Coaching for leaders who don’t have the time
Dan and I delivered “coaching for leaders” development sessions with around 300 leaders from across a large educational institution. As a big advocate of coaching, it was fascinating to observe leaders put these skills into practice, and seeing the profound difference it made to them and their teams. Participants talked about how “it lifts the whole energy of my team”, “it’s magic” and “I’m addicted now”.
This isn’t isolated to this group alone – a Google study on the behaviours of effective managers found that coaching is the number one skill that sets a good manager apart from the rest. And the best part is… it is relatively simple to start using a coaching style, and over time, the more opportunities you take to listen and ask powerful questions, this will pay dividends in terms of building capability and confidence in your team (and reduce their dependence on you - giving you time back in your day). Sounds too easy right?
As with any deceptively simple, yet complex skill – there is always a catch. The biggest barrier we found with putting these skills into practice is….time. Coaching involves deep listening, being present and not jumping to a solution or advice by default. It often doesn’t have the desired effect when either or both parties feel rushed or pressured. A lot of leaders can’t make the time or create the mental bandwidth to be in coach mode. They understand the benefits, they just can’t see a way to carve out time to make that investment, so get stuck in the cycle of solving other peoples’ problems for them.
Here are some tips for time-poor managers who want to be better coaches:·
Take the pressure off - don’t feel like you have to be in “coach mode” all of the time. You can get better at identifying the ‘coachable moments’ based on the context and what the individual needs from you, so you can adapt and be in the right ‘mode’ for that scenario. If it’s a crisis or something is on fire, it’s probably not the right moment to be in coach mode.·
Develop your foundational skills & knowledge, then start building the habit one little step at a time. Think about the most powerful thing you could do to bring a key coaching skill into your daily life, and start with that. It could be pausing and listening instead of jumping straight in, or starting a meeting with an open question.
Set expectations around time – if you are timebound for a meeting, let people know up front. That way if you need to dash off and the conversation needs to be continued, you’re keeping the discussion open and making the other person feel less ‘cut off’.·
Try using deep listening and asking questions in different scenarios to help get into the habit – very effective with kids (I can’t speak for the effectiveness with teenagers)!