Managers Think They're Good at Coaching, but They're Not

Despite assumptions to the contrary, few managers understand leadership coaching very well, report researchers Julia and Trenton Milner in the Harvard Business Review . They analyzed more than 900 assessments of pre-training and post-training coaching conversations, accompanied by polls of participants' attitudes and experiences with leadership coaching. "The biggest takeaway was the fact that, when initially asked to coach, many managers instead demonstrated a form of consulting," the Milners note. "Essentially, they simply provided the other person with advice or a solution." The researchers cite nine leadership coaching skills to emphasize, including listening, questioning, giving feedback, assisting with goal setting, expressing empathy, letting the coachee arrive at their own solution, recognizing and pointing out strengths, providing structure, and encouraging a solution-focused approach. "The skill the participants were the best at before training was listening, which was rated 'average' by our experts," the Milners write. "After the training, the experts' rating increased 32.9 percent, resulting in listening being labeled 'average-to-good.' The skills the participants struggled with the most before the training were 'recognizing and pointing out strengths' and 'letting the coachee arrive at their own solution.'" The Milners stress that coaching strategy should begin by clearly defining that strategy and how it differs from other types of manager behavior. "The next step is to let managers practice coaching in a safe environment before letting them work with their teams," they note.