Leading With Influence

How coach-like managers can unleash the potential of employees and steps to make managers more coach-like

To lead with influence isn’t about being commanding, but having the ability to inspire, persuade and encourage. Tapping into the knowledge and skills of employees and working towards a common goal will achieve better results for individuals and the organisation.

What’s the difference between managing and coaching?

When it comes to looking at the differences between managing and coaching employees, coaching is much more of a two-way communication route designed to influence and develop staff. It’s about teaching rather than telling, which only generally leads back to the manager, instead of employees finding their own solutions.

Managing is more about overseeing the work of others, and while there are, of course, times when managing is totally necessary, being a controlling, order-giving manager is usually a less effective leadership style. Not only can employees become disengaged, but they learn to rely on their managers to make all the decisions. This in turn puts further pressure onto managers.

Leading with influence requires managers to be clear about their own values and goals, with coaching being a developmental approach to working and interacting with other people.

Why do employees respond to coaching

The advantages of coach-like managers are the ability to draw on the employees’ skills, motivations and judgment, giving them the freedom and ability to accomplish goals. This creates a productive team of engaged employees.

Coaching guides an employee in the right direction while but supporting independent thinking to overcome problems. It also fosters relationships, builds trust and empowers team members and colleagues to be more dynamic and self-motivated.

How to become a more coach-like manager

A good manager can step up and become more coach-like, here’s some employee coaching best practice points.

Constructive Feedback

Giving regular, frequent feedback lets employees know how their performance is viewed and what they can improve on. Going a step further would be to create a culture of team feedback by encouraging employees to provide feedback to each other and to you, as their manager. This is how the two way communication works to unleash the full potential of employees.

Build trust and confidence

Without trust, managers may be able to force employees to comply, but they’ll never hit the full commitment or creativity of their staff. Trust involves a balance between pushing employees into areas or challenges out of their comfort zone while listening carefully to their concerns, supporting and of course giving feedback.

Motivate and support

Motivating others is a key aspect of any coaching. Revealing employee’s potential by pointing out the value in their work is inspiring and helps to develop self-confidence. A good coach knows the strengths and weaknesses of their employees.

Listen, empower and ask for opinions

Listening to employees is a big part of coaching, it offers you different concepts and ideas while making employees feel heard and valued. If they feel respected, they will be more engaged, work harder and be more satisfied with their work.

Fail your way to success

Things go wrong, and people make mistakes, but learning to support failure and how you respond is what really matters. Remaining positive and being ready to talk through solutions and improvements for the future will go further than crushing employees’ spirits for mistakes.

Coaching isn’t a one-size-fits-all and undoubtedly some staff will need more handholding than others, but when a manager learns how to think, talk and act like a coach, it becomes second nature to them. Coaching has the ability to lead with influence, change the way a team works, achieve individual goals and impact the overall objectives of the organisation.