How can you coach leaders to maximize their strengths and improve their weaknesses?

While there are many different frameworks and models, I believe understanding how a leader thinks is the most important assessment in a successful coaching engagement. At fassforward, we have a Leadership Thinking Survey that we have refined over the past 20+ years. I think other models fall short by focusing on personalities, habits and behaviors. Few leaders understand how they think, and once they do, they are then able to understand how others think. And that combination is a game changer in leadership.

Let’s be honest, the article is typical, AI generated generalisations. And I noticed the predominantly suggested approach to “coaching“ the leader is to use tools and assessments to analyse them in their style. You won’t find that in any of the ICF or other professional bodies core competencies. A more powerful approach would be to focus on ICF core competency three and put the time and effort into partnering with your client to find out what they want to achieve from a coaching series with you. Once you thoroughly explored that maybe, just maybe, some form of assessment may assist; 20 years coaching at c suite level, says they are rarely needed.

Recognizing a person's leadership style is a vital skill for any executive coach. By understanding their inherent approach to leadership, you can tailor your coaching to their unique strengths and areas for growth. Identifying their style involves keen observation and insightful questions all things coaches should do. I recommend observing how they communicate, decide, handle conflicts, and motivate their team. Probe thoughtful inquiries about their values, goals, and preferred leadership strategies. Are they more transformational, transactional, servant-oriented, or laissez-faire? Once you grasp their style, you can craft a coaching plan that amplifies their strengths while refining their leadership skills.

I use Nancy Kline's Thinking Environment approach as it focuses on creating a space where leaders can fully explore their thoughts, maximising strengths and addressing weaknesses. The approach encourages self-discovery and autonomy, rather than offering direct advice or solutions. It ignites the client's own wisdom, compassion, and courage, empowering them to find their own answers. It's about respecting the leader's capacity for self-reflection and growth, fostering a deeper, more insightful journey towards personal and professional development.

Different leaders have different styles based on their strengths and weaknesses. We naturally lean in toward our strengths and capitalize on how we work best. Often we are given critical feedback on our weaknesses and we work to improve; yet another way to lead is to maximize our strengths. For example, a coach supervisor might spend more time motivating and encouraging top performers or laggards. Motivation and encouragement has been proven to enhance productivity. Leaning into one’s strengths can offset weaknesses and increase results. With a coach to assess and promote this effort, the executive practices a strength consistently until it becomes habit.

There are many leadership styles and there is no best leadership style. However Unconsciously leaders may use the similar style to deal with everyone. It’s important for leaders to understand that dynamic leadership approach is required. Leadership approach has to be based on team members. This insight can be helpful for leaders.

Beyond applying a single leadership theory, consider the value of combining multiple theories to create a more holistic approach. Just as leaders are multifaceted, so too are the situations they encounter. By integrating insights from various leadership theories, coaches can provide leaders with a comprehensive toolkit. For instance, combining traits and behavioral theories can help leaders understand their innate qualities and how they manifest in their actions. Incorporating transformational and contingency theories allows leaders to navigate ambiguity. This blended approach empowers leaders to be versatile and responsive, equipping them to lead effectively across diverse contexts while remaining true to their core values and vision.

To maximize the leaders strengths, it's important to: 1. Leverage their key skills. 2. Make them aware of their own strengths. 3. Set goals aligning with their strengths. 4. Foster a growth mindset in the minds of leaders. However, to work on the leaders weaknesses involves: 1. Acknowledging areas of improvement. 2. Ask for their opinion for improving the lacking areas. 3. Create targeted action plans together with them. 4. Follow timely constructive feedback, and, 5. Offer resources for skill enhancement.

It's a good advice. I think when one comes with experience and talking to senior leaders then picking up a theory doesn't mean much. If I know that I play a role of a coach by shifting my own roles between a Coach and an Awakener then I can get the leader top to understand the need of flexibility. Coach has to have worked enough to make it all intuitive. Yes, reading and learning from theories adds value to the repertoire and a Coach can use the knowledge to be flexible. Yet to depend on one theory for me as a coach is a No No . I prefer to be an intuitive Coach. And well, I have always believed whatever I say opposite would also be true.

I think a Leader should focus on building more leaders. With that perspective the theory of Situational Leadership comes as a handy support to understand the team psychologically. This would help to retain top talent and keep them engaged. Eventually, strength maximization comes as a product because they learnt the art of delegation which creates more space for the leader to focus on themselves. It's about being more practical not irrational. Before everything, a leader should have their own Character Goal. Strengths get maximised only when we have a goal to become a better leader. Rest all becomes a byproduct to development !!

I find the popular strengths assessments, like those mentioned above, to be interesting exercises and some of my clients really like them. However, the results can seem a little vague to people. They can be unsure of what to do with the outputs. I recommend blending these big comprehensive strengths assessments with a role-based competency assessment. To do this, you need to clarify with the person what competencies are important in their current role, or the role they are hoping to move into. Assessing strengths from a role perspective makes the activity more relevant and it also helps to increase people's awareness of their performance within their role.

