I recently read an article on LinkedIn from Jude Fairweather of Henley Business School called “Leader as Team Coach…?“, posing the question: “Is it possible for the leader of a team to be an effective Team Coach of that team?”
The article is an excellent and provocative read, so I then reached out and we had a wonderful video call to talk through the topic. Cutting to the chase, we both agreed that yes, it is possible.
Some core elements of my take on this in talking it through with Jude are that it is not only possible but also highly valuable to organisations in our rapidly changing world, one that I remain convinced needs #OpenLeadership at the heart of all organisations. As you can see from the model above and the related core article, being an open leader includes modelling and being the attributes of being open and humble, so knowing that you don’t have all the answers, whilst also being open to asking questions of your team in a supportive way in the knowledge that they, that the organisation itself has the answers. As I often say to CEOs, “The role of a CEO is no longer to have all the answers, but instead to ask questions of your organisation”.
Our conversation was rich indeed, plus we also had related experiences as a) we both worked for decades in business before moving into coaching many years ago (so we can see it from both sides), plus b) we both have many years of experience working in Canada and now live in the UK.
This is indeed a rich topic, so I suggested to Jude that Henley Business School create an event for business leaders and coaches (as well as some academics in related fields) to come together for a day or two to have conversations on this and see what emerges. I’d love to be a part of that conversation!