The 4 Core Coaching Competencies

What are the core coaching competencies and why are they important?

In most workplaces nowadays, coaching techniques to improve as a leader is a crucial part of company training. But why is it so important? As we all know, leadership is the heartbeat of an organisation. If you want your business to grow and be better, it is essential that you invest in your leaders.

Coaching is the process of guiding people to improved performance and to help them grow from where they are to where they want to be. Leaders need to coach their team and at the same time leaders also need to be coached so they can improve their competence in leading a team.

Core Coaching Competencies recognise leaders in an organisation to build a shift from a command and control strategy to a responsible coaching learning. The next question is how to improve to be competent and effective as a leader?

Here are four steps that can help you to improve your core coaching competencies:

1. Build relationships with your team – getting the buy-in of each member in your team is important in leadership. This means that you can gain their trust and thus, the relationship between a leader and a team member is developed. Creating positive professional connections strengthens trust between each team member and the leader. It promotes a positive work environment. To start building relationships, you may begin with being open to their concerns. Listen actively. Making your team member feel that they are heard can help build a positive relationship. Another way to build a relationship is by being accountable for your actions. It builds trust. Your team members will recognise that you can accept accountability with each action or decision made.
2. Practice making decisions – whenever you need to make a decision make sure that you were able to fully analyse the situation, recognising the impact of your decision on the organisation, and predicting the outcome. Start assessing the importance of each decision made. Consider the pros and cons by analysing all possible options and having a clear knowledge of the impact on your team.
3. Strengthen your conflict management skills – each team member has different personalities which may cause disagreements and conflicts. Being the leader of the team, knowing conflict management will enable you to foster teamwork and collaboration. A leader should start by knowing what the root of the conflict is and then actively listening to each team member involved. Emotional intelligence to arbitrate a discussion or solve a disagreement is a required skill to develop conflict resolution.
4. Develop delegation skills – Knowing the abilities of each member of your team would enable you to assign a task easily. When you delegate, you make your team member feel that they can be trusted with the task and they are capable of doing it. Practice appreciating their contributions. Be adaptable because each member and tasks are different. Make sure that you are willing to make necessary changes if needed. Ask your team members how they can grow and to learn more about being effective in their tasks.

Being a competent leader is the first step to leading a successful team in your organisation. These core coaching competencies is your way of becoming an effective leader is just one message away. Want to learn more about these skills? Contact us.