360s are a powerful tool to identify both strengths and areas of opportunity for leaders. At fassforward, we believe the key is for the coach to conduct them in 1 on 1 conversations. This allows them to connect with key stakeholders and get honest, confidential feedback. It also allows them to identify key themes (vs just one off comments) in order to reinforce what the client self-identified on their Personal Coaching Plan, as well as identify blindspots.

Many of my clients are unaware of their strengths and when I tell them, "That's a strength of yours," they look at me and reply, "Really? This is just what I do." It's important to be consciously aware of your strengths so you can use it more effectively. At the same time, we can overuse our strengths which at times, are a weakness. Developing new strengths creates a more well rounded leadership style. Pointing out how their strength is a weakness astounds them. I also administer the EQi - 360 assessment and the CPI assessment that addresses Self-Management, Organizational Capabilities, Team Building and Teamwork, Problem Solving, and Sustaining the Vision. The results reveal your strengths, and what needs development.

Surprisingly many successful executives have a form of "impostor syndrome", and real fears about being "found out" or not being able to do what the board or others expect of them. One simple process I've found to powerfully support leaders when they doubt themselves is: 1- Ask the leader to share an experience where they have been very successful in the past. 2- Ask; what worked well in that experience, that lead to success? 3- Ask; what was it about you that helped lead to this success (focus on the strengths of the client)? 4- Ask; how can your strengths help you achieve this goal? I find this really helps leaders increase confidence as they identify strengths, proven in the past, that they can now leverage for a current situation.

Is the leader’s top strength effectiveness? Creating systems? Managing teams and getting buy-in from the group? Inspiring others? No matter what personality preference or leadership style a client has, there are ways to use those skills to be an effective leader. Some things aren’t going to come naturally to a client, so I work with them to leverage their most comfortable strengths to get the results they want.

I like to invite my coachees to embrace their "weaknesses" and ask them "what does that allow". Exploring what it means to them, how it resonnates rather than "fixing it". The look on their faces is usually very telling. It is mostly a question of perspective, as in my experience, a strength in overdrive does have the possibility to turn into a weakness, eg from being detail-oriented to micro managing. The focus is then on what it allows, as said before, and when does that come about to identify trigger factors and be more aware of when they enter the "weak zone", if that is their request. Mostly I believe it is part of what makes us amazing: the dance and the balance between S/W.

In today's high-stakes environment, no C-level executive wants a list of 'weaknesses.' Hence, the art of executive coaching lies in nuanced communication about untapped potentials, not deficits. Forget presenting a SWOT analysis. The real craft is in embedding these growth areas within a leader's existing strengths and objectives. It's not about saying, "Here's what you lack," but subtly guiding them to realize, "Ah, here's what I could magnify." The goal isn't to outline problems, but to co-create a vivid narrative of continuous growth. By framing the conversation this way, you don't offer criticisms; you present new frontiers. This isn't just problem-solving; it's a visionary expansion of what leadership can be.

Senior executives often appreciate a direct approach and that must be nuanced by the coach to be shared in a way that can be heard. Hence the coach must be able to vary their style according to each individual leader. Framing around growth, potential, opportunity can be motivating yet some also need the language of potential derailer, performance gap etc. My preference is to focus on strengths and only focus on weaknesses if they are potential derailers.

The same method which I use to help leaders understand and apply their strengths more consiously to manange anything comes their way is also used to improve them in the areas which require development. Some weaknesses can be seen by the leaders in their mirror but most of them can become a subject of a 360-degree assessment to give a more objective and surroundings-oriented perspective. This is what leaders should focus on; how others perceive their attitude and behaviors because leadership is about their followers. When leaders learn how their strengths help them improve, and grow they start to change. This improvement comes from work on their behaviors and people around them can confirm this change in another 360 after some time again.

Everyone has blind spots. I leverage MBTI (Myers-Briggs) to find out the default preferences for taking in information, making decisions, and prioritizing how things get done. I can tell A LOT about a person’s blind spots and help them work through them. It also helps to understand the priorities of the people the leader is leading. I use depth typology to understand the cognitive functions of the leader and the team to help them see around corners and gain buy-in from allies who can help them be more effective leaders.

Another way to address a vulnerability is to ask the leader if it's worth addressing. If so, helping him/her address it is productive. But perhaps the vulnerability is out of the leader's comfort zone. Helping the leader find a way to build a team that complements his/her strengths and compensates for vulnerabilties may be the best technique. I know that I think big, strategic thoughts, am very bold, and require data to make decisions. I don't like process or doing the math to make sense of the data. I know my bold nature requires one or more devil's advocates. So I built a team capable of complementing my strengths, where I spend my time. The rest of the team uses their strengths to compelent my vulnerabilities.

My successes have been through utilizing consistent feedback (radical candor). Also bridging the areas where they excel and how those traits can be used to work on other areas needing improvement. Bottom line though is if feedback is not given, the leader will not be aware of what they are doing both great and areas to work on going forward.

