Look at the entire picture… what do you see?
You’re trying to manage the performance of your team and you’re observing some things that are just not humming as they should. One of your team members has slipped in their performance. They were great, up until a couple of months ago. You don’t know what is going on. You make a mental note to find out more. There is a bit of tension between another couple of team members. Their subtle and playful jibes have an increased sting in them, and others are noticing too. And one of your star performers is exploring opportunities elsewhere. You are thankful that they feel comfortable to talk to you about it, but also quite disappointed that they are looking to leave. On repeat you have the quote, ‘people leave managers not organisations’ running around your ahead. You try and brush it off, but it’s there.
The ‘people’ issues are often the most significant and time consuming for a leader. They require consistent focused effort. And then you have your other priorities and goals to achieve. Leadership is really not for the feint hearted.
The key here is to ensure that the leadership aspect of your role, is the primary focus. If you are in a leadership role, leading is what you are there to do. It can’t sit alongside your “job” as an additional task. It has to be the main event.
How can you make it the main event and gain more enjoyment out of it?
When we lead utilising a coaching mode, we are more in tune with the needs of our team. When we coach, we are focused on elevating performance, and helping the person we are coaching to increase their self-awareness. This helps them to help themselves when you (the leader who is the coach) isn’t there.
A leader who utilises the coaching mode will calibrate what they are hearing, seeing and observing through the interaction with the person they are coaching. It’s about observing the entire picture to help you make sense of the situation. Calibrating in leadership is about observing everything that is said, done, felt, seen and heard and integrating it. For leaders, the skill of calibrating is an important one. Leaders are required to synthesise information, make sense of the information they have, and identify the gaps in the information that require. When leaders can do this through the coaching mode, they are more carefully tuning in to create a fuller picture that will help them best guide their team member.
So, your underperformer, your quarrelsome couple and your star who wants to leave can be less of an emotional and time drain on you, as you can lead them more effectively through utilising a coaching mode, leaving them and you in a better place.
The next Leader as Coach Program commences on Monday 1 Nov 2021
6 weeks, 6 masterclasses, 90 mins each.
To find out more, contact Rita
Rita Cincotta coaches, facilitates and speaks on individual and team performance, leadership development and ways of working. She works with organisations to develop human centred solutions that help people and businesses to thrive.