Coaching leadership: The key to engaged, motivated, and goal-oriented teams

Why do some teams feel supported and aligned, while others struggle with chaos and frustration? Often, it comes down to leadership style. At Yep Trainingen, we believe in an approach that combines support and autonomy for your team, paired with clear structure and direction.

This is coaching leadership: a style that activates, guides, and directs.

How does it work? Read on to discover how coaching leadership can strengthen your team – and how Yep Trainingen applies this approach in practice.

More than just trusting your team

The word ‘coaching’ might make you think of a freeform, hands-off leadership style, where trust is given to employees from the start. But coaching leadership is actually a balanced approach. It’s about both supporting and directing.

What does this look like in practice?

1. Set clear goals and boundaries:
   Define teamgoals that align with long-term ambitions, and ensure they are clear and achievable for everyone. Provide clear boundaries to prevent uncertainty and unnecessary searching.
2. Provide guidance:
   Encourage employees to come up with solutions while offering attention and support during the process. Ask inviting questions and listen to their responses. You can help by listening thoroughly, providing structure, and facilitating progress. Additionally, ensure a safe working atmosphere.
3. Address issues:
   Acknowledge when things go smoothly and when there are areas for improvement. Foster constructive dialogue about both successes and challenges. Encourage team members to address and reflect on issues collectively.

Why traditional leadership often falls short

A traditional, hierarchical leadership style might seem effective: as a manager, you keep everything under control and give clear instructions. In practice, however, this often leads to:

• Lack of ownership and proactivity: Employees wait for your instructions instead of taking initiative.
• Overload: Managers become exhausted from doing everything themselves. Employees may also feel overburdened due to limited autonomy or disagreement with the manager’s ideas.
• Resistance: Employees often feel unheard or unsupported.

On the other hand, a too-lenient, hands-off approach can also lead to problems. For example:

• Uncertainty: Without clear goals or boundaries, employees lack confirmation that they are on the right track. This results in more questions, reduced decisiveness, and lower productivity.
• Lack of transferability: Everyone works in their own way, making it harder to transfer tasks, impeding internal communication, and keeping knowledge siloed with individuals.
• Missed signals: When someone is struggling, colleagues often notice it before the person themselves. Similarly, issues such as inappropriate behavior or unsafe data practices can go unnoticed without proper oversight.

Coaching leadership strikes the right balance: freedom within boundaries, enabling autonomy, growth, and results.

How Yep Trainingen applies coaching leadership

At Yep Trainingen, we believe coaching leadership only works when it combines support and direction. To align effectively with organizational goals and frameworks, we always tailor these trainings to the specific needs of your organization.

Our trainings include foundational elements that equip leaders to excel in this style. Explore our brochure for a comprehensive overview of potential modules in a coaching leadership program.

Here are three quick tips to bring coaching leadership into practice:

• Evaluate shared goals.
• Ask for feedback. Share a personal goal and ask a specific question, such as:
  “I’ve noticed lately that I might need to balance my attention better across the team during meetings. Could you observe this during today’s meeting and share your thoughts with me afterward?”
• Make time for personal conversations.

Looking forward to learn how to lead with clarity, connection, and ambition?