Fuel your professional growth with leadership coaching

Everyone is familiar with the concept of the natural-born leader – someone who inspires others to greatness through their inherent charisma and pluck. But leadership isn’t an innate quality – rather, becoming a great leader requires experience, mentorship, and coaching.  

For project managers, taking part in a leadership program develops the critical skills needed to motivate team members, boost confidence, and take control of the development process so you can deliver better outcomes. 

Unsure whether leadership coaching is right for you? We’ll outline the concept to illustrate its principles and benefits. Becoming a better leader might be easier than you think.

What is leadership coaching?

Professional coaching helps individuals achieve their personal and professional goals by identifying their:

• Strengths and weaknesses

• Thought and behavior patterns

• Emotions

• Motivations

Once the client understands themself better, the coach works with them to develop competencies and talents that transform them into an effective leader. Leadership development often incorporates business coaching, practical communication skills, and exploring diverse leadership styles. 

What is leadership coaching in the context of project management?

For project managers, leadership style coaching will focus on your professional goals, aspirations, and challenges. Conversations will focus on implementing strategies that yield better outcomes, helping you:

• Build better relationships with customers and team members

• Boost confidence

• Motivate coworkers

• Gain control of projects

• Understand a client’s vision

• Mitigate risk

As your leadership skills develop and your work quality improves, direct reports are more engaged and deliver timely outcomes. 

Useful coaching principles

No matter the type of professional development, the same core principles apply for general purpose or executive leadership coaching. As you gain confidence in your leadership abilities, you can use these coaching precepts to mentor team members and colleagues.

Create an environment that’s supportive yet challenging

Your coach will work with you to create an environment of psychological safety that encourages honesty and openness, where taking risks is rewarding rather than stressful. They’ll listen to and respect your opinions, even as they challenge them.  

Work according to the coachee’s needs

As the coachee, you’re in charge – not the coach. They will adapt their coaching model to accommodate and support your career goals using your preferred strategies. Although you should consider organizational needs when selecting a focus, the ultimate choice resides with you.

However, if your coach notices you’re avoiding an area of development, they’ll gently push you in that direction while respecting your collaborative relationship.

Facilitate and coordinate

Don’t expect your coach to provide answers. Their role is to ask the questions and present options. It’s up to you to choose the best strategies to address a particular problem or situation.  

Emphasize self-awareness

Leadership requires you to recognize strengths and weaknesses. Your coach will encourage you to self-evaluate and analyze your abilities to boost internal awareness. 

Learn from experience

Book learning will only take you so far along the professional development path. To grow, you must undergo experiences that push your boundaries.

Your coach will encourage you to reflect on past events and identify what worked and what didn’t. At the same time, they’ll foster experiential learning opportunities to fuel development even after the coaching relationship ends. 

Model the behaviors they want to see

Like any good mentor, your leadership coach will teach by example. They’ll put the strategies and tactics they preach into practice.

The importance of leadership coaching 

As you pursue leadership training, you’ll see significant benefits impacting your professional growth and personal life.

1. New point of view

Coaching offers a fresh perspective on your current circumstances. That novel viewpoint helps establish a growth mindset necessary for lasting and meaningful behavioral changes.

2. Enhanced skill set

Along with self-awareness, coaching expands your professional tool kit, helping you develop leadership skills like: 

• Emotional intelligence and empathy

• Self-regulation

• Active listening and communication

• Goal setting

• Relationship building

• Adaptability

• Conflict resolution

• Constructive feedback

Developing and expanding on this skill set is critical in achieving your full potential as a team leader and project manager.

3. Boosted confidence

With your coach by your side, your progress and success as a leader reinforce everything you’ve learned and demonstrate improvement, driving you to push forward. 

4. Increased performance

Once you’re adept at recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, you’re better equipped to identify them in others. You can adjust your leadership style accordingly, drawing out the best from your direct reports to improve performance and productivity.

5. Improved satisfaction with work and life

A healthy work-life balance is a positive feedback loop. By putting in the effort to become a better leader, your performance and output increase, reducing stress and allowing you to focus on your personal life instead of worrying about the workplace.

How does leadership coaching help companies?

Whether a company provides career coaching for every level of the hierarchy or focuses exclusively on executive coaching, an investment in leadership training offers significant ROI. Studies have found that leadership coaching delivers a 48% increase in organizational performance and a 70% uptick in individual performance. 

Here’s how these benefits break down:

Organizational adaptability

In recent years, many companies have seen product pivots, staff reductions, and corporate restructuring. And there’s more to come. An effective leader at the helm facilitates these adjustments. They have the skills to smooth changes and foster an evolutionary culture while targeting big-picture goals.

Leadership pipeline

An employee can’t advance into a new position without a qualified replacement. Coaching for rising stars within an organization creates a talent pool ready to step in and fill the shoes of a departing leader. 

Attract top-tier candidates

Prime recruitment candidates want to work for great leaders. The more a company invests in its talent pool, the more high-quality talent it will attract. If your organization lives up to its reputation for mentoring leaders, these new hires will invite their friends, attracting even more talent. 

Effective problem solving

Working methodically through a challenge with a leadership coach allows an executive to assess the issue and implement a solution faster than if they tackled the dilemma independently. Leadership can then use the system in other situations to solve problems and drive innovation.

Long-term health

A leadership mindset is infectious, promoting psychologically healthy and cohesive teams. Project managers can use tools from their leadership training to boost the productivity of their teams through coaching. High-functioning, healthy project teams contribute to the organization’s competitiveness and improve the bottom line.

Effective leadership starts with communication and organization

It should come as no surprise that coaching and leadership go hand in hand, thanks to a shared interest in courage, accountability, and motivation. Both disciplines endeavor to define a vision of the future and inspire others to bring it to life.

Organization and communication are foundational leadership qualities. Mastering these skills starts with finding the right tools. That’s why Tempo offers Strategic Roadmaps, a road-mapping application that helps you illustrate your project plans. By identifying priorities, roadblocks, and dependencies, you’ll build alignment among your team and other business leaders to smooth the path forward and ensure high-quality outcomes.

With Tempo by your side, you’ll go beyond project management to become a project leader.