5 Reasons Leaders Must Adopt A Coaching Leadership Style in 2024

The ultimate leader is one, who is willing to develop people to the point that they eventually surpass him or her in knowledge and ability. -Fred A. Manske Jr.

When Satya Nadella took over as CEO at Microsoft, the company had lost its momentum. The culture was stagnating, and the managerial mindset was fixed. Nadella shifted their mindsets from know-it-all to learn-it-all. He began by talking and listening to everybody and showed his ability to support rather than judge. Staff were encouraged to learn from mistakes rather than avoid or hide from them.

According to Berg & Karlsen, The Coaching Leadership Style (CLS) is a valuable leadership model that “supports and challenges team members, intending to help them achieve individual development goals”. It works best when leaders want to help employees or team members build lasting strengths after confirming that they are open to feedback and willing to learn.

Such leadership is highly valued in today’s workplace, as it replaces the “I say; you do” approach that is largely unsuited to the modern work culture encompassing, remote work, and flexibility

So having understood briefly what the Coaching Leadership Theory looks like, let’s dive in to look at 5 Reasons the Coaching Leadership Style is a must-have for Leaders in 2024.

1. It Fosters A Conducive Learning Space

Adopting a coaching leadership style encourages employees to learn, which allows them to have the breathing room to explore shifts in the work environment while also enhancing competency in various areas like team management, delegation, conflict resolution, and strategic thinking which goes further to help define who your A-players are. Employees also get to benefit as they’re encouraged to use their strengths in dealing with the challenges the organization is facing per time, enabling them to become more creative in how they try to resolve them.

2. It Enhances Your Interactive Skills

Effective communication skills are an integral part of today’s workplace. It enables leaders to put their points across clearly. Therefore leaders who adopt the leadership coaching style become effective communicators, as they share, engage, and listen to their team members while dealing with complex situations through the use of excellent interpersonal skills.

3. It Increases Your Empathy Quotient

Through Emotional intelligence and self-awareness, leaders have the ability to understand their behavior in the workplace and how it impacts their team. Now with CLS, empathy becomes visible in a leader’s actions, which helps such a leader to be more constructive and less judgmental in a two-way communication and collaboration between himself and his team, which by far is better than practicing the “sink or swim” strategy that leaves the team members to figure out things by themselves with little or no supervision.

4. It Positions Your Team for Accelerated Growth

Leaders who practice the CLS are not just able to set achievable goals, create action plans, and monitor progress; they’re also able to fast-track the growth of their team and enhance their leadership potentials and even go as far as helping them achieve individual development goals.

5. It Supports Constructive Feedback 

Team members are also nurtured to have an increased sense of competence while also receiving timely, constructive feedback to continue their growth and development. Rather than simply targeting results, its goal is to empower individuals and teams to be the best versions of themselves. When leaders are motivated to help employees develop long-term qualities, it yields the best results, particularly when employees are receptive to feedback and highly motivated to learn.

According to the Chartered Management Institute 2020, before the 1980s, a command-and-control approach was typical in the workplace, with managers giving out tasks in an autocratic style. Since then, however, more inclusive, authentic, and collaborative styles have been favored, including transformative approaches such as the CLS.

What used to work earlier is no longer a reliable indicator of what will work in the future. Moreover, companies are shifting away from traditional command-and-control practices toward something very different. Specifically, they are embracing the leader as a coach model. In this model, leaders provide support and guidance rather than giving orders. Furthermore, employees learn how to adapt to ever-changing situations in ways that inspire new energy, ingenuity, and devotion.

Adopting the CLS for leaders creates a new paradigm where they get to take on a facilitative role, that is targeted at unlocking their team members’ potential through guided discovery, personalized support, in an environment conducive enough for learning and development. The beauty of this model is that, when coaching receives equal priority in leadership, it empowers and develops individual contributors to a degree that managing becomes easier and requires less focus.

Conclusion

To further position your leaders for peak performance, you can download a free copy of the latest edition of The Peak Performer Magazine at www.thepeakperformer.africa You can also enroll your Mid-level  Leadership Team for the Made4More Accelerator Program  and your Senior Leadership Team for the Dr. Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp MOMBASA 2024 We also have an upcoming training for leaders in public service www.abiolachamp.com/depips/

About Dr. Abiola Salami

Dr. Abiola Salami is the Convener of Dr Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp and The Peak Performer^TM. He is the Principal Performance Strategist at CHAMP – a full scale professional services firm trusted by high performing business leaders for providing Executive Coaching, Workforce Development & Advisory Services to improve performance. You can reach his team on hello@abiolachamp.com and connect with him @abiolachamp on all social media platforms.