What does it mean to be a manager who coaches? In my last blog I reviewed Patricia Buhler’s perspective and listed activities indicative of the manager as coach. So what does it take to be a manager-coach?
 
Richard Ladyshewsky of Curtin University reviewed this literature in an article in the Leadership and Organization Development Journal in 2010. He concluded “coaching in the workplace, between a manager and a subordinate, is part of an overall organizational development and performance management philosophy” and a core management skill. Here are some highlights I gleaned from his review:

• “No consensus on a definition of coaching” but it may be considered “a short-term developmental interaction focused on performance . . .”
• A major challenge is “finding the time to coach” and this becomes more challenging as the span of control (number of direct reports) increases.
• Managers “differ in their inclination to coach subordinates.”
• Managers differ in the communication skills needed to coach.
• Managers with more self-awareness, higher emotional intelligence are more likely to be successful in the manager as coach role.
• In a coaching culture, performance appraisal (e.g., with emphasis on accountability) takes a backseat to performance management (with emphasis on improved performance).
• “Coaching should be developmental and not corrective or remedial action.”

Ladyshewsky emphasized the importance of trust:

• Trust may be cognitive (rational) or affective (based on emotional bonds).

• It takes time for the subordinate to build a relationship of trust with a manager.
• Trust develops more rapidly where the manager and employee share common values and common interests.
• Well-adjusted people build trust faster.
• “When the stakes are very high, trust decreases to ensure security.”
• Managers who are not “competent in the eyes of their subordinates will not be able to build trust.”
• The organizational culture affects ability to build trust, as does the economic viability of the organization.

 
My take-aways:
 
1.  Ladyshewsky makes an excellent point that managers may simply be too busy to coach. If so, then the question must be asked, how important is it to your success as a manager, to the organization, that you grow your people? Time is about priorities and decisions. As a manager, I can recall struggling to carve out time to work with employees developmentally. Fortunately my boss and I talked, he listened, and we got enough adjustments to deadlines to find the time. I understand not everyone has an understanding boss. In my case I had credibility far enough up my chain-of-command to pull this off. Why? Because my employees were growing in their capabilities and it showed in results. 
 
2.  But what if manager as coach is not who you are? You may not be inclined in that direction. It may not be your personality. Can some skills be learned? Perhaps, but it is still not who you are. You may be a technical whiz-kid and respected by your subordinates but just have no talent for developing others. If the organization wants managers to be coaches, then this may suggest better attention to promotion-to-management processes. It may also suggest a look at talent acquisition.

3. My guess is that most managers know whether or not coaching is part of what they want to do, irrespective of finding time. If it is something you want to do, then you can probably develop coaching skills. And organizations should decide if this is a managerial expectation, and if so, support this objective with effective training (one-on-one or group). 
 
Ladyshewsky, R. (2010). The manager as coach as a driver of organizational development. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 31(4), 292-306. 
 
Untitled image. Obtained from https://pxhere.com/ro/photo/480543
Public domain. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2018. All rights reserved.
 
Author of Decoding the Workplace, BEST CAREER BOOK Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2016.
 _________________________
"Decoding the Workplace: 50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations is as informed and informative a read as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. . . Decoding the Workplace should be considered critically important reading for anyone working in a corporate environment." —Midwest Book Review

20 years ago Patricia Buhler argued for a new role for managers, the manager as coach. Now professor of management at Goldey-Beacom College in Delaware, she suggested in a 1998 issue of the journal Supervision that “the command and control manager is a dinosaur.” Lately I've been thinking about employee engagement and what role effective coaching might play in increasing engagement and productivity. In an earlier blog I quoted David Antonioni (2000) whose research suggested coaching was “like a foreign concept in the workplace.” This is the first of several blogs in which I will address the manager as coach.
 
Today there is a plethora of books, literature, and courses on the manager as coach. Even so, that does not mean every manager can move to the manager-as-coach model. In her article Buhler laid out several basic ideas -- the manager as coach:

• “Advises and assists employees” rather than being “controlling and issuing commands”
• “Provides guidance”
• “Focuses on the developmental needs of employees”
• “Helps employees tap into their full potential”
• “Empowers employees”, “sets employees up to manage themselves”
• “Listens”
• “Uses participative decision making”
• “Shares information, “Hoarding information has no place in coaching.”

So how can a manager succeed as a coach?

• Be “sincere and open”
• “Create a climate of trust and mutual respect”
• Allow employees to “take risks without fear”

My take-aways:
 
1. My favorites from the list above are helping employees by (1) focusing on developmental needs and (2) tapping into potentials. Both are hard but both get at what I consider a key to leadership: helping those with whom you work develop and grow. In my opinion, grow your employees and you grow success.
 
2. Organizational culture is an important variable here. Without a strong culture that is supportive of employee development or the coaching aspects of leading, individual success as a manager-coach is more problematic. Probably the most important aspect of that culture is trust. Where trust is embedded in the culture, constructive feedback will find more fertile ground. Growth should be greater.  
 
3. Buhler was not the first to suggest the manager-as-coach model. For example, she quoted Dennis Kinlaw, “coaching is eye-ball-to-eyeball management.”  However she identified clearly that “astute managers” were incorporating coaching into their managerial behaviors. That remains true 20 years later.
  
Buhler, P. (1998). A new role for managers: the move from directing to coaching. Supervision, 59(8): 17-19.
 
Untitled image. Obtained from https://pxhere.com/en/photo/595817
Public domain. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
​
© John Ballard, PhD,  2018. All rights reserved.

Author of Decoding the Workplace, BEST CAREER BOOK Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2016.
 _________________________
"Decoding the Workplace: 50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations is as informed and informative a read as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. . . Decoding the Workplace should be considered critically important reading for anyone working in a corporate environment." —Midwest Book Review