Using Traditional and Coaching-Based Leadership Together (Episode 10 of “How Do I Lead Now?”)
In Episode 10 of our Video Coaching Series: “How Do I Lead Now?” Cylient CEO Dianna Anderson discusses how you can use traditional approaches to leadership and coaching-based leadership together in the same situation.
Balancing traditional, “direct and correct” leadership approaches with coaching-based leadership approaches is the best of both worlds—you can weave coaching approaches in when there is an emotional, pattern-based issue and use traditional approaches when there is a technical, tactical problem to solve.
Traditional Leadership
At Cylient, when we say “traditional leadership,” what we mean is when a leader solves a problem by gathering enough information to understand what the issue is, think about how they would solve it if it was their own issue, and then tell the other person what to do. This can work really well if it is a technical or tactical issue, but it doesn’t work well to ignite insight or illuminate possibilities for the other person.
Coaching-Based Leadership
As we’ve discussed in this series, coaching-based leadership approaches are most helpful when working with a people issue—that could be an emotionally-laden issue or an issue where something is limiting someone in some way. Coaching helps illuminate possibilities with intuition and indirect approaches.
Traditional and Coaching-Based Leadership Together
You can weave traditional and coaching-based leadership together at any time. For example, you could be explaining a technical, tactical issue to a team and notice that there are a couple people who look like they disagree. At that point, you would switch to coaching to help identify and resolve the disagreement. Connecting these two leadership approaches together can help address really complex issues that maybe you haven’t seen before.
Reflection Questions
Watch the video to understand how to weave these two approaches together. Then, reflect on these questions:
- When do you use traditional, “direct and correct” approaches to leadership?
- When are you using coaching-based approaches to leadership?
- What situations could you use both approaches more seamlessly together?
Comment below with your reflections, insights, observations or questions, and Dianna will respond to them.
Other Episodes of “How Do I Lead Now?”
Watch other episodes with the links below.
- Episode 1: The difference between traditional leadership approaches and coaching-based leadership
- Episode 2: What kind of leader do I need to be now?
- Episode 3: How to meet people where they are
- Episode 4: How to coach someone through fear
- Episode 5: How to make friends with fear
- Episode 6: Why the questions we ask and answer for ourselves really matter
- Episode 7: Why intentions work better than goals now
- Episode 8: Understanding and appreciating worldviews
- Episode 9: What to say when you don’t know what to say
- Episode 10: Using traditional and coaching-based leadership together
- Episode 11: How to coach people to build confidence
- Episode 12: Discerning patterns as a leadership skill
- Episode 13: How to create change in complex situations
- Episode 14: The problem with perfection
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