One of a leader's most important responsibilities is coaching their employees, though leaders are not always the effective coaches they think they are, according to the Harvard Business Review.
Part of what contributes to this gap between perception and reality is that leaders may not fully understand the definition of coaching. Many leaders consider coaching to be consulting, offering practical solutions to employee problems and micro-managing their daily tasks. However, coaching is helping employees learn on their own and unlocking their top performance potential.
Leaders should begin any coaching interaction by clearly defining what coaching is and how it differs from their other managerial tasks. They should focus on listening, asking questions, assisting with goal setting, showing empathy and letting the coachee arrive at their own solutions instead of offering prescriptive advice.
In one study of managerial coaching ability, managers decreased their initial assessment of their coaching abilities by 28.8 percent from slightly good to slightly poor after receiving training on how to coach. Coaching is a skill that must be taught to organizational leaders to avoid poor practices that can end up hurting more employees than they help.