Coaching is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the job for leaders. As someone who is all about helping companies and leaders achieve high performance, it’s exciting to see in Harvard Business Review that employees want more coaching, and organizations want managers to spend more time providing it. 

As a Master Certified Coach and creator of a leadership development app, I’ve seen the powerful benefits of different types of coaching. That’s why we integrated three types into our New Lens® app. Read on to learn about the different forms that coaching can take, and how each one can benefit you and your team.

Individually Working with a Certified Coach 

This is what many people picture when they hear the word coaching. If you are looking for a coach, whether for yourself or for others in your organization, research candidates carefully. Look for a coach who has formal training and certifications. The International Coach Federation advances the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, providing independent certifications and building a network of credentialed coaches. There are three levels of ICF certifications: Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Master Certified Coach (MCC).

I also recommend asking a coach these types of questions before engaging them:

• What is their coaching philosophy and approach?

• What types of clients do they work best with? 

• What kind of results can you expect?

• What examples of success do they have from past clients?

To learn more about our approach, check out the executive coaching page of our website.

While one-on-one coaching delivers powerful benefits, it may not be affordable or accessible to all the employees in an organization who want or need it. New Lens addresses this by providing targeted coaching within the app that focuses on some of the most impactful tools, exercises and strategies to drive high performance. 

Peer Coaching

Even if working one-on-one with a coach isn’t within reach right now, there are other ways you or your team can experience the benefits of coaching. One of those ways is peer coaching. Through our work with client companies that have used New Lens and our other programs, I’ve seen firsthand how effective peer coaching can be.

Peer coaching can take many forms. For example, in the New Lens Program, participants meet monthly with a cohort. The experience is designed to strengthen relationships, create a safe place to share challenges, amplify the power of the content, and promote sharing of best practices. Recent research by Rob Cross shows that peer relationships have a bigger impact on inclusion, advancement, and retention than relationships with managers.

Remember that you can also create your own methods to take advantage of peer coaching — for example, setting up coaching partnerships or small groups.

Peer coaching has its own set of advantages. It’s less expensive than working with an executive coach, so more people in your organization can benefit. Peer coaching is also usually easy to implement. 

Manager Coaching

Of course, your team members also need coaching from you. This can feel difficult sometimes. I don’t have to tell you how busy leaders’ schedules are these days. On top of that, many leaders have not been trained on how to coach effectively.

However, giving your team more coaching is probably easier than you might think. A great first step is looking for coachable moments as they arise during your day. When you identify good opportunities for coaching, remember to practice active listening. Pay attention to what your direct report is really communicating and don’t just wait for your chance to talk. By listening deeply, you can identify questions that can help employees develop their own solutions.

We designed New Lens to facilitate manager coaching. Bimonthly one-on-one meetings between managers and participants are part of the program, and we make it easy by providing a discussion guide for managers to use.

A Powerful (and Free) Event to Share with Your Team

At Newberry Solutions, we’re always looking for new ways we can help you steer your team’s growth and development. That’s why I’m so excited about our upcoming Micro Summit: 4 Core Leadership Strategies for Success. This virtual event is easy to fit into busy schedules. In just a couple of hours, you’ll gain valuable, actionable strategies for success from four incredible business and HR leaders. It all happens 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. CST on Wednesday, October 25. Please join us while we still have open seats. You can register here and share this link with your team members and other colleagues.