If you run an organisation you undoubtedly know that leaders are important for the success of any organisation. There are many reasons why good leaders are invaluable.
- Good Leaders can harness their own and their team’s creativity, allowing them to deliver superlative results
- Good Leaders have a high EQ and are empathetic. They respect and develop people as unique individuals with unique needs
- Good Leaders are able to harness diversity. They take the diverse background and experience of their team members to create better solutions for customers as well as stakeholders
Knowing that good leaders are worth their weight in gold, organisations can either chase leaders who work elsewhere and spend their energy persuading these leaders to join them or they can expend the same energy building leaders within the organisation itself.
The question that however stands in front of a CEO or an entrepreneur is – How does he/ she really build leaders from within the organisation. It is now a known fact that leaders are not born the way they are and leadership skills can be developed. In recent years organisations have discovered Leadership Coaching as an effective way to develop leaders from within the organisation.
What is Leadership Coaching?
Leadership Coaching is the process of Coaches working with leaders or potential leaders within the organisation to increase their leadership skills and maximise performance in the workplace. The coach with their professional observation, guidance, advice, and support helps potential leaders take on the mantle of leadership. The many leaps of progress in Leadership Coaching and the results it has been seen to deliver have made it the go-to solution for organisations to develop leaders from within the organisation.
There are immense benefits to developing leaders from within the organisation through leadership coaching the least of which is motivating the current employees of the organisation. Leadership coaching not only develops professionals into good managers but also enhances their relationship with their direct reports. It sets them and their team members on a course of success. Leadership coaching of potential leaders also creates a culture of growth and energy. In the long run it is actually cheaper for a company and more rewarding to opt for leadership coaching of existing employees.
Why Develop Leaders from within?
These are among the many reasons organizations today are in a rush to build leaders from within the company with the help of certified external leadership coaches. Some of the ways in which leadership coaching brings meaningful impact in an organization are as follows:
Strong leaders build strong company culture:
The culture of an organization has a huge impact on the results of the organisation. It is the culture that determines if the organisation can pivot and adapt to hard to predict external events.
The culture of an organization speaks about its values, beliefs, and rules. The spoken/unspoken rules of culture get passed on from higher-level departments to lower levels and recruits. The culture of any organisation is driven by it’s leaders and their behaviour and this in turn impacts the the success of the company
Leadership coaching plays a significant role in shaping and strengthening the culture of an organization. Organizations desire to build leaders from existing employees as existing employees are better able to grasp the culture of the organisation and propagate the positive aspects of this culture among employees and stake holders.
An influential leader improves team performance:
An organization’s success solely depends on the performance of its various teams. Organizations hire external leadership coaches to guide their leaders effectively so that leaders can build cohesive, high -performing teams. Effective leaders are able to set clear achievable goals for their teams. They are also able to them guide their teams towards the achievement of these goals.
Leadership coaching improves the communication skills of the professionals, they confidently deal with their team members and keep the stakeholders well informed. Leadership coaching ups the game of the professionals as they become capable of unlocking innovative ideas and fostering other employees’ skills.
Leadership coaching leads to employee retention:
One of the biggest challenges facing organisations today is high employee turnover. It is expensive and hard to replace good employees and even harder if these employees are potential leaders. One of the major causes of employees leaving an organization is the lack of opportunities for professional development. Hiring a leadership coach for potential leaders can make employees feel wanted in the organisation. It can also help them advance in the organisation and see themselves as valuable assets to the organisation increasing employee retention.
Leadership coaching with it’s measurable, customized action plans, help the managers/leaders to develop an impactful relationship with their team members and co-workers. Managers with leadership coaching build trust among their teams. This can lead to better results for the team and its members. Better results and greater goal achievement leads to more satisfied employees. Leadership coaching produces people’s leaders whom the employees are happy to follow, and the organization is happy to retain.
Leadership coaching increase a leader’s impact by providing feedback:
Leadership coaching providers are internal or external coaches hired by organization to provide unbiased observation and feedback to the leaders and potential leaders they are coaching. This unbiased feedback assists leaders in building impactful emotional intelligence, empathy, and self-control improving their performance. By helping the leaders develop strategies for their professional improvement, leadership coaching benefits the organization over an extended period of time.
Leadership coaching creates the foundation of diversity, equality, and inclusion:
Leadership coaching helps the organizations build leaders within, providing valuable leadership development opportunities to the all employees irrespective of gender, age etc. thus building a diverse organisation. No two individuals are the same in an organization, and by providing equal opportunities through leadership coaching, to the underrepresented employees, organizations recognize their diverse talent and promote inclusivity.
Post Leadership Coaching, leaders are able to work better with diverse team members, especially those that come from a background different from that of the leader. Leadership coaching enables leaders to treat all team members as valuable assets. Thus team members get a sense of respect, value, belonging, and inclusion.
Conclusion
With all the pros considered, it can be easily understood why organizations wish to use leadership coaching for building leaders from within. It is an excellent way to motivate and support the professional development of leaders, potential leaders as well as the organisation.
Investing in leadership coaching is crucial for an organization because it strengthens its core teams and is beneficial for succession planning and producing a pipeline of potential leaders within the organisation itself
