Put Me In, Coach!
🌟 🌟 We often scan our leadership responsibilities with the same regularity we use to scan our phones. In this fast-paced world, it’s all too easy to swipe left and prioritize immediate tasks over swiping right on long-term investments such as coaching our teams. After recently running five workshops on Leading as a Coach Toolbox, a common theme has emerged: leaders feel they simply don’t have time to coach. But in doing so, we sacrifice the big picture for small savings.
Coaching Challenges the Notion of What It Means to Be a Strong Leader
🌟 🌟 Many picture a leader as someone who’s in control, decisive, and unwavering. Yet true leadership hinges on connection, authenticity, and clarity. It’s about recognizing that every interaction holds value—like a mother comforting her child, a friend lending a hand, a colleague brainstorming, or a leader guiding an employee’s growth. Transform ordinary interactions into coachable moments, and watch those hours invested yield extraordinary results over time.
A Gateway to Connection and Intimacy—Yes, Intimacy!
🌟 🌟 Our interactions, both in the workplace and in our personal lives, draw from a shared vocabulary of human experience. Connection becomes the lingua franca. Intimacy is the engine that drives trust. The good news? It takes just 90 to 200 hours to cultivate.
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How we respond to criticism often hinges less on the message and more on our relationship with the messenger. With intimacy and trust, we can embrace hard truths—not just what we want to hear, but what we truly need. Intimacy becomes Into-Me-I-See.
Embracing Vulnerability
🌟 🌟 Our interactions are colored by our personal narratives and paradigms. To become stronger coaches, we must shed our armor and engage in richer, more vulnerable exchanges. Vulnerability sparks a brain response as essential to our well-being as food and water are for survival.
Step Into the Ring!
🌟 🌟 So how do we make coaching a priority in our busy lives? It starts with a mindset shift. Leaders must see coaching not as an extra task but as a crucial investment in their team’s success.