Create a Coaching Environment

Coaching is one of the most important tools in a manager’s toolkit. It identifies issues, breaks down barriers, addresses challenges, explores options, and calls for accountability and commitment that result in real action. An essential leadership behaviour, this development approach supports the realisation of goals from an idea into a reality, not only affecting positive outcomes for an individual, but also ultimately impacting organisational performance and results. 

More than just a practical tool, coaching is a skill, a mindset, and a vehicle for learning that requires strength of relationship, clear intention, and effective communication. When we coach we think of people in terms of potential rather than performance. While training involves giving advice, direct instruction and offering solutions, coaching facilitates a more empowering, self-directed approach to behaviour change. 

To coach well, we must listen actively and ask powerful questions in a safe and trusted space, thereby giving others the opportunity to uncover their own limiting beliefs, explore opportunities and arrive at their own solutions. From here, our coachees make a commitment to focused action towards achieving their overall goal.

In order to coach effectively, we need to create a coaching environment that allows for coachable moments. The fundamental element of the coaching environment is trust.