Leadership Coaching and Emotional Intelligence: The Coaches Perspective
Leaders build leaders. Training Magazine recently ranked the top 125 organizations that excelled at employee development. (Link to Article) Included in the terrific detail provided about these companies one fact stood out from the rest. Of these 125 companies;
“Some 71 percent tie managers’ compensation directly to the development of their direct reports”.
This statement took me to a reflection on my time in the Army and the powerful benefits of a coaching culture. All branches of the military have formal leadership training programs. However, as a military leader development or coaching of our direct reports was almost a daily activity. It was our duty to make sure that someone could step into our position at a moment’s notice if needed allowing a seamless transition to continued operations. Our compensation in the military wasn’t directly tied to the performance of our direct reports but our unit performance was directly tied to our ability to be promoted. Military unit performance and company or organizational performance can be measured in a variety of ways with a common thread being a measure of individual and collective ability to meet mission or business critical tasks. One dimension of leadership that will enhance the development of a direct reports ability to meet these critical tasks is the leader’s ability to be a coach. Emotional Intelligence can enhance abilities as a coach.
Emotional Intelligence is a trending topic in coaching and leadership development but the concept has been around close to 30 years in various models. The model I use and refer to is the EQ-i 2.0® (Emotional Quotient Inventory). The EQ-i 2.0 model of emotional intelligence is published by Multi Health Systems or MHS. MHS is a leading international provider of psychological assessments for more than 30 years. Based on extensive research the EQ-i 2.0® Leadership Report measures four key dimensions of leadership with one of these being Coaching.
MHS defines the Coaching dimension as: A leader who coaches effectively is seen as a mentor who supports employee growth. Employees are nurtured towards achieving their highest levels of performance. Through their research they identified 6 emotional intelligence skills that support leaders in the Coaching dimension. These skills are Self -Actualization, Empathy, Reality Testing, Interpersonal Relationships, Assertiveness, and Emotional Self Awareness.
In an examination of these skills in action we see:
Self-Actualization: Operates with a connection to a greater plan and with the direct reports sets inspiring goals.
Empathy: Generates respect through understanding the coaching experience from the perspective of the direct reports.
Reality Testing: Grounded, fair, and unbiased in all coaching engagements.
Interpersonal Relationships: Trust is the foundation for all development planning and activities. Assertiveness: Creating an atmosphere of accountability for direct but respectful conversation. Emotional Self Awareness: Mindful of their emotional impact on the performance of their direct reports.
Leaders build leaders through coaching. Through mutual identification of inspirational goals, the nurturing power of respect and trust, clarity of fair accountability, and mindfulness of a consistent approach a leader will empower their direct reports to achieve more of their individual potential supporting the overall mission.