A leader must have a strategic plan for their organization, and that includes developing its people. In this episode, I dive into mentoring and coaching as two essential elements of leadership, and how you can act as a mentor to your team.

Check out this episode if you want to learn more about:

• Why coaching is vital to your organization’s survival
• How to help your team own their solutions
• The difference between coaching and mentoring

🎧 Listen to the podcast here:

Effective Leadership Through Coaching And Mentoring

When I say ‘coaching’, you might be thinking, ‘does that mean I have to make everyone feel good about themselves, and then we sing Kumbaya?’ No, coaching has never been about that. As a leader, your role is not just identifying talent, or even having a strategic plan or vision for your company — you also have to develop your people.

Whether you’re working within an organization or running your own, your first question should be: ‘how do I form the teams around me? Who will take my message forward and get results?’

If you think of it logically, when you hire someone, they don’t necessarily know everything about your business.  They may have some technical expertise that they bring to the table, but where do you want them to go from there? You want your organization to grow. With growth comes change, and with change comes new learning, and new information. All of that ‘newness’ requires practice and application.

When you learn anything new, you master it through practice.

Everyone has a first time for something. Think of the ‘firsts’ in your own career — maybe you were given an opportunity to lead a team, despite never having managed a project before. Who did you turn to for insight, to bounce ideas off of, to learn some tips and tricks?

That’s where the coaching and mentoring side of leadership comes into play. In my career, helping clients lead their teams with confidence, I’ve found that people often don’t see themselves as coaches.

Coaching is the same as teaching, except it’s less about telling people what to do, and more about being a facilitator of thinking. In a coaching conversation, you’re helping a person come up with their own ideas, to improve their skills for the next time.

Think about it: how many of us like to be told what to do? Are you likely to do something just because someone told you to do it?

When you allow someone to come up with their own solution, they get to own the solution — and then, they’re more likely to follow through on the task.

As a coach, you’re a resource for people — and that is your responsibility as a leader.

In my own career, I’ve had people ask me to show them how to do something — for example, improving their coaching skills. I start by asking some simple questions:

• What is the purpose of this conversation?
• How do you want me to help you?
• What is the best way for me to help you?

You may run into someone saying they ‘just want an answer’ — and true enough, in some cases, a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ might suffice. But how often are you having those quick, easy conversations with your team, as opposed to longer coaching conversations?

There is a certain prestige that comes with being the person with the answers — but in the long-term, if everyone is reliant on you for guidance, you’re not building leaders within your organization.

There’s a reason why you hired your team, or why your colleagues are working with you. It’s likely because they have the skills to get the job done. Your job is to help them push that even further, to be that much more proficient — and also independent too.

Coaching And Mentoring: Leadership is not just about the vision of the organization but also about developing its people.

As a leader, you must be a channel for your team to ask questions. In turn, you ask them questions, for them to develop their own solutions, and become more agile when facing future challenges.

Mentoring is a whole different ball game — it’s about having knowledge and experience that you can share with others.

Jeff Hoffman, the founder of Priceline, once said that mentorship is about reaching behind you to help someone move forward. As a mentor, you are being sought out because of your experience and network. In this role, you’re a guide — you help people discover their own skills while sharing your own wisdom.

I always like to say that mentoring is the gift of hindsight. There’s a proverb that says, ‘if you want to know the road forward, ask the ones coming back.’

As a leader, you must also identify the person who will replace you — and you can do that through mentoring. Who can you take under your wing, to help them understand the ins and outs of leadership, management and client relationships?

Coaching and mentorship are vital to the kinds of relationships you are building within your organization. How often are you having coaching conversations? What mentorship opportunities exist for you in your organization?

Whether it’s through coaching or mentoring, leadership is about developing people. As long as you keep that at the forefront of every conversation you have, your organization will flourish much more easily.

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!

Join The Leader’s Chair Community today on Facebook and Twitter.