Developing Leaders as Coaches

This article was originally published in the newspaper “La Estrella” and is part of a biweekly column from the ICF Panama Chapter to disseminate what Professional Coaching is. It seeks to inform, create more awareness and differentiate professional coaching, in which the Coach is governed by ethical principles and is continually improving his or her skills.

See the original article in this link.

The three main Coaching modalities used in organisations are:

• External coach, professional with training in coaching who is hired by the organisation for specific processes on a one-time or continuous basis.
• Internal coach, professional with training in coaching and who practices it within a single organisation, being part of its staff.
• Leader Coach, manager or supervisor who uses tools and coaching skills in his role as a leader.

Some of the challenges of the leader as coach are:

• How can I effectively coach all my collaborators individually in the limited time I have on a daily basis?
• How can I do this “virtually”?
• How can I continually improve my skills?
• How do I use coaching tools with my team collectively so they can apply them to each other and we can create a culture of team development?

To develop as a leader as coach, the leader needs to have specific training for this purpose, which allows the development and application of coaching competencies in the organisation in an ethical and professional manner.

The basis for coaching training are the 8 competencies defined by the ICF – International Coaching Federation, divided into 4 large groups:

1. Foundational Competencies or Foundations
   1. Demonstrate ethical practice
   2. Embody a coaching mindset
   3. Co-Create the relationship
   4. Establish and maintain agreements
   5. Cultivate trust and security
   6. Maintain presence
   7. Communicate effectively
   8. Actively listen
   9. Evoke awareness
   10. Cultivate learning and growth
   11. Facilitate the growth of each client

This is a very brief description of the competencies by the author for the purposes of this article, and for a broader and more precise definition we recommend consulting them on the ICF website:

• Demonstrate ethical practice, understanding and consistently applying coaching ethics and standards.
• Embody a Coaching mentality that is open, curious, flexible and focused on the coachee.
• Establish clear agreements with the coachee, and with the different stakeholders, where applicable, about the relationship and coaching conversations, process, plans and goals, among others.
• Cultivate trust and security, creating in partnership with the coachee a safe and supportive environment that allows them to share freely, in a relationship of mutual respect and trust.
• Maintain presence, giving your full attention to the coachee, using an open, flexible, grounded and confident style.
• Active listening, focused on what the Coachee is or is not saying, for complete understanding in the context of the Coachee’s systems, supporting the client’s self-expression.
• Evoke awareness, facilitating the coachee’s understanding and learning through the use of tools and techniques such as powerful questions, silence, metaphors or analogies.
• Facilitate growth, to transform learning, knowledge and vision into action, promoting coachee autonomy.

For a more effective development of coaching skills, support in the training process with professional coaches, mentors and/or supervisors, and internally with peers and sponsors that promote the development of a coaching culture in organisations contributes.

Leaders, through the use of coaching tools, contribute to change in culture, promoting a focus on solutions, not problems. They also promote the development of communication and relationships, and an improvement in the trust and commitment of their collaborators. Lastly, the use of coaching tools helps employees become empowered, focus on solutions, and seek support to solve problems themselves.

International studies show that coaching is key in developing high-performance teams.

Author: Fatima Ribeiro

The author is ACC (ICF Associated Certified Coach), Coach in professional development, leadership and teams processes and member of the Board of Directors of ICF Panama.