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Coaching creates collaboration Research and actual workplace observation reveals that leadership coaching improves positive collaboration: with other team members, customers and vendors.  When coaching is integrated throughout an organization, team members naturally invite others into conversations and processes. They ask exploratory questions and listen to input of others, focusing on the shared outcomes and how…

Create a safe place through coaching As a leader, you are accustomed to driving accountability and results.  For that reason, it can be difficult for them to step back and have confidence that the person they’re coaching will assume responsibility for finding their own way.   When a leader authentically “shows up” for the team —…

Who owns accountability in coaching? As leaders, we are responsible for the outcomes delivered in our departments as well as to support the overall goals of the organization.   In addition, every person on the team is accountable for the results of their own work and supporting achievement of their department’s goals.   In effective coaching,…

Coaching through change   Change causes stress, whether it’s an unanticipated change or one we choose. Even changes which are positive and expected can be unsettling, such as a promotion, a re-organization or a company expansion.  It is a loss of the familiar.  Leadership coaching can mitigate the impact of change.  It helps teams navigate the…

It’s time to revitalize a time-tested leadership practice: Management by Walking Around or (MBWA). This practice, characterized by leaders literally walking around their workplace to engage with employees directly, has roots in the successful management strategies of Hewlett-Packard leaders. The leaders at HP with whom I worked, revered this practice so much that they embedded…

Our LWC Coaching model has four core skills: Listening Actively, Coaching Questions, Encouragement and Creating Ownership. Perhaps the most elusive for leaders is encouragement. Why is encouragement a core skill when leaders coach? What makes it challenging for leaders and how can they mindfully integrate it into their coaching and their leadership style? The essence…

There’s no doubt that being an effective leader entails wearing different hats and employing various strategies. Recently in one of our advanced LWC Mentor Coach Circles, a software engineer leader shared that he was struggling to distinguish between when to mentor, train, or coach. He faced rapidly changing priorities and expectations in the organization, and…

When someone seeks you out to make a change to improve, develop or be more effective, they are making a choice to change. When the other person “owns” their direction or goals, coaching is a powerful way for you, as a leader, to help them achieve their vision. What happens though, when change chooses us?…

If you’re in a leadership role of any kind, you’ve undoubtedly found yourself in challenging situations. You’ve dealt with difficulties–some of which have likely arisen in the past several years of remote work, employee turnover, and organizational change.  30 years’ experience working with leaders and teams has taught me that when the going gets tough,…

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who says all the ‘right things’ and looks interested, but somehow, you just know they aren’t? We’ve all experienced this at times, and it can make us feel disconnected from the person we are speaking with. We’ve probably been this person from time to time – we…

Leaders tell us how they use coaching with each other to grow themselves and accelerate business results

Develop leaders who coach using the same competencies as professional coaches, integrated into everyday leadership.