How to coach your team for performance? (+ freebie)

✨Warning: I'm offering a super good freebie at the end of the article!!!✨

One of the most difficult aspect of being a marketing leader is guiding your team toward results while ensuring you have the time and space to focus on strategic initiatives. Many of you find yourselves stuck in a cycle of constant problem-solving, leaving little room for big-picture thinking. The reality is that if your team isn't operating independently, you’re likely going to get overwhelmed, exhausted, and unable to perform at your best. Dreading every catch-up you have with the senior leaders as a result too!

When your team depends on you, here's what happens...

Say you're in the middle of drafting a super important strategic plan when a team member interrupts, needing your immediate input on an issue (which happens to be minor). You address the problem, but just as you return to your work, another team member approaches with a different urgent matter.

I very well know that this pattern continues throughout the day, pulling you away from your strategic tasks and leaving you frustrated. Frustrated with them for not seeming to be able to think for themselves, and frustrated with yourself for not spending enough time to develop them into independant brand thinkers.

When your team relies heavily on your input for everyday decisions, it not only affects their growth but also prevents you from focusing on the higher-level responsibilities that drive your team's overall success. This dependency creates a bottleneck, slowing down progress and innovation. And affecting your reputation as a department within your company.

What happens when your team is empowered and independant...

On the other hand, when your team operates independently, they're empowered to make decisions, solve problems, and drive projects forward without needing constant guidance. This shift not only boosts your team morale but also frees you up to engage in strategic thinking and planning.

Imagine....

1. Your team being able to address and resolve issues quickly without waiting for your approval, accelerating project timelines.
2. Your team is more likely to experiment and come up with creative solutions, driving innovation, when they are empowered.
3. When they have autonomy, it's been proven to voost their level of happiness, satisfaction and as a result being more engaged (and ultimately better retention rates!!!)
4. When you have fewer operational distractions, you can dedicate more time to strategic initiatives which will make a really noticeable difference to your brand's performance.

So how do you empower your team?

The secret lies in intentional effort and a shift in your leadership approach. Here's how you can get started:

1. Don't micromanage and trust your team with responsibilities. Provide clear expectations and guidelines, then step back and let them take ownership.
2. Really encourage them to think critically and come up with solutions before seeking your input. You could provide them with frameworks for this, if it helps them. Remember to reward initiative and innovative thinking. This will really help them develop a problem-solving mindest.
3. Equip your team with the skills and knowledge they need to success independently. Organise regular training sessions and development opportunities. You don't necessarily need a big HR or L&D budget for this if you don't have it, these can be organised within a monthly marketing team meeting (if you don't have them in place, that's another problem we need to talk about in another newsletter issue!!!!!). Get external people and agencies to run sessions for you, they're great.
4. Make sure they understand the bigger picture and they're clear on how their work contributes to the overall company goals. It will give them a sense of direction and purpose. If anything, start every monthly team meeting with a reminder of it - say it, say it again and repeat it again
5. Give them regular feedbacks. It always help them grow and improve.

Do you tend to coach, mentor or direct your team?

One of the most effective ways to cultivate a self-sufficient team is through coaching. As a leader, adopting a coaching mindset and approach (as opposed to mentoring or directing them) allows you to guide your team towards greater autonomy and competence. Coaching is not about giving answers but about asking the right questions and empowering your team to find their own solutions.

Through coaching, you can:

• Enable them to learn how to analyse situations and develop appropriate solutions independantly.
• Increase their confidence in that they're able and competent to do their job, to think critically, making them way more likely to take initiative.
• It'll also encourate continuous learning & development, which is not only positive for performance but also for motivation !

On that note, I've developped a course to show you how to coach your team for performance, and I've made the first session absolutely free, you'll get:

✨FREE: access to the session 01 of the course "how to coach my team for performance" (curriculum above) which includes a 30min video and a comprehensive workbook with:

• 5 reflective questions to get you thinking
• 5 guided exercises to get some personal insights to help you coach your team more effectively
• A plan with 3 actions for you to practice the learning!

✨BONUS 1✨ Access to a dedicated private community UPON of marketing leaders, where I share lots of leadership tips for on-the-job impact and help you guys be intentional leaders.

✨BONUS 2✨ Access to a discount for the purchase of the entire course (8 sessions with on-demand videos, 23 exercises, 8 action plans) if you leave a feedback! of £27 instead of £97.

Get your free session here !

See you on the course and in UPON?

Mags

Turning self-doubting marketers into confident and inspiring leaders who make an impact • Leadership Coach • Mentor • Trainer

Ps: I have a newsletter I send to marketers every Wednesday 7am with lots more leadership exclusive stuff for marketers - it's free, wanna sign up?

Ps 2: I have free resources you can use for your own development or your team, it's right here

Ps 3: I've got a membership called UPON created by a marketer (me!) for marketers to hone soft skills and build more confidence in how they lead (leading to promotion, influencing stakeholders, setting boundaries and more!). Wanna check it out?