An effective way to increase employee engagement is to shift to a coaching style of leadership. As individuals. As a team. And as a culture.

Coaching shares many of the principles and behaviours that underpin engagement of employees and teams: collaboration, co-creation, purpose-led goal-setting, decision-making autonomy, self-directed learning. To name but a few.

Look first to weave these into your leadership DNA – making such principles and behaviours part of every leadership moment, one-to-one conversation and team meeting – before jumping to complex and costly-to-implement interventions.

If you want to be more of a coaching leader and would like some thoughts on where you might start …

(i) Begin by leaning-in to the coaching spirit of partnership and collaboration. Coaching is an open conversation between equals. That thought alone will bring a new dimension to your leadership style.

(ii) The coaching ethos stems from a belief in the wholeness, potential and resourcefulness of others. For a moment, drop the belief that you (the leader) are “the expert” who has all the answers. Instead, simply connect.

(iii) Bring a coaching mindset which (among other things, and in addition to the above) requires a far more optimistic view than usual of the hidden potential of others. “Being optimistic” sounds straightforward but is often met with non-conscious resistance.

Want to increase employee engagement?
Become a coaching leader.