Leadership coaching helps leaders build and maintain strong relationships, allowing them to be more effective as a leader. It helps them identify their strengths, fine-tune a growth mindset, and perform at their best in any situation.

Leadership coaching also helps them become more self-aware, improve their ability to communicate, and create a positive work culture.

1. Empathy

Empathy is a natural human response that allows you to understand other people's emotions. It's different from sympathy, which is when you feel the same feelings as another person, and compassion, which is doing something good for someone else. Developing empathy skills is an important part of leadership coaching. Empathy is a critical factor in business success because it helps you connect with your team and create a positive work environment. It also encourages diverse perspectives and creativity, which can lead to new ideas that could propel the company forward.

Leadership coaching by leaders who are empathetic have the ability to listen without judgment and provide a safe space for honest conversations. They can see situations from multiple viewpoints and shift their focus to what's most important for each individual employee. This also allows them to be open and honest with their team members, fostering trust.

When you're an empathetic leader, you'll be able to recognize your team members' accomplishments and understand their frustrations. This will make your employees feel valued and appreciated, which in turn leads to higher job satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity.

Being a leader is challenging, especially during difficult times like the pandemic. Having a coach to guide you through the complexities of managing a team is essential. A good coach will teach you how to balance empathy with the big decisions that are required when running a company.

2. Self-regulation

The ability to regulate one’s emotions is a critical component of emotional intelligence. This includes attentional control (the ability to focus on a task and filter out distractions), emotion regulation (the ability to reduce negative emotions and increase positive ones), impulse control (the ability to resist acting on impulsive urges), and goal setting and pursuit (the ability to set and achieve goals).

When a leader can’t self-regulate, it can interfere with their ability to maintain stable relationships with employees and colleagues. A coach can help a leader develop skills that allow them to step back from a situation and take some time before responding. This allows them to calm down and re-engage in a productive conversation.

For example, if a senior member of an organization gets frustrated with their junior but more tech-savvy assistant, it may be difficult for them to regulate their own emotional responses. They may think the assistant is taking their job away or feel threatened by the new technology. A coaching session can teach them to take a deep breath and identify some of the triggers that are causing these feelings, so they can avoid them in the future.

The importance of self-regulation can’t be overstated, both for children and adults. Research has shown that kids who learn to self-regulate are more likely to succeed academically, stay out of trouble and meet their long-term goals as adults.

3. Communication

A leader’s communication skills are the cornerstone of effective leadership. They provide a clear flow of information to clarify goals and establish responsibilities, as well as to share feedback with employees. Without this capability, leaders are unable to create an environment that promotes trust and openness to all.

Strong communication also includes the ability to listen attentively and ask powerful questions that allow people to air their concerns, and it includes conveying a sense of sincerity and authenticity. Leaders should be able to explain complex concepts in ways that are accessible and relatable, and they should be willing to take the time to communicate with employees in one-on-one sessions to provide guidance and feedback tailored to each individual.

It’s important to recognize that communication isn’t just verbal—even nonverbal cues can reveal a great deal about someone’s attitude and motivation. Leaders need to learn how to read their own body language and to identify patterns of behavior, thoughts, and emotions that may be masking a more negative or positive message.

For example, do you find yourself speaking in a monotone when meeting with your team? Or do you often resort to power poses and dominant body language that can be perceived as insecure or arrogant? Learning to recognize these habits and addressing them with your coach is an important part of the leadership coaching process.

4. Listening

The ability to listen well is one of the most important leadership skills and a key tenet of coaching. Leaders must be able to engage in active listening to understand their employees and the challenges they face. This includes eliminating distractions, maintaining eye contact, and nodding and verbal cues of engagement. It also involves putting aside personal agendas, assumptions, and a "been there/done that" mindset to allow employees to express their concerns openly.

During the conversation, it is vital to ask questions that encourage reflection. For example, ask “What are you hearing?” or "How is that working for you?" Those types of questions help leaders to better understand the employee and their perspective. They can then use their expertise and experience to help them problem-solve or identify new approaches.

It's important to be aware of your own biases and opinions as a coach and to be willing to challenge them. You might notice that you are leaning toward a certain solution or conclusion, or that your questions are biased in favor of one view over another. Be prepared to address those issues and work with your employee to develop more effective ways of communicating. In the post-COVID world, leadership coaching will become increasingly valuable to organizations who value their people and want to ensure that they are getting the best results from their teams.