Lead Your Team Like Coach Reid

Many Kansas Citians can vividly recall Super Bowl LIV. It’d been 50 years since the city had seen an appearance in the big game and the Chiefs were now staring at a 10 point deficit halfway through the fourth quarter. Over the next six minutes and 32 seconds the hometown team would score three touchdowns, bringing home the Lombardi Trophy with a final score of 31-20. Patrick Mahomes would be named Super Bowl MVP.

It takes high levels of athletic excellence to win two Super Bowl Championships in four years, which is what the Kansas City Chiefs have achieved. It also takes a certain style of leadership by the head coach to allow players to perform at their best. Can you imagine if Head Coach Andy Reid developed every offensive play by himself, he never asked his players for their ideas of how to be successful and he didn’t allow Patrick Mahomes to change the play without getting permission? If Andy Reid were to lead his team that way, chances are Kansas City would still be without a Super Bowl Championship in over 50 years.

To think about Andy Reid not empowering his players and not tapping into their best thinking is unimaginable. In fact, it is unimaginable to think a leader in any organization would lead that way. The reality is, for many leaders and for many years, this has been the default way to lead their teams.

To tackle this subject, it’s important to start with the basic question: what is the role of a manager? In today’s digital age of constant change and limitless information, the needs of employees have dramatically shifted from those of years past. Herminia Ibarra and Anne Scoular discussed this transformation in the Harvard Business Review.

“Previously as a manager, you knew what needed to be done, you taught others how to do it and you elevated their performance… your goal was to direct and develop employees who understood how the business worked and were able to reproduce its previous successes. Not today,” stated Ibarra and Scoular. “Rapid, constant and disruptive change is now the norm, and what succeeded in the past is no longer a guide to what will succeed in the future… the role of the manager, in short, is becoming a coach.”

What does this approach mean for those in charge? According to Ibarra and Scoular, many successful companies are moving away from the “traditional command-and-control practices and toward something very different: a model in which managers give support and guidance rather than instructions and employees learn how to adapt to constantly changing environments in ways that unleash fresh energy, innovation and commitment.”

Leadership Skills as a Coach

To be successful the change has to be believed and carried out from within the company. The help of consultants can be vitally helpful, but it’s temporary and done by outsiders. “[Creating] a true learning organization is ongoing and executed by those [on the] inside,” Ibarra and Scoular acknowledged.

For leaders wanting to further develop their coaching abilities, there are several actions to explore:

• Receive feedback. Receiving feedback from others regarding your leadership style using a “360 assessment” is a critical step. When developing any skill, it is important to have clarity regarding how you are performing today. A 360 assessment allows a leader’s boss, direct reports and peers to provide feedback to clarify which coaching skills are working well and where there is opportunity for improvement.

• Engage a leadership development coach. The coach is able to provide third party feedback to the leader and suggest development activities that target specific coaching skills.

• Complete a leadership coaching certification program. As more leaders have embraced the use of the coaching leadership style, a wide range of coaching certification programs have become available. In-person, virtual and hybrid options are easily accessible These programs not only provide information regarding coaching skills but require leaders to successfully demonstrate the use of those skills.

The Coaching Framework

You’ve decided to take a page from Coach Reid’s playbook. “An effective coach asks questions instead of providing answers, supports employees instead of judging them and facilitates their development instead of dictating what has to be done,” according to Ibarra and Scoular. The goal is to unlock people’s potential to maximize their own performance. It starts with the individual before it becomes an organizational change. When using the coaching leadership style, a typical approach and questions to ask are:

• Understand the current state. What is the challenge you are facing? What is working and what is not working? How would others impacted by this challenge describe the situation?

• Explore the desired state. What does success look like and what do you hope to achieve? What are the obstacles you face in achieving success? What ideas do you have for addressing those obstacles?

• Determine next steps. What ideas do you have to address the obstacles and move forward? Who else can support you? What are you committing to do as a result of this conversation? When should we followup to discuss your progress?

The Payoff

Authors and researchers Dr. Jack Zenger and Dr. Joe Folkman, co-founders of leadership development firm Zenger/Folkman, have compiled data to support the success of leading as a coach. And their work shows employees would like to receive a good deal more coaching from their bosses than they currently do. “In recent years, we have seen an enormous uptick in the use of coaching as a tool for leadership development. It is a skill that every leader needs to possess… the main objective of a good coaching program should be to help an organization become more effective. When coaching is utilized within a company, the following benefits are usually found to occur:

• Improved productivity. Coaching has a great impact on employee productivity, or someone’s willingness to go the “extra mile.” The least effective coaches have less than 15 percent of their direct reports respond positively to the question “Are you willing to go the extra mile?” while top tier coaches have over 45 percent in the affirmative.

• Improved retention. Zenger and Folkman found leaders who are good coaches have fewer employees who think about quitting. More than 60 percent of employees reporting to a manager that is not a good coach are thinking about quitting the company, versus 22 percent reporting to the best coaches.

• Employee development. Zenger and Folkman’s research suggests a strong direct correlation between employees who receive coaching and constructive feedback on their job performance and those who feel they are given ample opportunities to improve their skills within the company. “While [employees] like being told pleasant and positive things, they also recognize that even greater value comes from periodically receiving corrective feedback regarding how they are accomplishing their work, or about things they could begin doing to make an even bigger contribution.” Employees who are constantly developing are constantly adding new ways to build the bottom line of the organization.

• Perceived supervisor effectiveness. Coaching is a mutually beneficial learning process with mutually beneficial outcomes. Professionals who feel they are receiving the necessary coaching respond positively when asked if they feel their immediate supervisor is doing a good job. “The old saying goes that you don’t quit your job- you quit your boss.”

Throughout this process, it is important for the leader to listen and allow the person being coached to speak. It is quite common for the leader to jump into the conversation and provide solutions and problem solve for the person. The coaching leadership style is about empowering others to own their challenge and determine a way forward, not for the leader to take over and do the work. When leaders are successful in using this approach, employees feel empowered and committed to achieving success.