and do not welcome change. They do not have healthy relationships with their colleagues and cannot be trusted.

In order to thrive and compete in today’s fast-paced, competitive global marketplace, organisations need leaders who are strategic and emotionally intelligent. So what are you waiting for? Go get yourself and your key leaders coached to become the leaders you and they most want and need to be.

If you want to learn more about coaching, how to introduce coaching into your organisation, or how to become a professional coach, contact the Australian Institute of Professional Coaches 1 300 309 306 or email [email protected] . We look forward to speaking with you soon.