Leadership Development Coaching

Imagine leaders who can pivot confidently in the face of uncertainty, who inspire their teams with a sense of purpose, and who drive organizational growth with a balanced blend of strategy and empathy. Such leaders aren’t born; they are developed—nurtured through deliberate, targeted coaching that builds both skills and mindset.

Leadership development is no longer just about learning management techniques. It’s about cultivating agility, emotional intelligence, and a growth mindset. Dive into how leadership coaching turns good managers into great leaders, capable of navigating today’s complex, ever-evolving business landscape. Discover the real impact of leadership development coaching and why it’s the key to unlocking potential at every level of your organization.

The difference between leader development and leadership development

First, let’s start by being clear about the difference between “leader development” and “leadership development.” Leader development is an integral part of leadership development. Close in name, different in application. Leadership development focuses on the external management of teams while leader development focuses on the internal and personal development of the individual leader. It focuses on challenging the internal mechanisms that allow people to become the best leaders they can be.

In the words of John Maxwell, a well renowned leadership expert, “your capacity to grow as a leader determines your capacity to lead.” Leader development is when you focus on your personal growth as a leader in order to lead others effectively. In this inward-facing journey, a leader can be challenged to think critically about their levels of:

• Self-awareness 
• Leadership style
• Emotional intelligence
• And so much more.

In addition to these basic personal development skills, the leader will also have to develop other leadership and people skills to inspire and motivate individuals to achieve results. In a study conducted by CCL on leadership development programs, they discovered that 99% of the participants surveyed achieved success on their target goals related to leader development skills  such as:

• Communication
• Self-awareness 
• Implementing change

These are skills leaders need to organize and motivate people to reach a shared goal. Good leaders also have strong interpersonal and communication skills. All of these skills can help build strong teams within a business and ensure projects and organizational goals are achieved.

Developing interpersonal skills is leadership imperative

Many senior leaders identify interpersonal skills such as empathy, collaboration, and emotional intelligence as their most significant challenges, even after receiving training in these areas. According to Vanderbilt University’s research, empathy is a foundational skill for effective leadership, crucial for building trust, enhancing team dynamics, and inspiring others. Senior leaders often struggle with these skills because they require understanding and responding to others’ needs, which can be difficult to master without practical experience.

Coaching helps leaders develop these skills by providing a real-life model. Coaches demonstrate empathy, active listening, a growth mindset, and effective communication during sessions, allowing leaders to experience these behaviors firsthand. This approach enables leaders to practice and internalize these skills, making it easier to apply them in their interactions with team members, thereby fostering a more collaborative and supportive workplace environment.

Why is it important to focus on leader development?

When a business commits to developing leaders, it can expect to gain a significant competitive advantage by:

• Improving the bottom line financial performance
• Attracting, developing & retaining talent
• Driving strategy execution
• Increasing success when navigating change.

These are compelling reasons to prioritize leadership growth, as developing leaders directly impacts the business’s bottom line. Investing in leadership development ensures that your leaders are well-equipped to execute strategy effectively, aligning their skills with the organization’s goals.

Moreover, leadership development prepares your leaders to navigate the VUCA environment—marked by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. In today’s rapidly changing world, leaders must be ready to respond to unpredictable shifts, make decisions with limited information, manage complex interdependencies, and address ambiguous situations where cause and effect are unclear. Strengthening these leadership abilities helps your entire organization remain agile and resilient amidst evolving challenges.

Coaching influence leadership development

When personal or executive coaching emerged in the workplace in the late 80s and early 90s, managers were asked to manage the performance and satisfaction of their team members. Management training emphasized communication, interpersonal skills and coaching style. There was little professional coaching since coaching was almost always for the C-suite and coaches were only seen as a sounding board for top executives.

Below the executive leadership, many did use coaching for performance improvement; some saw it as soft and fluffy talking while others likened it to the high performance coaching in sports so it became a status symbol for talent and high potentials. The third generation of coaching research by Grant positions coaching not only for executives, but rather for all levels of careers as well as managers across the leadership spectrum. Coaching can influence leader development and support leaders post their training and development to help transfer knowledge and embed leadership skills.

De Rue and Myers, 2014, recommend that organizations should include coaching in their list of key elements of leadership development architecture that influences the leadership development process. A review of leaders coaching research concluded that a leadership coaching program has a positive effect on overall organizational outcomes e.g profitability and more specific outcomes such as leaders skills development and emotional status.

“Coaching potentially offers a higher level of psychological safety than other leadership development practices” -De Rue and Myers

Because coaching supports the development of the skills leaders need, it also supports leadership development as a process. Other leadership practices may offer leaders knowledge and skills that they need to lead; however, coaching offers a higher level of psychological safety for leaders and creates a “thinking environment” where they can be vulnerable and reflect on their development without judgment.

When organizations commission coaching for leadership development they often ask how coaching can support their leaders on different levels of learning. There are 3 levels of learning that coaching can support leaders’ development according to executive coaching research .  The common request from organizations is around embedding leadership capabilities that align to their values or leadership competencies.

