Five Reasons Why Leadership Coaching Is Beneficial for Employees

There are a vast number of tasks to accomplish in a given day, quarter, or year, and it is easy to keep the corporate blinders on. When leaders fall victim to this, they often forget about the employee growth they are inherently responsible for. See, employees can and will perform whatever tasks you put in front of them. But that could be the most shortsighted approach possible. Instead, consider being a little more engaged and concerned about the future of these employees. Former First Lady of the United States of America, Rosalynn Carter, summarized this idea, “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.”

At first glance, all this may seem like nothing more than another task thrown on top of that high number we mentioned previously. However, if your employees can lead even just themselves, imagine how much lighter your workload would become. If you extrapolate this idea out further, it stands to reason that the more leaders you have, the less you will have to get your hands dirty so to speak. All in all, it appears that leadership coaching is great for your company! Though, there is a flip side to this coin – how leadership coaching benefits the employees currently on your payroll. To get a better handle on these benefits, continue reading. 

1 – A Fresh Work Outlook

A nine-to-five job is about as routine as you can get in the modern world. Five days out of the seven per week are the same. From the time your feet hit the floor, to the tasks on a given workday, down to even your evening meal, there are more than a few similarities across the days. This kind of routine can cause employees to start to view their work with tunnel vision. Thankfully, leadership coaching has a solution to this. 

“Leadership coaching does a lot of things for the people who take it seriously,” said Jesse DeBear, Fractional CMO of Renew Anchored Dentures. “But I can’t say enough about what it does for an employee’s outlook on the average work day. They begin to see the big picture.”

The bigger picture is what leadership is all about. A leader knows not only the specifics of what their company is working towards but also the methods they will use to get there. Conversely, every employee has a role to play. While each of these knows their role, that is where their knowledge stops. They have no information outside of what directly applies to them. The idea behind leadership coaching is to bridge this gap for the employees. 

“Experienced employees know their work inside and out but I’d venture to guess many of them do not know how it affects their coworkers,” said Alex Novak, CEO of SLR. “Leadership coaching allowed me to show my employees how everything they do is interconnected and how they can benefit from this.”

2 – Personal Awareness

How often do you go home at the end of the day and take time to reflect on your actions throughout the day? It is safe to say most of you said rarely, if ever. But, this practice is the sign of a leader. Someone who can analyze their behavior unbiasedly, and make the necessary changes to better lead, is of the utmost value to any company. The good news with this is that through leadership coaching, your employees can gain this skill. 

“Much of the working world is results-oriented, meaning that if there are good results, nothing else matters,” said Dakota McDaniels, Chief Product Officer of Pluto. “But who is to say you can’t improve yourself and your output? I think this process starts with leadership coaching.”

At the same time, hyperawareness is a real thing that some employees struggle with. In this, they overanalyze every minute detail to the point of mental or even physical exhaustion. These employees might be worried about what they said at the meeting earlier or what their coworkers think of them. This is in no way representative of a quality employee. And especially not a leader. But, not everyone has to remain in this state. 

“Leadership coaching helped me put aside my natural tendency to second guess myself,” said Chris Bridges, CEO of VITAL Card. “You can’t begin to imagine what a difference this makes on a day-to-day basis.”

3 – Employee Retention

Like it or not, part of employing quality people involves convincing them to stay with your company. Chances are, if these people are as talented as you view them, other opportunities will come knocking at their door. At this moment in the corporate world, hiring is about as cutthroat as it gets. Every company, big and small, is looking for employees wherever they can find them. To avoid joining these companies in their sometimes desperate pursuit, you might consider introducing leadership coaching for your employees. 

“By letting your employees have the option of participating in leadership coaching you’re showing them you have a vested interest in their professional future,” said Neel Shah, Founder of EZ Newswire. “People will remember this when it comes time to talk about future employment.”

This whole thing is simple really – if you fail to provide your employees the professional opportunities they feel they are due, or their peers are receiving elsewhere, they will soon pack up their cubicles. From the employee’s perspective, their job is about more than the paycheck. They are trying to advance their career. While employing them certainly helps in this regard, your employees are well aware it is not all you can do for them.

“I’ve had employees tell me they were disappointed with what my company had to offer them in terms of extracurricular opportunities for career education for advancement,” said Bryan Jones, CEO of Truckbase. “To me, this means our companies should become somewhat like resource centers for this kind of stuff.”

4 – A Healthier Work Environment 

A lot of pomp and circumstance is paid to the idea of company culture. No matter where you have worked, you have heard more than a few people talk about this in detail over and over again. All the references your previous bosses made to what the company believes in and prioritizes are examples of this. The ever-present corporate mission statement is an example of this as well. But examples can only take you so far if your employees do not take these items as truth. This is where leadership coaching comes in. 

“I like to think leadership coaching broadens the perspectives of any employee who takes it seriously,” said Brittany Dolin, Co-Founder of Pocketbook Agency. “Another way to think of this is that the work it takes to become a leader pulls you outside yourself to see what others need to be successful.”

There are more possibilities at play here than you may realize. Once your employees make employee coaching their own, your company culture will begin to take a new shape. One formed by the people who work in and around this culture daily. Seeing as these are the people directly affected by your company culture, it seems logical to have them be the creators of it is best for everyone involved. 

“After my employees went through leadership coaching I could feel a noticeable change in the overall environment of the office,” said Marilyn Zubak, Marketing Lead of Snif. “Everyone just seemed more in sync.”

5. A Brighter Future

With all the aspects to consider regarding even a single corporate position, it is no wonder employees often become more like dogs paddling water than anything else. The endless list of tasks required of them is partially responsible for this. So too is the high number of emails and other digital communications. Of course, do not forget about all those meetings. From top to bottom there are a large number of responsibilities. Thankfully, leadership coaching can help with this. 

“Leaders do not randomly appear out of thin air to help companies in their moment of need,” said Karim Hachem, VP of eCommerce at Maxine of Hollywood. “Leaders are made and corporate coaching of this can make it happen.”

Whether you want to think about it or not, every company has a future. You will never be able to perfectly predict it. But you can know without a shadow of a doubt that the wheels of time will continue to turn. It almost goes without saying but you want your success to remain as these proverbial wheels turn. Leadership coaching for your employees will make this outcome more likely.

“Employees are worried about today and leaders are worried about a week from now,” said Justin Olson, Chief Marketing Officer at Fast Pace Health. “To change this thought pattern, you might want to give employees the chance to learn from leaders in a non-work setting.”

Managing a business may seem to yank your attention in every which way. So, adding one more variable in the form of leadership coaching may not be what you are looking for at the moment. However, before you write the whole thing off, consider the words of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, “As we look ahead to the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”