COACHING
LEADERS/BEHAVIORAL COACHING
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A successful coaching engagement is one in which the leader embraces
these challenges and arrives at a place of effortless performance and leadership
authenticity—a place where the person does not just do
the message, but is
the message.
The Clarity Challenge
Commitment to credibility begins with clarifying one’s personal values, visions,
and aspirations. It’s impossible to do what you say until you have clarity about
what you want to say. The first coaching challenge is to guide leaders in
finding their voice and in making sure they really care about what they espouse.
The Clarity Challenge involves engaging leaders in an exploration of questions
such as:
• What are the values and principles that guide you?
• What do you care about?
• What keeps you up at night?
• What legacy do you want to leave?
• What’s your framework for living?
Once a leader can clearly articulate values and beliefs, we’ve taken the first
step on the road to sustainable credibility. But only the first step. No matter
how noble the principles, constituents want to have leaders that can execute.
Clear values are necessary, but insufficient. You cannot do what you say if you
don’t know how to do it. That means that leaders must be aware of their strengths
and weaknesses. The Clarity Challenge also involves engaging the leader in
gathering and processing valid and useful information about leadership skills
and abilities.
In my coaching and development work, I base the development of leadership
competencies on the research in our book, The Leadership Challenge.
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In our
extensive exploration of personal best leadership experiences, we found that
individuals engaged in The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership™. When
leaders are operating at their best they:
Model the Way
Leaders find their voice
by clarifying their personal values and then expressing
those values in their own style. Then they set the example
by aligning their
personal actions with shared values.
Inspire a Shared Vision
Leaders envision the future
by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities,
and they enlist others in their dreams by appealing to shared aspirations.
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