It’s depends on the nature of their “weaknesses” and their impact on others. Raising awareness is key as is developing self command in order to regulate negative emotions. However the greatest leaders openly acknowledge their “weaknesses” which is part of being human and then recruit to plug the gaps and build extraordinary teams. I’d like to reframe the rhetoric about leadership. There is no perfect leader, there is no perfect human. We miss the point by trying to develop weaknesses to make a leader an all-rounder. Good leadership is about accepting that we are all human and all imperfect. The important skills to develop are those which are about how we better understand and relate to ourselves and each other.

The term “one sidedness” refers to someone who only relies on their top cognitive strengths. Only relying on top preferences can work for people who respond to that (such as people who make decisions on logic and data), but will leave others wanting more, such as those with feeling preferences who need to understand the values behind the decisions. It’s crucial to be inspirational and reach values-driven individuals, and also provide enough logic and facts for the data-driven individuals on the team. I advise my clients to do both, and help them come up with strategies to appeal to different people.

Said something similar in different words while sharing up there. It is always a Context which must decide the content. And when it doesn't work, be courageous enough to change the context. A coach must work on themselves first to reach a stage where they be one intuitive.. A lot intuitive...to be able to quickly pick up, relate to a story, offer it and get the leader to share and decide..

I believe any successful coaching engagement starts with a personal coaching plan. It’s the best determination of how engaged your client is as well as understanding their core beliefs and principles. Having them list what they want to accomplish over the next 6 months is the key first question. Then asking about their weaknesses/areas for opportunity is a good follow up. They are usually their own toughest critics and very accurate in identifying their developmental opportunities. Once you confirm the areas of focus through 360s you can then tie them back to their beliefs and principles.

This is a tricky one. Not everyone has identified their values, and like mission statement exercises, it’s easy to write something that sounds good but isn’t really aligned with what a person believes. Most people have a personal code of values that might not be stated, but when someone violates a value, they’ll likely encounter resistance. This is more true of some personality types than others. For example, people with INFP and ENFP preferences can be completely agreeable until someone bumps up against a value of theirs, and then they will often push back. Some people value loyalty the most, others value fairness (everyone is treated the same), some people have a hot button for others being excluded, etc.

Aligning a leadership style with core values is not merely a step; it's a continuous journey toward authenticity and integrity. By utilizing tools like the Barrett Values model or the Cameron-Quinn model, leaders can forge a path that resonates with both personal beliefs and organizational culture. This alignment builds trust within a team and sets a moral compass, directing all actions and decisions. A values-driven leadership style acts as an anchor in turbulent times, providing consistency and inspiration. When leaders embody their values, they don't just manage people; they ignite passion, foster engagement, and build a community united by shared principles. It's the transformation of leadership into a living ethos.

Walking a leader through a process to identify the top 5 core leadership values they have that are true to them (not something someone told them they needed to embody) is the first step. Once you can get to an authentic place with what your top 5 values are and clearly define them, identifying how that value manifests both internally (toward yourself) and externally (toward others) is an important key to unlocking how values and behaviors/mindsets connect. Once you do that, you can start to build a plan related to how the leader can show up to honor their values more fully with actions, words, and thoughts within their daily leadership practice.

Genuine alignment of a leaders personal values with the organisation’s values, as well as purpose, vision and personality is important. Having leaders who understand the key elements of inclusive leadership, who can increase trust, participation and inclusion, encourage creativity and diversity of thought, will create fairer and better places to work and enhance productivity and performance.

The key to coach anyone, a leader or an intern, is to first decode their human behaviour. I have witnessed in close quarters, a businessman who grew from a turnover of 5 lakhs to 500 crore, however his inability to delegate and his necessity to control everything that happens, is now slowly impacting the growth of his organisation. The flaw isn't his leadership style, micromanagement is a characteristic, a man who has had everything go his way at home, will be the same in office, he will continue to expect his 200 employees to do as he says, and not take decisions on their own!

One BIG misconception is equating strengths with skills. While skills are important, strengths also encompass personal values and areas where individuals feel energized. Start with identifying not just what leaders are good at, but what they value. Sometimes, leaders are blind to their own shortcomings. Constructive feedback from all angles ensures they get a comprehensive view of areas needing improvement. And instead of merely trying to "fix" a weakness, think about how it can be flipped. For instance, a leader who's seen as too detail-oriented might be channeled to roles or projects where this trait is an asset. When leaders believe they can grow and change, they're more likely to invest effort into improving their weaknesses.

1. The point of coaching anyone is to help them become aware of their strengths and development areas. 2. Helping them realise the impact these strength and development areas are having on their life, career, business and people would in most cases set the ground for action - when people see the value and understand the risk, they usually act. 3. @InfluenceSolutions our approach is to help people focus first on maximising the ROI from their strengths, and then dealing with those development areas that have critical impact.

This is very well analyzed. Two things in particular rather appealed to me. One is the consideration of many different leadership styles. The other is the focus on the positive aspects.

To coach leaders effectively, focus on helping them identify their strengths and weaknesses through self-assessment and feedback. Encourage them to leverage their strengths to their advantage while developing strategies to address their weaknesses. Use goal-setting, regular check-ins, and targeted development plans to support their growth and progress. Remember, tailored guidance and open communication are key to a successful coaching relationship.