An organisation needs both coaching at workplace and leadership at workplace for attaining success. Leaders tend to be visionaries who determine where their businesses go and coaches get more out of each employee every day.
Leader and coach may seem like they have similar meanings but understanding the differences between a leader vs. coach can help you hone your management style and nurture your employees. You must be feeling curious about how these terms are distinct from each other and what are their corresponding roles in your company's growth.
Before further exploring the differences between a leader and a coach, you should know when leadership and coaching are combined in a complimenting manner, it results in greater productivity and greater success for an organisation. Comprehend the significance of both and utilise them smartly to redefine your company’s growth.
Who is a leader?
A leader inspires action and has a can-do personality. They lead the charge, discipline and hold their team accountable. A good leader creates a vision and goals and shares it with the team. They have the ability to influence their team to work towards the achievement of a common goal.
Who is a coach?
A coach is one that helps professionals improve their skills and performance. The primary role of a coach is to accompany and guide the professional being coached to surpass themself and excel on their own. A good coach empowers a professional or team of professionals to reach a higher level of effectiveness in their skills and performance.
How Important Are Leaders and Coaches for Your Company?
When you compare a coach vs. a leader, you’ll notice several differences in their approaches, interactions with employees and impact on your business growth. Here are some major ways they both mark their necessity in making your organisation thrive.
5 Ways How Leadership at Workplace Defines the Growth of Your Company
Any organisation cannot be imagined without a team and any successful team cannot be imagined without a good leader. Leaders have visions and provide the necessary direction to their team to achieve the organisation’s goals. Leadership in workplace creates a fulfilling environment and drives employee engagement by promoting communication and collaboration among them.
Leadership and strong management are crucial for any company. Here are five major ways leaders help to achieve a company's objectives.
1. Creates a better work environment
Leadership at workplace entails establishing a conducive work environment. They create an atmosphere of trust and respect, which encourages creativity, innovation and collaboration among the team members. A great work environment also boosts employee morale and reduces employee turnover (attrition rate).
2. Improves communication
One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is to facilitate smooth and quick communication among team members because clear and concise communication is key for any team to function properly. Clear communication also forges a work culture where new ideas are welcome, and misunderstandings are effectively avoided. Leaders take focused steps to leverage their workplace communication to accelerate their organisation’s growth.
3. Increases efficiency and productivity
An effective leader yields the most out of their team by ensuring everyone is working towards the same goal and doing what they do best. Leaders guide and provide the necessary direction to make the most of everyone’s time and strengths. Their leadership skills transform their team into a more productive, efficient, and successful team.
4. Decreases mistakes and conflicts
Leadership at workplace boosts employee morale, minimises mistakes and ensures the smooth running of business operations even in high-pressure situations where mistakes can have severe consequences on the outcomes. A leader identifies potential problems and points of conflict early on and takes measures to avoid them or mitigate the impact even if they happen.
5. Motivates employees
A leader knows how to effectively motivate their employees. They take the time to get to know their team members and discover their strengths. Good leaders instil a sense of purpose in their team members by pushing them ahead according to their strengths. Once team members realise their contributions matter, they are more likely to be motivated and willing to put in the hard work to achieve common goals.
5 Ways How Coaching at Workplace Impacts the Growth of Your Company
Coaching enhances performance. You must have observed sports coaches helping athletes increase their performance. Coaching can benefit anyone, not just athletes. It can improve the company ethos, revitalise energy in the workplace and have many more benefits. Let’s take a closer look at five prominent benefits coaches can have for your company.
1. Enhance professional skills
A good coach helps professionals to find skill gaps and fill them with adequate coaching and training programs. Coaching at workplace empowers individuals and encourages them to take responsibility. Employee coaching proves to be an effective tool to improve employee engagement and maximise productivity from your workforce.
2. Encourages teamwork
A good coach helps professionals to master basic soft skills, time management, communication skills, self-confidence and teamwork. These skills ensure smooth coordination and instil a team spirit among individuals at the workplace. Such a mindset converts them into a high-performing team from a random bunch of professionals.
3. Develops high-potential employees
High-potential employees (HIPOs) are those professionals who exhibit the necessary skills for a particular professional management or leadership position. Identifying and developing such employees is essential for ensuring your company’s growth. A good coach helps identify and develop high-potential employees in an organisation.
4. Fosters a positive and ethical behaviour
Ethics deals and differentiates what is right and wrong. It guides the way your employees treat their colleagues and customers. A good coach fosters ethical behaviour in the workplace. Positive work culture boosts productivity, reduces misbehaving, improves employee engagement and decreases turnover.
5. Helps to keep up with the latest tools and trends
Our world is constantly evolving and so, is every industry. Even the best professionals in a field need to adopt the latest tools and trends in their field for long-term survival. Coaching at workplace enables your workforce to keep up with significant developments in your industry, providing you with an edge over your competitors to get ahead of them.
Both leader and coach are vital for your organisation to sustain and grow over time. Their significance goes far beyond the day-to-day operations and direct reports. Foster leadership and coaching harmoniously at your workplace, it will help your employees perform to the best of their abilities and also help your organisation grow.
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Smita D Jain is a Certified Life Coach, Executive Coach and NLP Practitioner. Smita’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Personal Clarity Coaching Programs enable busy professionals unhappy in their jobs to tap into their passions and transform them into professions so that they work because they want to, not because they have to. 'Empower Yourself’ Executive Performance Enhancement Coaching Programs enable mid-career and senior executives to speak with confidence and communicate with impact so that they emerge as leaders sooner than envisaged.
Prior to her journey as a coach, Smita had extensive experience of 14 years as a corporate and business strategy professional with Fortune 500 companies. She is also a TEDx speaker, a speaker at various public forums, a published writer, and an Amazon bestselling author.
You can learn more about Personal Empowerment Life Coach and Certified Executive Coach Smita D Jain’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Coaching Programs by visiting www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com and book a strategy session at https://www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com/booking.
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