The three levels of learning

In the Executive coaching handbook edit by Ennis and Otto, 2015,  they identified three levels of how executive coaching contributes to how leaders learn in coaching.  The three levels are tactical problem solving, developing leadership capabilities and learning how to learn. We will expound on these three levels of learning to further discuss how coaching can support leadership development:

1. Tactical problem solving action

Strategy is the action plan that takes the organization where it wants to go. Tactics are the individual steps and actions that will get the organization there. Tactical problem solving is the specific action teams take to implement the initiatives outlined in the strategy. Tactics are tied to the strategy. Using the goal-setting framework, coaching helps leaders to connect short-term tactics to long-term vision.

When leaders are coached they learn how to formulate goals which create actionable and time-bound tactics because leadership coaches often use the SMART goal methodology to help leaders formulate these goals.  When leaders go through coaching, they are able to learn how to develop their tactical problem solving muscle as they formulate and implement action steps in between coaching sessions. This is a critical skill that enables leaders to cascade strategic organizational goals to team action plans.

How do leaders learn tactical problem solving through coaching?

During the coaching session, the leadership coach acts as a sounding board to allow the leader to reflect, process and shift their perspective on different coaching goals. This process helps the coachee to problem solve as the leadership coach holds their thinking space. The leader not only processes their challenges but also formulates action steps they will implement on the job after the coaching session. Microlearning in between coaching sessions also empowers leaders to implement what they have discussed in coaching sessions. This could be in the form of videos, articles, and/or books to read. As leaders apply these activities, they are learning to apply what they learned on the job or in real life situations.

2. Developing leadership capabilities

There are four key elements often used by organizations to develop leadership capabilities and to help leaders embed the organizational values leadership style: leadership style, leadership skills,  leadership behaviors, and capabilities. Let’s first define these areas in relation to leadership capabilities:

• Leadership style refers to the overall way in which a person guides a group of followers.
• Leadership skills are specific abilities that a person uses in different scenarios when exercising his/her leadership style.
• Leadership behavior is the traits and actions that make an individual effective as a leader. This behavior is the process by which a person can guide, direct and influence the work of others to meet specific goals.
• Leadership capabilities can be defined as new ways of thinking and acting that generalize to other situations and roles.

These actions and strategies can be learned to increase the effectiveness of those around them. As leaders are coached, they learn how to shift their perspective and develop new ways of thinking and acting that encompasses the other aspects of leadership.

3. Learning how to learn

The third level is an important and sometimes overlooked goal of coaching. The aim of this level of learning is to prevent leaders’ long-term dependency on the coach and to teach habits of learning and self-reflection that will last a lifetime. This enables the leader to keep developing.

Knowles, 1984 theory of andragogy confirms the link between coaching and adult learning theory. Knowles discussed six characteristics of adult learning that are thought to influence how they approach it. One of the characteristics of natural affinity with coaching principles is the need to know. Adults need to relate the content of their learning to real problems before undertaking to learn. They need to recognize the need for learning.

How do leaders learn to learn through coaching?

Cox, Bachkirova, and Clutterbuck (2014) argue that coaching aligns closely with the principles of adult learning, particularly because it appeals to adults’ self-concept as independent learners. One of the core principles of andragogy, the theory of adult learning, is that adults need to feel a sense of autonomy and control over their learning journey. In the context of coaching, this is achieved by allowing the coachee to own the agenda. The coachee determines the focus of each session, chooses the goals they want to pursue, and decides the pace of learning. This approach not only respects their need for independence but also makes the learning experience highly relevant and personalized.

By placing the learner at the center, coaching supports another key aspect of adult learning: the need for relevance and immediate application. According to Knowles’ theory, adults are motivated to learn when they can see how new knowledge and skills will help them solve real-life problems or achieve specific goals. Coaching inherently meets this need by encouraging adults to reflect on their experiences, identify challenges, and develop practical strategies to address them. This reflective process enables leaders to build competencies that are directly applicable to their roles, fostering continuous development and growth.

This alignment with adult learning principles makes coaching a powerful tool for leadership development. It creates a safe and supportive environment where individuals can explore their thoughts and feelings, gain self-awareness, and experiment with new behaviors. As such, coaching not only enhances specific skills but also cultivates a mindset of lifelong learning and adaptability, which are crucial in today’s dynamic work environment.

Conclusion

Incorporating leadership coaching programs contributes significantly to leader development, helping leaders build critical people skills and fostering a culture of continuous learning. Organizations can benefit by making coaching accessible across the leadership spectrum, as it is key to scaling development and creating new capabilities. Jennifer Fickeler aptly said, “think of coaching as the glue in the leadership development process.” If you want your organization to thrive with sustainable behavior change, it’s time to make coaching a priority.

Start transforming your leaders today—explore our leadership coaching programs and see the difference it can make.

Reference: 

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2. Maxwell, JC, (2018) Developing leader within you. 2.0. Haper Collins
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