When you think of upskilling, do you think of coaching? To become a leader well-equipped to handle challenging situations, learn to foster a culture of wellbeing, and build high-performing teams, consider coaching. Coaching goes beyond traditional leadership techniques and delves deep into encouraging behaviour change and growth. This thought piece, inspired by our first Leadership Unlocked podcast episode, highlights four benefits of coaching, particularly as a form of upskilling – especially when it comes to mid-level leaders.
The Essence of Coaching
Coaching is more than sharing knowledge or demonstrating skills; it’s about inspiring individuals to unlock their true potential, as it relates to their leadership style, building great teams, nurturing relationships and moving towards organisational success. It is highly personalised and tailored to each individual, focusing on building self-awareness and empowerment. Coaching is often in a one-on-one format, however, it can also be done in a group setting, or as part of a larger L&D program.
If you’re interested in a self-paced, virtual coaching program, our Unlocking Leadership Potential Program may be the right fit for you.
We know the impact and benefits of investing in coaching not just for the individuals, but also for organisations as a whole. Below, we’re sharing our top four.
1. Individual Growth: Building Confidence and Competence
Due to coaching’s highly personalised nature and the coaches’ expertise, coaching can help individuals understand their challenges and pitfalls to hone and develop the skills and mindsets needed to work through them – turning their weaknesses into strengths. This approach not only enhances their competence but also builds confidence. By guiding team members to find their own solutions rather than providing answers, coaching empowers the individual to learn from challenging situations, helping them to handle similar situations independently.
2. Organisational Benefits: Enhancing Performance and Retention
Deloitte found that for every dollar invested in learning and development per employee, employers earn an additional $4.70 in revenue per employee1, proving that the impact of coaching extends far beyond individual development and capability. Not investing in coaching, especially at a mid-leader level, could actually be doing your business a disservice. By encouraging team members to upskill and attend coaching sessions, organisations can achieve not only an impressive return on investment but also engaged, high-performing teams, with higher retention rates and the ability to attract top talent.
3. Creating a Coaching Culture: From Leadership to the Front Line
Coaching isn’t just reserved for C-suites and executives anymore. And it definitely doesn’t just happen at the senior leadership level. For coaching to be truly effective, the coaching mindset must be adopted by the entire organisation. By providing coaching at mid-levels, organisations can develop future leaders from within, reducing the need to source talent externally and restart building capability.
Additional benefits of a coaching culture, it encourages a mindset where everyone is seen as a leader, regardless of their position. This inclusivity fosters a culture of mutual learning and respect, that reaches across generational gaps, skill level and titles.
4. Overcoming Barriers: Mindset and Trust
We believe that everyone can be taught to be truly great leaders. We aren’t born leaders, but rather it is a skill that is learnt over time. Effective leaders are those who can build trust, inspire others, and challenge their team. All of this comes from having a growth mindset. Coaching has the unique ability to share different insights, perspectives, and leadership skills, enabling individuals to truly experience a transformative change in their behaviour and thinking. By growing in these areas, leaders can overcome barriers and build a successful, respectful and inclusive working environment, while increasing their skillset and level and promoting greater benefits at an organisational level.
Coaching is a powerful tool that drives both individual and organisational growth. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and development, organisations can unlock the full potential of their teams. The benefits of coaching are huge, from building confidence and competence in individuals to enhancing overall organisational performance and retention.
To truly embrace coaching as part of your leadership strategy and organisational culture, let’s talk about how we can support your coaching journey, unlocking the true potential of your individuals, teams and organisations. Sign up to our Unlocking Leadership Potential coaching program now!
Resources
- Rumbens, D. 2022. The Business Return on Learning and Development. Deloitte. https://www.deloitte.com/au/en/services/economics/analysis/business-return-learning-development.html. 18/6/24
