When we think of taking advantage of leadership coaching or hiring an external coach to work with us, we often do so as a result of evaluating our current situation and considering what we can do to improve the effectiveness of both our own skills and those of our people. Though there are a multitude of benefits surrounding leadership coaching, two of the most important include gaining clarity and perspective.
Working with a leadership coach enables us to identify our personal and organisation goals better. Leadership coaching also supports us in reflecting on situations faced in the workplace, gaining clarity, and developing additional perspectives. Combined, this leads us to make more informed and sometimes better decisions.
Whether you’re looking to learn more about the benefits of leadership coaching or are hoping to understand how coaching can assist you in gaining clarity and perspective, you’ve come to the right place.
What Are The Benefits of Leadership Coaching?
Developing effective and high-performing teams, enhancing the coaching culture within the organisation, supporting learning, providing psychological safety, and bringing focus; the benefits of leadership coaching are clear.
According to research gathered by The Institute of Coaching, working with an external leadership coach additionally enhances:
Team performance
Individual performance
Workplace motivation
Staff engagement
Employee satisfaction
Collaboration in the workplace
Communication skills
Self-confidence
Leadership coaching, especially external leadership coaching, is also proven to provide us with the chance to reflect on our leadership styles, the way we lead, and the impact this has on our people. We can additionally identify our strengths and weaknesses and work to improve our skillset where possible.
All these benefits can significantly improve our leadership. They also contribute to our ability to gain clarity and perspective.
How Does Leadership Coaching Enable Us To Gain Clarity?
In the workplace, how often do you step back and consider how each decision you make will impact yourself, your organisation, and your people? Chances are you do this almost all the time.
However, you may still find yourself questioning if you could have done anything differently. After all, we’re human.
Leadership coaching supports us in gaining clarity as working with a leadership coach can help us see the ‘bigger picture’ – something we may be unable to see alone – and understand how our actions impact others or have a ripple effect throughout the organisation. By diving deeper and gaining clarity, we can also begin to:
Develop our ability to think strategically
See the long-term effects of our decisions
Make suitable plans for the near and far future
Most importantly, gaining clarity by working with a leadership coach assists us in understanding our people better and supports us in setting clear goals and outcomes that everyone can work towards without any confusion or conflict.
Understanding How Leadership Coaching Offers Us Different Perspectives
Stepping back and seeing the bigger picture is important. But what about stepping back and considering how other people may view certain situations, plan for various outcomes, or perceive things within the organisation?
When we have a lot on our plate, our judgement can sometimes be clouded by our own tasks and thoughts. This makes stepping back to assess what’s going on, why, and how other people perceive situations somewhat challenging. However, considering different perspectives is essential to the success of any leader and organisation.
Defined as “a way of thinking about something, especially one that is influenced by beliefs or experiences…”, perspectives support us in reviewing how other people, such as our employees, may feel about a decision that needs to be made or a situation that needs to be overcome. By taking different perspectives into consideration, we can develop a more well-rounded view. We can also understand the needs of others better, make more informed decisions, and improve relationships.
But how does leadership coaching offer us different perspectives? Firstly, when we work with external leadership coaches, we are afforded fresh perspectives on many aspects of our organisation. This is because external leadership coaches see things differently from how we would.
In addition, as we’ve shared in a previous blog, working with leadership coaches also provides us with the chance to take advantage of tools that we may not otherwise employ or know about. For example, at The Leadership Coaches, we use profiling tools such as the Core Strengths TM Profile. Not only does this tool help people understand different perspectives, but it also reviews motives and shines a light on how we can adapt our communication methods to benefit all parties involved.
The Importance of Gaining Clarity and Perspective
When fulfilling almost any role within the workplace, gaining clarity and perspective enables us to work collaboratively, have empathy for our people, and understand different opinions and thoughts. Clarity and perspective also enable us to empower our people, enhance our leadership skills, and become more well-rounded leaders.
Unfortunately, failure to gain clarity and perspective in the workplace could lead to poor decision-making, high staff turnover, and low-quality work.
Contact Us Today
As we’ve found throughout this blog, gaining clarity and perspective is vital in the workplace. Not only does it allow us to consider how our people view specific situations, but it enables us to ensure that organisational goals and plans are clear. Although some of us may find that we can gain clarity and perspective alone, leadership coaching provides various benefits.
If you’d like to find out more about the benefits of leadership coaching or how working with an external coach could support you in gaining clarity and perspective, contact us today.
Don’t forget, we’ve recently launched three new courses designed to teach your leaders and managers to coach. Learn more about these courses here.
