Coaching leadership offers basic guidance to learn collaborative and supportive behavior in the workplace. This practice focuses on extracting the best traits out of every employee by teaching them the expected goals and obstacles.
In simpler terms, coaching leadership’s core concepts are the opposite of autocratic leadership, which focuses on higher-ups’ decision-making.
In this article, we will briefly discuss the difference between coaching and managing, then switch gears to cover the pros and cons of coaching leadership.
The difference between coaching and managing
Many people confuse the difference between a coaching leader and a manager.
In simple terms, managers have the potential to become coaching leaders when they undergo appropriate training. Historically speaking, management revolved around directing employees, delegating work, and driving a specific business outcome.
However, the 21st century has changed this strict style of management. For this reason, coaching leadership is becoming more popular around the world. It focuses on developing individuals, promoting the learning experience, and working on long-term solutions to current problems.
Every year, companies invest millions of dollars on this approach to create new coaches that could make the company thrive.
What are the pros and cons of coaching leadership?
While most individuals and companies view coaching leadership as a strictly positive approach, it may not fit every organization out there.
Here are some of the pros and cons of coaching leadership:
Pros
- Encourages better communication and collaboration
- Promotes positive and negative (i.e., constructive) feedback
- Promotes the personal and professional development of your team members
- Focuses on showing support
- Avoids being judgmental
- Creates opportunities for growth and creative thinking
Cons
- Requires a lot of resources when it comes to time and energy
- Does not always produce the most efficient results
- May not be the ideal choice for high-pressure or strictly results-driven companies
How to apply coaching leadership
After listing the pros and cons of coaching leadership, it is clear that the benefits of this approach outweigh its downsides. Therefore, we encourage companies and organizations to develop their own coaching capacity for the managers and leaders. It is true that this style of leadership may not always be appropriate; however, having this skill set in your company is undoubtedly a positive.
Learn more about the process of applying coaching leadership here.
Takeaway message
Coaching leadership is a modern way of managing employees and improving the output of the workplace. Companies are switching to this style of management due to the limitless benefits it offers.
We hope that this article managed to highlight the benefits of coaching leadership and how it optimizes the performance of individuals and leaders.
If you have any questions about this topic or anything related, please reach out!
