Servant Leadership Coaching Your Superpower
Servant Leadership coaching your superpower means you elevate people-first. It requires a genuine commitment to lead right by helping employees succeed. It demands ethics, integrity, character, and honor in dealing with people. It is hard work to be a Servant Leader. Yet, the benefits are life-changing for you and your team. As Author Ann McGee Cooper declared, “The true heroes of the new millennium will be servant leaders, quietly working out of the spotlight to transform our world.”
One of our clients does business in a tough competitive industry. They had quality and customer service challenges. Our partnership with them included servant leadership training. In addition, we collaborated with them to institute a robust coaching process. This involved over 200 locations and six layers of management. The company’s sales goals required great improvement in employee engagement and customer experience.
As a result, they blew the socks off their goals. Employees and customers alike commented positively on the change of culture. NPS and eNPS numbers soared. Sales results beat the competition. Servant leadership coaching became their superpower.
Servant Leadership Coaching Your Superpower
Servant leadership coaching demonstrates superior results to other leadership and coaching approaches. The effectiveness of any coaching approach depends on the context, goals, and needs of the individuals or teams being coached. And the expertise of the coach.
- Empowerment and Ownership: Servant leadership coaching empowers individuals by involving them in decision-making and problem-solving processes. This approach encourages employees to take ownership of their development, fostering a sense of autonomy and accountability. Traditional coaching may sometimes involve more directive approaches that may not promote as much self-discovery and ownership.
- Long-Term Growth: Servant leaders tend to focus on the long-term growth and well-being of their team members. When applied to coaching, this approach prioritizes not only immediate performance but also the employee’s overall development and future success. Traditional coaching may sometimes be more goal-oriented and transactional.
- Trust and Relationships: Servant leaders prioritize building strong, trust-based relationships with their team members. When applied to coaching, this approach often results in deeper connections and open communication between coach and employees. Traditional coaching tends to be more task-oriented and transactional, with less emphasis on building strong relationships.
- Collaboration and Support: Servant leadership coaching often involves a collaborative, supportive approach where the coach acts as a partner and advocate for the employee’s growth. Traditional coaching may sometimes be seen as more hierarchical, with the coach perceived as an expert or authority figure.
- Employee Engagement: Servant leaders are often associated with higher levels of employee engagement. When applied to coaching, this approach can lead to greater employee initiative and commitment to the coaching process. Traditional coaching may not always foster the same level of engagement.
- Organizational Culture: Servant leadership coaching aligns well with organizations that have a culture of trust, collaboration, and employee development. In such environments, servant leadership coaching may be a more natural fit. Traditional coaching tends to be better suited to organizations with a more hierarchical or results-focused culture.
- Sustainable Change: Servant leadership coaching may be more effective in facilitating lasting behavioral and mindset changes. By focusing on the employee’s values, strengths, and intrinsic motivations, servant leaders can help individuals develop habits and perspectives that endure over time. Traditional focus tends to focus on results this day or month.
The Servant Leadership Coaching Superpower Process
The ideal coaching process is a structured and goal-oriented approach designed to help individuals or teams achieve specific objectives, enhance their skills, and reach their full potential. The coaching process will vary depending on the context and goals. However, great coaching uses a variety of tools to bring out the best in each person. Consequently, the leader coach must be well trained, rehearsed, and committed to achieve outstanding results as identified earlier.
Initial Assessment and Goal Setting:
- The coaching process typically begins with an initial assessment phase. During this phase, the coach and employee (the individual or team being coached) establish a coaching agreement, clarify expectations, and define specific goals and objectives. It is essential that these goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).
Data Gathering and Self-Assessment:
- Coaches often gather data to gain a better understanding of the employee’s strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities for growth. Self-assessment tools, 360-degree feedback, and other assessment methods may be used to provide insights.
Development of Coaching Plan:
- Based on the goals and assessment findings, the coach collaborates with the employee to develop a coaching plan. This plan outlines the strategies, actions, and milestones needed to achieve the desired outcomes.
