Much has been written about different coaching and leadership styles, or “different strokes for different folks” as leading management thinker Kenneth Blanchard popularised it. He talked essentially about directive and supportive styles:
- Directive, where the leader provides specific instructions and closely supervises task accomplishment.
- Coaching, when the leader continues to direct and closely supervise task accomplishment, but also explains decisions, solicits suggestions and supports progress.
- Supporting, when the leader facilitates and supports direct reports’ efforts toward task accomplishment and shares responsibility for decision-making with them.
- Delegating, when the leader turns over responsibility for decision-making and problem-solving to direct reports.
I’d like to think that I recognised the need for different styles when working with my own teams in industry, as I learned how to be a manager. I experienced all of the above styles from people I reported to (and some that I didn’t), sometimes helpfully, for business outcomes and my own development, sometimes unhelpfully.
But what about the role of coaching? The ‘situational leadership’ model detailed above seems to suggest it’s a staging post on the route to becoming more self-sufficient, as if it applies to only junior or less confident people. However, in lean transformation, it is increasingly recognised that coaching (by leaders and managers) is a key part of achieving real organisational change.
What kind of coaching is required to help this change in culture? Looking beyond the situational leadership framework, it seems that coaching styles vary according to the coach’s knowledge and experience of the technical and process content of the coachee:
Technical and process knowledge – The coach is directing the use of a specific approach or way of thinking, but supporting the coachee in developing their own set of answers within this framework, sharing and discussing learnings together.
Generalist approach – The answer is within you. The “GROW” model is often used:
- What are your goals?
- What is your reality?
- What options do you have?
- What will you do?
The experience of those who have been successful in transformation teaches us that, whatever our level of experience and development to date, in order to change our culture, it’s easier to act our way into a new way of thinking, rather than to think our way into a new way of acting.
Furthermore, it teaches us that it’s just as important to focus on the process as on the results. Finally, the principles of humility and respect for every individual guide us to establish positive two-way relationships, which foster challenge as well as trust and encouragement.
