How can you coach leaders during times of change?

Agreed. “You can’t coach someone who does not want to be coached.” Ensuring they are engaged and open to change is essential to get the coaching relationship off to a good start.

Times of change can be quite stressful for leaders. Questions of what to do and how to do pop up. Add to this every leader faces uncertainity in the situations faced and anxiety and worry if such situations can be managed. I would say that getting Clarity on what to do and doing something to ensure that a Leader maintains inner balance and understanding how change impacts people would be the first three steps to take. Summarising : Clarity, Balance and psychology of change

You know that building trust is essential in any coaching relationship but, when coaching leaders, you should take aside more time for the trust-building process to effectively take place. Leaders are used to feeling lonely most of the time and acting from that position, that's why you will need to show your vulnerability before they can do the same with you. This will allow them to trust you.

Actually, I would help the leader with identifying and defining their core values before challenging their beliefs or behaviours. Beliefs are a direct expression of a person's values (and of their perceived identity) and you need to be very cautious in challenging them if you want to help a leader in times of change.

Actually, I wouldn't consider learning as a "structured" part of the coaching path. The desire to learn new skills and competencies will be a consequence of a well-structured coaching path and not a pre-requisite. Also, the GROW model (in my experience) can be used as the structure of a coaching program and I would not consider it a tool to facilitate learning as stated in this part of the article.

Action steps are a fundamental part of any coaching program and can be used to stimulate leaders in their efforts to change. Also, the type of proposed action needs to be carefully chosen according to the level of awareness reached by the leader at a certain point in the coaching program.

The review of the leader's results is an ongoing process that takes place during every session and helps the leader in learning how to measure their performance while breaking through their limiting beliefs.

Change management is something we should do all the time. Information overload is a real thing, and when it comes to it, your attention is limited, and you can get easily exhausted and burned out. Our brain is actually a change detector and is perfectly made to manage the change. Everything depends on our neurology and perception, so managing the change based on neurological principles makes sense. There are three stages of change: orientation, adaptation, and calibration. Each stage has a different focus, but all together, they make a solid and sustainable neurological change. Change also means learning: a new POV, different perception, building resilience and flexibility, focus, collecting information, and creating a new narrative.

First of all, you can help leaders prepare for times of change. And, when the time comes, you provide your undivided attention, smart advice, straight to the point questions to help them course-correct in time, navigate the rocky terrain, and arrive exactly where they invision themselves (or higher).