Effective Coaching Skills
Optimize International’s 5 Elements of Leadership™ Checklist
Effective coaching skills are a critical tool in a leaders’ toolkit. With Steve Lishansky’s workshop: Coaching Skills for Managers, you can groom your organization’s managers and supervisors to become great leaders. “Effective coaching skills” is one of Optimize International’s 5 Elements of Leadership.
1. Visioning
- Create and articulate a vision of what is possible, important, and compelling to be and do through:
- A clear identity about who we are
- Shared values that reflect what we stand for
- A strong sense of purpose that inspires us about why we are here
- The vision, and the process of visioning, is highly compelling and meaningful, setting a powerful tone, direction, and culture for the whole organization by focusing on being consistent with our highest and best.
- Build the culture as an uplifting, inspiring, engaging, compelling force for excellent performance, sustainable growth, and meaningful contribution to all key constituencies – and fulfillment for your people.
- The vision reflects the best of the culture and drives the culture to continually grow, expand, and improve.
2. Aligning
- People understand, embrace, and move toward the organizational vision, including developing a strong connection between their personal vision and the organization’s vision.
- The vision drives the mission, which drives the goals, which drive the strategies of the organization.
- Everyone is committed to, focuses on, and works toward the realization of the vision, mission, and goals.
- The organizational structure, processes, systems, and culture support the realization of the vision.
3. Influencing
- Enroll and, as needed, move key players, both within and outside of the organization into aligning with the vision.
- Communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with your people to be highly aligned and effective.
- Get focused on what is most important, including helping your people recover that focus as needed.
- Inspire and motivate people to willingly buy into, serve, and act on what is most important to themselves, their teams, the organization, the customers, and any other key constituencies.
4. Performing (Being your best as leader)
- Define and live your personal and professional vision that is aligned with the organizational vision.
- Always make decisions from and congruent with your values, identity, and purpose.
- Be an example of what you expect, desire from, and ask of others.
- Be courageous in standing up for and always being congruent with your identity, purpose, and values.
- Continually challenge yourself to learn, grow, practice, and improve as a leader and a person.
5. Coaching (Bringing out the best in others)
- See and cultivate the talents, resources, capabilities, possibilities, and strengths of your people, both individually and collectively.
- Provide the environment and opportunities to develop, grow, and leverage the leadership talents, resources, and capabilities of your people
- Inspire your people to inspire and bring out the best in their people and organizations.
- Support your people in connecting their personal vision and values with the organizational vision and values.
