Why Coaching is the Way to Go in Team Management

What comes first into your mind when you hear the word “coach”? Do you picture a basketball team with a man/woman shouting out directions? Or perhaps a football team with a person pacing the sidelines and calling out the players' names?

Coaching is no longer reserved for sports teams; it is now one of the key concepts in leadership and management. Why is coaching popular?

Coaching levels the playing field.

Coaching is one of the emotional leadership styles. Moreover, it is a behavior or role that leaders enforce in situational leadership. As a leadership style, coaching is used when the employees of a group or team are competent and motivated but do not have an idea of the long-term goals of an organization. This involves two levels of coaching: team and individual.

Team coaching makes employees work together. In a group of individuals, not everyone may have nor share the same level of competence and commitment to a goal. A group may be a mix of highly competent and moderately competent employees with varying levels of responsibility.

These differences can cause friction among the employees. The coaching leader helps the employees level their expectations. Also, the coaching leader manages differing perspectives so that the common goal succeeds over personal goals and interests.

In a big organization, leaders need to align the staffs’ personal values and goals with that of the organization so that long-term directions can be pursued.