Lead Like a Coach
How to get the most out of any team
by Dr Karen Morley
What leadership approach do you take? Do you command and control or have a more inclusive style?
There have been many approaches to leadership over the years, from command and control to more inclusive styles. Some leaders micro-manage, others are quick to delegate. Whether you are a new or a senior leader, how you manage your team has a direct impact on engagement and productivity.
Leaders who coach can double their engagement score. Even more importantly in today’s technology-driven, fast-paced world, they can lighten their load and reduce the pressure on themselves.
Coaching is all about refocusing how you engage with your team. Leaders who coach:
- Focus on the team and on developing the members of the team
- Trust their team and delegate, but are still there to offer support
- Encourage and applaud
- Listen to their team’s challenges and encourage them to find solutions
- Ask coaching questions
- Develop next-gen leaders who pay the coaching approach forward.
Lead Like a Coach is for leaders who care about the people they lead; care about their own success; and want to make a positive impact on their stakeholders, their families and their communities. It is packed with practical strategies and case studies making it easy for anyone to start to lead like a coach.
What leaders are saying about Lead like a coach:
Having been lucky enough to benefit from executive coaching from Karen a few years ago, I was very keen to read her new book. For me personally her “Lead like a Coach” was perfect timing. With my team now being all senior managers who each have their own teams, and increasing work demands and strategic initiatives, I very much needed to focus on and continue to grow my coaching skills.
Letting go of helping drive “the play” and instead “sitting in the coach’s box” is definitely not easy. Not only does Karen’s book help you be a better coach, it also helps to make that coaches’ hat feel more comfortable. As always Karen coaches you through the steps with great insight and real case studies. All you have to do is to trust in her and commit to making the changes – the benefits will always follow! I hope you enjoy and get as much out of this book as I did.
Paul Axup, Group Financial Controller, Aurecon
Building the capability of an organisation or team requires leaders who can bring out the best in individuals. Lead Like a Coach offers powerful practical advice, based on compelling evidence, on how to lift your game for the benefit of the people you lead.
Of particular interest was the section on “asking Coaching questions” compelling your team members to find solutions rather than being directed. It is too easy to give the answer. More difficult is to ask a series of questions which enables the individual, and indeed your company, to benefit from the exploration of options and ownership in the conclusion.
The other hidden benefit to leading like a coach is the gift of time. Moving from solving problems directly to building capability in your team, by utilising effective coaching techniques, requires an investment of attentive, content rich time. A highly valued present.
Irrespective of where you are in your career or how well you currently manage your team, Karen Morley offers all leaders an opportunity to revisit or hone their coaching skills for the mutual benefit of all parties. The content of Karen’s book so impressed me that I have ordered copies for every leader of people in my Division.
Phil Turnbull, Executive General Manager, RACV
Dr Charmaine Gittleson, Chief Medical Officer, CSL Behring
Consultative leadership is needed worldwide! Some people have the leadership skillset, some don’t. The intuitive, practical & relevant case studies provided in Karen’s book ‘Lead like a Coach’ encourage & enthuse all to be Coach as required.
Paul Menzies, Chair – Advisory Board, SimPPLY
Today, as organisations strive to provide ‘more with less’, discretionary effort from team members is becoming an increasingly important asset. Those organisations with leaders who can build high levels of trust within their respective teams, have a very real advantage in terms of both engagement and, as a consequence, performance. Drawing on Karen’s wealth of experience in this area, ‘Lead like a Coach’ provides some very practical and easy to understand advice which all leaders, irrespective of their existing approach, will find very useful in bringing out the best in a team.
Michael Howard, Chief Financial Officer, Officeworks
Media and articles on Lead Like a Coach
Extra resources mentioned in the book
Your Learning Scorecard
Open Questions Guide
Videos mentioned in the book
Lead Like a Coach
How to get the most out of any team
by Dr Karen Morley
Lead Like a Coach is for leaders who care about the people they lead; care about their own success; and want to make a positive impact on their stakeholders, their families and their communities. It is packed with practical strategies and case studies making it easy for anyone to start to lead like a coach.
“a well written and considered book that brings to life the practical insights and examples of how even an experienced leader can better connect, engage, and bring teams on the journey to unlock their potential.”Michael Schneider, MD, Bunnings
Brand New Lead Like A Coach Intensive Program Open For Enrolment – Find Out More.