Executive coaches can be a great asset for employees who are looking to enhance their communication skills. They can help identify and understand objectives, create plans to reach them, provide feedback and support, and act as a sounding board. Coaching focuses on helping employees come to their own conclusions and reach their goals, rather than just managing tasks and work results. One of the most frequent communication mistakes that leaders make is not adapting their message to the specific audience, according to Chris Westfall, communication coach and author of Leadership Language (Wiley, 2011).
Poor listening skills can also be a major obstacle to effective communication. When leaders of large companies are preparing for a presentation, they often start by finding an existing presentation on the topic, according to Mills. If you're a leader looking to learn practical management skills that use coaching to develop your team, the boss-to-coach strategy manual is a great resource. The coaches at Arden Coaching specialize in helping leaders improve their interpersonal skills.
A recent Harvard Business Review article argues that successful leaders are excellent coaches by analyzing this concept and having leaders act as coaches. While coaching may come more naturally to some leaders than others, there are effective ways everyone can try to hone their training skills and become a more collaborative teammate.
