A coaching way of leading

Bringing a coaching approach to your leadership has the potential to improve performance, support greater staff autonomy and teamwork and encourage confidence and ambition. This is achieved through the development of each of the following:

·      self-awareness

·      relationships

·      agility

When we become self-aware we can then develop new and deeper relationships. This allows us to empower people and enable learning. When we build on this with the ability to be agile, we are able to deal with change and complexity. This is the coaching way of leading.

In this first article of three, we will focus on self-awareness.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness is the foundation for effective leadership. This includes understanding who you are, what you can do, what you can’t do, where your values come from and where you need improvement. Being more aware is also about being in tune with your thoughts, feelings and actions and in relation to other people and the environment around you. It offers a new way to consider events, people and processes, enabling educational leaders to better understand complex situations that arise in their setting.

As leaders we tend to be very good at being self-conscious: ‘do people think I’m up to the job?’ Or, ‘are people judging my ability?’ for example. This is ego thinking and can weigh heavily. In self-consciousness the focus is purely on the self, whilst in self-awareness the focus shifts to 'awareness'. When this happens you are no longer concerned with the opinion and judgements of other people, rather you are focussed on being aware of what is unfolding before you. This draws on having an awareness of the patterns at play in the systems in which you belong.

There are five key tenets to creating self-awareness for a coaching way of leading:

1.     Multi-source feedback

2.     Systemic awareness

3.     Energy leadership

4.     Strengths and stretch

5.     Identity

Multi-source feedback

There are a number of diagnostic tools available to assess how you turn up both at work and at home, covering aspects such as emotions, relationships, thinking and execution. Such tools can be an eye-opening way of igniting leadership development but only when used as a starting point, not as labelling – while developing awareness it is key to keep an open mind. It is important that feedback is constructive and as such advise clients to seek feedback from people who they feel will undertake the process in this way.

Systemic awareness

Educational leaders can feel that they are, of necessity, right in the middle of the complexity (and perhaps chaos) of their role. Looking at the world through such a lens can encourage us to watch out for patterns of conversation, to recognise how meaning spreads quickly through social networks. We therefore require a systemic mindset to see the whole picture. This is about addressing all of the systems at play within an organisation as well as the stakeholders involved in the multi-source feedback. You can begin to develop systemic awareness by reflecting on:

·      How would you describe the system or context to which you belong?

·      How aware are you of the interactions and interdependences of the various parts of your system?

·      How do these interactions influence your life?

·      What parts of your system needs attention?

Energy leadership

Catabolic and anabolic energy refers to the destructive and constructive energy at play within an individual or organisation. In terms of developing self-awareness, it can be worth considering whether you are a catabolic or anabolic leader.  The catabolic leader manages by control, gives information without justification, works in crisis mode, emotionally disconnects, focusses on problems and takes advantage of staff. The anabolic leader sees only opportunities. They encourage others to develop, shares information, gets feedback and buy in and is future focussed.

Strengths and stretch

Strengths can be defined as: underlying qualities that energise us, and we are great at (or have the potential to become great at).  You can optimise your strengths in the following ways:

·      Experience new learning on and off the job: This could include areas that you are currently working in or seeking opportunities outside of your role where you can utilise your strengths. This could also include supporting others to develop their expertise in areas that enthuse you.

·      Engage other to support and coach you: This is about connecting as a leader, putting your ego to one side and knowing who to go to for the type of support that you need.

·      Educate yourself to develop your knowledge and skills: This could be through qualifications, engagement in literature or listening to leadership and education-related podcasts for example.

Leadership Identity

Once you become more self-aware and have a solid grasp of your strengths you can begin to develop your leadership identity. Leadership identity can be described in three stages:

·      under-developed

·      forming

·      well developed

The under-developed leader does not see themselves as a leader and they identify with other professional identities (e.g., I am a teacher); their self-identity as a leader is not internalised.

The forming leader does begin to see themselves as a leader however their identity is still developing. They begin to experiment with different leadership approaches to craft their leader identity (e.g., I am a teacher and I know I am becoming a leader).

The well-developed leader begins to internalise their leader identity as a part of who they are (e.g., I am a leader and a teacher). Leadership is who they are as a person, it is their ‘way of being’.

Final thoughts

Self-awareness is the first step to cultivating a coaching way of leading. You can begin to develop this area through:

·      Multi-source feedback and informal conversations can provide valuable information of how you work.

·      Systemic awareness by becoming more in tune with the people you work with and the context in which you work.

·      Notice what kind of energy you bring to your leadership, is this growth orientated and forward thinking?

·      Recognise where you currently reside in relation to developing your leadership identity. Identify your strengths and identify how you will stretch these to learn and grow in your role.

This article is taken from our book 'All Ways Coaching' available on Amazon here

You can find more information on our award-winning coaching programmes here