Why Major Leaders Believe in Leadership Coaching
A bunch of senior bosses in a major world publishing company have just ended a program of leadership coaching sessions. All of the executives rated the experience as "highly valuable". Why?
Research continually shows that leaders are made and not born. We also have to recognize that leadership is a very individual capability. Managers lead in a variety of different ways and styles. This means that their own strengths and capabilities have to be drawn out by a skilled leadership coach.
The more blunt tool of leadership training which seeks to foist a one-style-fits-all leadership method onto all the course attendees has been shown to have minimal lasting effect. The reason behind this is straightforward, it is actually because the leader needs to develop in a style that is natural to them, a style that is congruent with their persona.
The armed forces, who have to produce prime quality leaders, train their officer corps over times of months and years. Yet industry and commerce continue believing that they can produce high quality leaders by sending them on odd short courses.
A talented and experienced leadership coach knows that he must spend several months working at regular intervals with ambitious leaders. He knows that he must be there to help the aspiring leader find out how to deal with the fluctuations in work pressures and moods that invariably influence that leader's performance.
Leading can be lonely on occasion. Tricky calls require to be made. Complicated tasks require to be undertaken. A leadership coach provides a helpful sounding board and mentor to developing leaders to enable them to exercise good judgement, to reach good decisions on their own, with a little help.
Outstanding leaders know that in order to succeed they need good team managers supporting them. It makes sense to develop those team leaders into the strongest possible performers. A leadership coach can develop leaders by helping them to work out solutions to challenges at the precise moment when the challenge is at it's most urgent point. There is no substitute for such just-at-the-right-time support.
Research continually shows that leaders are made and not born. We also have to recognize that leadership is a very individual capability. Managers lead in a variety of different ways and styles. This means that their own strengths and capabilities have to be drawn out by a skilled leadership coach.
The more blunt tool of leadership training which seeks to foist a one-style-fits-all leadership method onto all the course attendees has been shown to have minimal lasting effect. The reason behind this is straightforward, it is actually because the leader needs to develop in a style that is natural to them, a style that is congruent with their persona.
The armed forces, who have to produce prime quality leaders, train their officer corps over times of months and years. Yet industry and commerce continue believing that they can produce high quality leaders by sending them on odd short courses.
A talented and experienced leadership coach knows that he must spend several months working at regular intervals with ambitious leaders. He knows that he must be there to help the aspiring leader find out how to deal with the fluctuations in work pressures and moods that invariably influence that leader's performance.
Leading can be lonely on occasion. Tricky calls require to be made. Complicated tasks require to be undertaken. A leadership coach provides a helpful sounding board and mentor to developing leaders to enable them to exercise good judgement, to reach good decisions on their own, with a little help.
Outstanding leaders know that in order to succeed they need good team managers supporting them. It makes sense to develop those team leaders into the strongest possible performers. A leadership coach can develop leaders by helping them to work out solutions to challenges at the precise moment when the challenge is at it's most urgent point. There is no substitute for such just-at-the-right-time support.
About the Author:
Leadership coaching has been a major focus of David Ferrers's coaching work since 1995. The coaching testimonials of notable front-runners in major corporations like Dell, GM, J&J, P&O, RBI, The Cabinet Office, Defra and Yves St.Laurent demonstrate clearly what David's abilities can do for you.