Leader As Coach

Behavioural economics and the Science of human motivation.

The data on employee emgagement is discouraging. Between 13 and 20 percent of the work force are actively engaged in their roles (Gallup 2023).  We also know that leader-employee interactions are the most dominant factor in transforming employee engagement.

The coaching approach is reverse engineered around what mainstream scientific research has learned about human motivation. What we know from research into behavioural, cognitive and organisational psychology, is that regular, non directive, strengths based coaching conversations tap into what energises, engages and unlocks the very best of human behaviour.

Recent organizational surveys highlight that employees consistently prioritize their development and growth above mere job satisfaction, recognizing these as fundamental prerequisites for optimal engagement. Both formal and informal coaching directly facilitate learning, development, and growth within the workplace.

Moreover, 21st-century education systems are developing young people to evolve into critical thinkers, leaders, and proactive architects of their learning journeys. This departure from the conventional model—focused on passive listeners, compliance, and the passive acquisition of knowledge—ushers in a workforce that demands a more sophisticated leadership approach when they arrive in the workplace.

“The epitome of an agile learner is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.”

Coaching is about more than performance and growth. It’s about helping organisations and businesses remain relevant, find fulfilment, and create value through a period of unprecedented change, uncertainty, disruption and opportunity. The 2020’s are witnessing the simultaneous arrival of transformational new technologies, a convergence that has the potential to overhaul many engrained societal norms.

Transformational changes in agriculture, transportation, energy production/distribution, digital automation and machine learning are colliding in ways that have the potential to accelerate us into an exciting but unfamiliar world. The potential need for businesses to rethink not just their value proposition but also their existence is no understatement, as new norms threaten the relevance of certain skills and markets.

These changes have hastened the arrival of a new type of leadership. Unsurprisingly, the top 5 most sought after skills are all about how we think, learn, solve unfamiliar problems, and innovate — all of which are the outputs of leaders who coach.

“No longer are people looking for mentors with pre-packaged answers to solve problems that have existed before. They are looking for coaches to ask searching questions to solve unfamiliar problems that have never existed before”