3 Tips to Pay it Forward

You’ve Experienced the Benefits of Coaching. Now it’s Time to Pay it Forward.

As we look ahead, we see that leaders and their teams face what the Harvard Business Review called a new normal of perpetual, pervasive, and exponential change. And, we see that leaders and their teams are already struggling to adapt.

Analysis of our vast database of coaching engagement reports shows that coaching can help leaders and their teams become more innovative, more effective, and more able to adapt to the waves of change through which so many are struggling to stay afloat. You’ve experienced first-hand the benefits of coaching. Now it’s time to pay it forward.

1. Talk About Your Coaching Journey

As we mentioned in our last article, many leaders spend an enormous amount of time and mental energy hiding what they see as shortcomings from their superiors, peers, and especially their subordinates. And, because in many organizations coaching is still viewed as a last resort to save an underperforming leader, many are uncomfortable sharing their coaching journey with others.

We know the benefits coaching can offer. That’s why the biggest favor you can do for others is to share with them the challenges you were facing and how your coach helped you overcome those challenges.

2. Lean into coaching as a leadership style

Google’s Project Oxygen, a decade-long study of its workforce, identified coaching as the single most important skill set of its most effective leaders. Throughout your coaching journey, you’ve observed and internalized some of the skills your coach has used to help you achieve your goals. As your coaching journey winds down, put those skills into practice with your subordinates.

Another recent study showed that “organizations whose leaders successfully empower others through coaching are nearly four times more likely to make good decisions than those whose leaders don’t. Empowered employees are also more engaged, work harder, and become more loyal to the company. Their delegated decisions typically deliver faster, better, and more efficiently executed outcomes.”

3. Consider what coaching could do for your team

Fortunately, coaching can offer teams the same benefits it does to individuals — helping teams make better decisions, take on more complex work, achieve greater business results, have higher employee satisfaction, and experience increased overall team effectiveness.

A leader is only as effective as his or her team. And because we’re invested in your success as a leader, we’re offering you the opportunity to give your team a complimentary AIIR Team Effectiveness Survey, a short assessment that provides objective insight into what your team does well, and what might be holding it back. Just let your coach know that you’re interested and your team can take the assessment, get the full report, and attend a debrief with one of our world-class team coaches.

Prepare your team for the challenges ahead with an exclusive special offer — get a free AIIR Team Effectiveness Survey, a free report, and a free virtual debrief with one of our world-class team coaches!