A leadership development programme does not necessarily need to include a coaching element. However, it is highly advisable and beneficial to have coaching as part of the programme.
As part of a leadership development programme, one builds self-awareness, increases confidence and resilience, strengthens critical leadership skills, and strengthens relationships. Your coach will guide you in identifying your gaps and blind spots in these development areas.
Coaching gives leaders an opportunity for reflection and creates a safe space for personal attention during the development programme. Coaches understand that people hold the answers within themselves, and a coach will guide the leader in defining the best way forward.
Leaders on a leadership development programme can leverage the one-on-one coaching session to personalise their experience and develop their identified skills shortfalls. Leadership coaching will also assist in understanding how best to apply the concepts learnt in their own business environments. Another benefit of working with a great coach is that the leaders will have an example of what being a good coach means, which they can then apply to those around them.
Therefore, coaching should be an essential part of leadership development because it encourages leaders to view best practices and build new skills, better equipping leaders when faced with challenges and addressing unknown or unplanned situations. A coach will push the leaders to "dig deeper" and think outside of the box.
A newly appointed leader may have the technical knowledge and industry experience. However, they will now be entering a new social circle and may have to interact with highly experienced executives. The coaching process will help develop the new leaders going through such a transition.
An effective leadership development coaching process will include conducting and giving the leader feedback on assessments they carry out, then guide them in creating and following through on their personal action plan.
An example of elements that a coach may identify could be the formal and informal networks one needs to navigate in a highly matrixed company. Building relationships and exploring natural personality styles as well as assisting in overcoming ones self-identified weaknesses.
It is not easy to differentiate between mentoring and coaching. Mentoring can be seen as a more informal relationship focused on knowledge transfer within an organisation or an industry. Mentoring can link a leader to another colleague in the business who can offer advice or guidance about how best to operate the unique aspects of the organisation.
Mentoring is focused on knowledge transfer, and it is essential for developing Millennial leaders who prefer development via experiences, opportunities, mentoring, and stretch assignments.
The relationships developed through mentoring are typically based on the mentor giving direction to younger or new employees. A leader should expose high-potential employees to other parts of the business, important historical knowledge about the organisation, and additional knowledge in the industry.
Organisations that choose coaching and mentoring for leadership development face various decisions. Determining which coach is the best and deciding how frequently mentoring or coaching engagements should occur. What is certain is that coaching and mentoring are incredibly important opportunities in your development mix because they help the new and developing leaders to learn from others and to personalise and practice the new skills learnt in the leadership development programme once outside of the classroom.
To learn more about the development and coaching needs of your team reach out.