Sendatsu Part 3: To Guide and Coach as Leadership.

In this third article on Sendatsu: The Art of Leadership for the 21st Century and Beyond, we will identify the approach and activities Leadership can take to bring about lasting change as a Guide and Coach.

The next role of an ancient Sendatsu was to act as a guide and teacher as they travelled along the wooded and somewhat hidden paths. The landscape through which they travelled was full of dangers, which the pilgrims needed guidance on how to avoid, but the same terrain also offered a wealth of teaching opportunities. The Shinto religion is filled with venerated Kami (Spirits) that can be elements of the landscape or forces of nature. The Sendatsu would take these students on specific paths, which they knew you provide the right locations for their needs, and point out key features, trees, rock formations or waterfalls to enhance the pilgrim’s learning and answer any questions

For this role I specifically chose an icon of a Japanese Torii Gate. Unlike gates in other parts of the world, which block or deter entry and stop our onward progress, Torii gates are always open. They invite people take a step onto the path and start a new journey of exploration and learning.

As a leader it is our responsibility to help those people in our care to grow and develop. Not to push them down a certain path or force them to change, but to step onto the path ourselves and invite then to join us on a journey of discovery, learning and personal change.

Coach them to choose the next step on their path (and the next and the next), all the while staying aimed toward their inspirational vision of high performance. Create a sense of anticipation, expectancy, and excitement for this journey - first in yourself and then let it flow to them. Lead by believing. - Lyssa Adkins (Coaching Agile Teams)

In the excellent HBR article The Leader as Coach, Herminia Ibarra and Anne Scoular highlight that in the today’s world of rapid, constant, and disruptive change, where the past is no longer a guide for the future, organisations are moving away from traditional command-and-control management towards something very different: a model in which leaders give support and guidance rather than instructions, use the skills of “ask and listen,” not “tell and sell.” In return employees need to learn how to adapt to constantly changing environments in ways that unleash fresh energy, innovation, and commitment.

To achieve this Leaders must become a Guide and Coach, but that is hard. Most managers have already decided on the right way forward, usually before they have started talking to their employees, and their style of ‘coaching’ is to try and get agreement on what they’ve already decided. This is not real coaching and the results, unsurprisingly, do not go well.

Unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance - John Whitmore

The article beautifully defines how this role should play out. It states “An effective manager-as-coach asks questions instead of providing answers, supports employees instead of judging them, and facilitates their development instead of dictating what has to be done. This conception of coaching represents an evolution. Coaching is no longer just a benevolent form of sharing what you know with somebody less experienced or less senior, although that remains a valuable aspect. It’s also a way of asking questions so as to spark insights in the other person”. 

I recently watched the Disney+ Gallery documentary about Jon Favreau’s show, The Mandalorian. His approach has been somewhat unique and perfectly reflects this concept of Leader-Coach. Favreau pulled together a group of directors from many different backgrounds, with different voices and personalities. He believes that this team of disparate talents, united by a love and passion for the Star Wars universe, will tell amazing stories. To support this, Favreau created an environment where they learn from each other past experiences, he asks inspiring questions to draw out their innate talents and coaches them as they take ownership of specific episodes.

During the documentary two of the directors spoke enthusiastically of their experience on The Mandalorian. Waititi said "I really loved this way of working with all these directors. And what also helped a lot was having the presence of Jon and Dave around, basically just to keep me from veering out of the lane too far,". Chow agreed, "It was a really different experience to sort of get to work with other directors in creating a show, you know, and we can also bounce ideas off of each other."

The result? By the end of its first season The Mandalorian outrank the competition by “55 times”, was the biggest streaming title across all platforms and a massive boost to Disney+ subscriptions.

For the volatile environment we find our organisations in, a realm of complexity and rapid change, we need leaders who are coaches, not controllers. When companies take the time to create a Leader-as-Coach culture, they will experience both consistently higher levels of employee productivity and engagement, and with that an improved economic performance. As leaders become Sendatsu Guides and Coaches, hierarchy, command and control will give way to collaboration and creativity. The culture of fault and fear will give way to feedback and learning, and external motivators are replaced by intrinsic self-motivation.

As you develop a coaching style of leadership, especially where you are responsible for transformation and leading through change, you will start to point employees towards innovation and new discoveries, which leads nicely into the next article, Sendatsu Pioneer.