Coaching Sessions:
- Coaching sessions are at the heart of the coaching process. They are typically one-on-one interactions between the coach and employee, although team coaching sessions are also common. These sessions focus on exploring issues, setting priorities, problem-solving, and providing guidance and support.
- However, an added feature of Servant Leadership involves informal coaching. This means short messages or face to face interactions that reinforce employee goals and performance. Such as, text messages, email messages, phone calls, portal messages, and random personal connections.
Feedback and Reflection:
- Coaches provide regular and constructive feedback to the employee. The employee reflects on their progress, identifies areas for improvement, and considers new perspectives gained through coaching.
Skill Development and Action Planning:
- Coaches assist the employee in developing specific skills or competencies necessary to achieve their goals. Action plans are created to outline concrete steps and timelines for skill development and implementation.
Accountability and Follow-Up:
- Coaches hold the employee accountable for their commitments and actions. They provide ongoing support and encouragement while tracking progress toward the established goals.
Assessment of Progress:
- Periodically, the coach and employee assess progress towards the goals and make any necessary adjustments to the coaching plan. This may involve revising objectives, strategies, or action plans.
Closure and Transition:
- When the employee has achieved their goals or is satisfied with their progress, the coaching relationship comes to a structured closure. The coach and employee review accomplishments, reflect on the coaching journey, and discuss strategies for maintaining growth and development independently.
Post-Coaching Evaluation:
- After the coaching process concludes, it’s valuable to conduct an evaluation to assess the impact of coaching. This can include feedback from the employee, their supervisor, or other stakeholders.
Long-Term Support and Sustainability:
- In some cases, ongoing support or follow-up coaching sessions may be recommended to ensure sustained growth and development.
Confidentiality and Ethical Considerations:
- Throughout the coaching process, confidentiality and ethical guidelines are maintained, ensuring a safe and trusting coaching environment.
- CCL conducts research on leadership development, and their studies emphasize the role of coaching in leadership. They’ve found that coaching improves leadership effectiveness, and leaders who are effective coaches have a positive impact on their teams and organizations.
The ideal servant leadership coaching process is a collaborative journey toward achieving meaningful and measurable results. Plus, personal growth and career success for the employee. For it to work, the servant leader coach must demonstrate a service focus and value. This means a people-first attitude while helping the employee to succeed. When this happens, the manager succeeds. Traditional coaching tends to focus on the company or manager’s goals and their success.
Pulling It All Together
We partnered with a client in digital technology. Their industry faced rapid changes. To keep up with customer needs and competitive pressures they needed their teams to be more productive. After collaborative assessing these challenges, one strategy involved aggressive frontline Servant Leadership coaching at the point of the point of customer contact. The company measured and tracked this.
Furthermore, we executed supportive reinforcement coaching using technology. This meant employees and managers connected in real-time and multiple times through a day. These approaches created a stream of on-going positive interactions and communication. Their eNPS score soared over 90% and the eNPS score exceeded 70%.
Transform your coaching skills from good to great. As Ken Blanchard declared, “In the past a leader was a boss. Today’s leaders must be partners with their people… they no longer can lead solely based on positional power.”
Why not join us on LinkedIn for the Servant Leadership revolution that is taking place about the power of people? Go here: ServantLeadership@RickConlow International. THANK YOU!
Also, click here for excellent insight to transform from a good to great coach, through a complimentary resource called– How Does Servant Leadership Work?
In addition, see our RealTime Learning & Training leadership and personal development website–over 250 resources. Micro-learning and career advancement at your fingertips!
Finally, see Rick’s newest book. The 5 Dynamics of Servant Leadership: How to accelerate your career and inspire your team! See his newest self-directed leadership training: 21 Servant Leadership Training Lessons.
CEO/Founder, Rick Conlow International: RCI transforms managers from good to great coaches and trains them to become Servant Leaders. Clients achieve record-breaking performances in sales growth, customer experience improvement, employee engagement and leadership effectiveness. Furthermore, RCI’s online resources coach and train all managers or employees to higher levels of career success.
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