AN IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOK
Becoming a Leader-Coach
A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Your People
IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOKS
Aimed at managers and executives who are concerned with their own and others’ development, each guidebook in this series gives specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership problem.
| LEAD CONTRIBUTORS | Johan Naudé Florence Plessier |
| CONTRIBUTORS | Candace Frankovelgia Kaushik Gopal Elizabeth Gullette Douglas Riddle |
| DIRECTOR OF ASSESSMENTS, TOOLS, AND PUBLICATIONS | Sylvester Taylor |
| MANAGER, PUBLICATION DEVELOPMENT | Peter Scisco |
| EDITOR | Stephen Rush |
| ASSOCIATE EDITOR | Shaun Martin |
| ASSISTANT EDITOR | Joan Bello |
| DESIGN AND LAYOUT | Joanne Ferguson |
| COVER DESIGN | Laura J. Gibson Chris Wilson, 29 & Company |
| RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS | Kelly Lombardino |
Copyright ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
CCL No. 461
ISBN No. 978-1-60491-174-9
CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP
AN IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOK
Becoming a Leader-Coach
A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Your People
Johan Naudé and Florence Plessier
THE IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOK SERIES
This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has generated since its inception in 1970. The purpose of the series is to provide leaders with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL’s mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide.
CCL’s unique position as a research and education organization supports a community of accomplished scholars and educators in a community of shared knowledge. CCL’s knowledge community holds certain principles in common, and its members work together to understand and generate practical responses to the ever-changing circumstances of leadership and organizational challenges.
In its interactions with a richly varied client population, in its research into the effect of leadership on organizational performance and sustainability, and in its deep insight into the workings of organizations, CCL creates new, sound ideas that leaders all over the world put into action every day. We believe you will find the Ideas Into Action Guidebooks an important addition to your leadership toolkit.
Table of Contents
The Benefits of Leader-Coaching
Informal Coaching Conversations
IN BRIEF
Leaders wear multiple hats. Most leaders are comfortable with and effective in the role of managing their direct reports’ day-to-day performance. However, many leaders are less clear about the role of developing their direct reports, particularly coaching for development. In CCL’s experience, most people want their managers to coach them but say this doesn’t happen often enough. This guidebook provides an introduction to the basics of leader-coaching, including a structure and a set of guidelines to conduct effective formal and informal coaching conversations with your direct reports. Leaders are in the best position to support the development of their people. Coaching skills are one important set of tools that can be used to leverage people’s everyday experiences at work, to drive development, and to build leadership capacity in individuals, teams, and organizations.
A Leader’s Dual Roles
As a leader, you have different roles to play with your direct reports. One of them is to manage their day-to-day performance. Another is to support their development so they can continue to deliver top performance in the face of larger, more complex situations in which learning to learn is critical. Both roles are important. You are likely already well
