Leaders who Coach Provide Unconditional Support for their Direct Reports as they Learn and Improve their Performance

Leaders who coach their direct reports are setting them up for success. They listen to them, provide feedback in a non-judgmental way, and support the new learnings. They don’t accept unproductive behaviours like blaming others, denying that there is a problem, or trying to justify inaction. Leaders motivate when necessary, guide and direct when necessary, and coordinate resources so employees can succeed. Organisations that value the benefits of coaching also value their workforce and provide the necessary support for managers and leaders to coach.

Becoming a coach to your direct reports has immense benefits to you as a leader and to your team – individually and collectively. In a recent survey conducted by the International Coach Federation (2015) they discovered that 60% of the organizations surveyed leverage managers and leaders using coaching skills in order to improve the engagement of their employees. Moreover they concluded that organisations with a strong coaching culture have higher employee engagement (60% of employees rated as highly engaged compared with 48% of all other organizations) as well as  higher revenue growth (63% report being above their industry peer group in 2014 revenue compared to 45% of all other organisations).

Wouldn’t you like your direct reports to be more fully engaged and for the organisation to increase its revenue year on year? Consider training your managers and leaders as professional coaches, and reap the benefits!