How can you coach leaders for their current and future roles?

I totally agree Duncan. I do love working on the Strengths analysis too as a key indicator but we have to know what their team, reports and managers think and feel about them too. All invaluable information

I agree and the type of assessment depends as well on the stage of development the leader is in, and what is it that they need to accomplish. Throughout the development journey, different assessments can be used/ introduced (or reused to measure progress) as well.

Diagnostics is a great way to begin. Gives a lot of clarity on what the goals of development should be. The challenge is that assessments present a lot of data and the expertise here is to be able to arrive at what is most relevant to the current role and what would be critical to be future ready. With the motto of 'less is more' prioritising one or two developmental goals is key.

The best judges of your leadership are those who receive it. 360 feedback is invaluable here. Like all tools it surfaces a lot of potentially interesting or important information. And, it's not the important part. The unfolding conversation, the experiments between conversations, the transparency and support from enrolling stakeholders in your ongoing development -- this is what's important.

First and foremost, it is vital to recognize that each “coachee” leader has unique needs, based on where they are in their career journey. I would recommend to first have a candid quality discussion to better understand the leader, their professional and personal background and current contexts. I prefer to develop a better understanding thru’ these insights, rather than stereotypical tests or quantifying scores. Once these insights are gathered, then the coach would be in much better position to identify the priorities for coaching and help the leader move towards the desired goals.

For the coach-coachee relationship to be effective, leader’s genuine motive and interest to improve is of paramount importance. I have experienced several times, that the leader has been prescribed to by their organization / direct leader to undertake coaching, and hence they are going thru’ the process. This will highly likely not lead to the desired outcomes. So, I believe a broad mutual understanding / agreement for the coaching journey is critical pre-requisite to success. This could be a dynamic working agreement, which could be flexibly adapted as the relationship progresses.

While a coaching agreement is important, it is more than just a document. To get the best out of coaching, it is important to contract with a coachee at the beginning of each session. This involves asking them what their goal is for coaching, and the individual session, what their desired outcome is for that session, the importance of addressing this issue now, how they will know they've reached their goal, what they think they need to cover, how we - the coach and coachee - will work together, and where they would like to start. Jumping straight in without being clear means that a coaching session may not be as useful as it could be.

One of the greatest challenges I have encountered is helping others to understand leadership versus management. Management requires a plethora of knowledge, skills, and abilities that are job or possibly industry-related. Managing is about using these skills to move the ship forward and utilize influence to sustain or make progress. Management can be done from small to large. Leadership is about people. It requires inspiration and encouragement along with compassion for others. Leadership is about helping others reach higher than they thought possible. Leaders are not always managers and managers are not always leaders, but both are critical nuances.

Sure, whether there’s a document or not, the important thing is that overall goals of the coaching engagement are clear to both the coach and leader, and that each session is connected to these goals, or at least examined explicitly for a connection, if there isn’t one.

Any worthwhile undertaking requires teamwork, and teamwork is all about relationship. As a professional coach I create an agreement with every client for every relationship. And in every coaching relationship we create more agreements, all centred around our relationship - or 'how' we will be together. It's important to take time at the start to get some agreements in place and we revisit them regularly through the work. What's working well? What's 1 thing we could change for immediate mutual benefit? How will we be around each other in times of stress? The meta-conversation around relationship positively impacts every collaboration.

Models aside, active listening and observing - words said - and not said; actions taken - or not - should be your best guide. This is a huge discipline and requires humility. People look to leaders for answers; leaders expect to give them and can fall into the trap of well-trodden paths. But leadership is as individual as the leader, and if you coach anyone you need that to be your starting point.

The above models are helpful tools. And if you're coming from a place of doing everything with your bare hands, then tools are a great step up. As a coach my goal is to support people in creating the outcomes they seek, AND, have them learn more about how they learn so they can better create these outcomes without me. This typically involves doing, thinking, and being differently. So if there is a typical coaching arc it will cover everything from environment, behaviours and skills development, through to beliefs, identity and purpose.

Models are useful to keep the conversation moving and not turn into a less productive session. I find that it is helpful to be aware of different models and as a coach, be prepared to release one’s own agenda. The coachee’s needs and goals serve to anchor the discussion. This anchor point can be used to shape the conversation to avoid a common pitfall of sessions turning into just complaining about something without a growth mindset.

While models can be helpful in coaching, it is most important that the coach supports the leader to set a goal for the session. It is not the coach's responsibility to set this goal, or lead the session. Throughout coaching, the coach needs to listen actively to what is being said - and unsaid - and how this relates to the coachee's objective. This anables the coach ask questions that will help a coachee think more deeply about themselves and their situation, and find solutions they had not thought about outside of coaching.

Coaching models should be considered tools to use selectively for specific tasks, but mostly left in the tool bag. Have a good selection of tools at your disposal that your are proficient at using is very important. The best “model” is story, this is not acronym, rather the clients personal story: How they got to where they are now, where are they going next and how are they going to get there. Dialogue is essential, as long as you the coach is listening way more than you are talking. Crafting the zinger question that really gets the client thinking is the optimal point in any coaching session.

