Chapter 4: Leadership Coaching

Leadership coaching is a practice in which the coach and the person being coached, (the coachee), collaborate to assess and understand the coachee and his or her development needs. They also challenge current constraints while exploring new possibilities, and ensure accountability and support for reaching goals and sustaining development. The goal of coaching is to improve the leader as well as the team or organization in effectiveness.

Can you think of a time where you served as a coach or a coachee? How did you or your coach improve the effectiveness of the organization?

Personally, I can think of multiple times I have been a coachee, however, I have also served as a coach while training the new marketing associate at DuBois. I coached and trained Emily and helped her learn the job as well as let her perform the task on her own to stretch her. I have given her goals and tasks and she has performed them incredibly, improving the overall effectiveness of our marketing team.

The coaching framework is based on three key aspects: the relationship; the assessment, challenge, and support; and the results. In the relationship, it is important that the coach understands and takes the coachee's challenges seriously, and develops a mutual trust. Assessment, challenge, and support offer important development within the coachee as well as the coach. And in results, objectives and goals are defined and measured.

Which key aspect do you think is most important? Obviously all three are essential to proper coaching, however, which aspect might allow for the most support and effectiveness?

Personally, I think it is important to build and maintain a trusting relationship. With a relationship, it is simple to assess, challenge, and support, and then give results. But without the coachee able to trust and communicate it is difficult to do those two other aspects.

In the text, there are the principles of coaching. The principles include: create a learning environment, ensure the coachee's ownership,  facilitate and collaborate, advocate self-awareness, promote sustainable learning from experience, and model what you coach. The two principles that hit home with me were to ensure the coachee's ownership and model what you coach. I will surely be applying these two principles as well as the others when I lead and coach. I think it is important to always recognize and give credit where it is due. Also, it is important to live by your own standards and be true to your own word.