A coach should establish an environment for safe and transparent interactions in this process. An open and flexible approach in serving the coachee leader goes a long way. I believe in coach truly being a ‘Servant Leader’ for the coachee. If the leader works on the insights provided by the coach and shows substantial improvements, that reflects the best on coach as well. In my assignments as a coach, I proudly share with the leader being coached, that if they succeed with the desired outcomes and shine with it, I will be proud to shine in the reflections of their glory.

The most important component of generate successful coaching outcomes is that the client is committed to doing the work. The simple truth is that as coaches we have no skin in the game. Coaches don't give homework. Personal growth, by the client, for the client, is the result of the clients' actions and commitment to experimenting in the day-to-day outside of the coaching conversations.

The very best Leadership coaches are excellent questioners, who, through their skills, are able to motivate the individual to challenge their own existing processes, standards, operational efficiencies and personal effectiveness in the role. Then they jointly agree a plan to improve agreed areas. ASK, DON'T TELL.

A coach may or may not be from the domain of the coachee, but must adapt to the leader’s context. The coach must understand and help a leader identify their specific needs in terms of the leader’s personal, professional, financial, relationship, and emotional aspects. We must work on exploring the requirement, trends, latest data, skillsets, current scope and future of the industry that a leader belongs to or aspire to move to. Helping the professional feel the real picture of the final outcome will make them ready to face the opportunities and threats with a similar momentum!

One way that helps is getting the leader to visualize what success looks like in his current or future role in terms of behaviours and use it as a framework to launch from. Where do they stand with those behaviours right now, where is the development opportunity and where do they want to start? Remember, in any leadership development situation they need to be doing the heavy lifting and not you because this is all about their career growth not yours.

From time to time my executive clients show up with no concrete agenda, no pressing topic. When that happens I have a checklist of focus areas (usually that we've previously named or identified) that I run past them. It's an invitation to look at where they're at through different lenses. This can become too cognitive of an exercise and miss getting into deeper exploration. So I also use 3 'essential' questions that can be provocative.

I believe that a coach must be a role model in demonstrating empathetic behavior with the leader being coached. While it is highly valuable for the coach to share their previous experiences and cultural learnings, they must be mindful of the challenges that their coachee must be facing. In my experience, there are several unique nuances that each coachee is experiencing, and hence a ‘cookie cutter’ approach does not serve the leader well. A coach asking more questions and listening actively will certainly be able to offer better guidance to the leader. I always learn and improve myself as a coach by being a good listener, and in turn add value to the leader.

One of the most mutually rewarding experiences in the coaching process, is when the leader sincerely pursues the coaching insights, follows thru’ on the agreed action items and then brings back progress updates at every interaction with the coach. This systematic rigor of follow-thru’ and regular review, provides a big boost for the confidence and morale of the leader. I firmly believe in and practice Ken Blanchard’s guidance from the ‘one-minute manager’, where the coach must, as appropriate, quickly offer a specific appreciation and recognition to the leader. It works like a magic for every human being!

I’m my experience, the clients is not always able to see their own growth. It is important to practice reflecting on growth with them and further provide them a tool for self-growth. Where are we going? How will we know when we get there? What can we do to celebrate at that time?

Celebrating progress can be one of the more challenging parts of our own development: we are so used to celebrating end points and goals. Yet, the process of acknowledging our achievements is an important part of success. Individuals will have their own preferred ways of celebrating, both formally and informally, and in a person-centred coaching approach, it is best to ask the coachee how they will celebrate. It is equally important as a coach to acknowledging the thinking and insights the coachee has had during a coaching session.

The review process is critical to embedding learnings into the daily workplace, and to then move to the next level. Coaching is supporting an individual along their journey to full competence. It should be seen as a 'series of steps', not a single action.

What many people seem to forget is that leaders don't grow in their careers in a vacuum. Strategic stakeholder management seems to continue being forgotten, while we emphasize strengths and other personality-centric matters. But if strengths cannot be adjusted and put to the good service of a wider system made of living stakeholders, the leader will, ultimately, fail. This is why I consider stakeholder management almost as important as the leader's own development - together with a robust development of their emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-mastery, cognitive and emotional empathy.

Absolute honesty and mutual trust and respect is essential when coaching Leaders. The coach must provide the environment where this state exists and the Leader must be open and motivated to improve who they are and what they do.

Among the primary challenges my clients often face during a professional transition is the need to truly embrace and embody their new roles. This entails stepping into a fresh identity that yearns to emerge. It involves introspective questions such as: Who are they evolving into? What does this transformation feel like on a personal level? What aspects remain consistent, and what aspects change? Moreover, it's essential to consider what they must release or let go of in this process. As humans, we tend to become anchored to our past experiences, making it challenging to adapt to new external circumstances. To navigate these transitions successfully, we must nurture a mindset that fosters personal growth and change.

Few things to keep in mind is that in leadership coaching you get into agreement on what to work. Once the agreement is there, you help the person to introspect and come up with actions. It's important to have follow up on the actions in future session. At the same time it is important to give the freedom for the coachee to completely select a different are to work. It's should be an evolving conversation keeping in mind the coachee's goal. The Coach should create the psychological safety for the coachee to be vulnerable and be a sounding board for the coachee. No advice, suggestions, therapy etc during coaching conversation.

Modelling leadership behaviours is also essential. For For example, telling someone to ensure a work/life balance and then working all hours yourself only sends the message that to truly be a leader, you have to work all hours...