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The No1 challenge for new leaders and how to help them overcome it

When you consider all the challenges that new leaders face, is there one that seems to be more challenging than the rest? It’s the transition from expert to coach that new leaders find the most confounding. Here’s how to help them do it.

As senior HR leaders one could argue it’s in our DNA to inspire and enable the development of leaders within our organisations.  We can tap into our knowledge, years of experience – good and bad – and hopefully supportive networks to find just the right ‘tool’ to support leaders to learn and grow.  But when one considers all the challenges that new leaders face – and there are many – is there one that seems to be more challenging than the rest?  From my experience, I’ve observed that it’s the transition from expert to coach that new leaders find the most confounding.  The essence of this transition is to encourage new leaders to stop giving advice.

Easy to say, hard to do.  At the beginning of their careers, knowing all the answers was what helped them stand out against the rest, it’s a hard wired habit.  Having the answers makes them feel competent, credible and… correct!   Whilst we’re not asking them to stop giving advice to everyone, ever again, we should ask that they consider that when their team members come to them for support and assistance instead of giving them advice they should start being a coach.  As you support them to bring a coaching approach to their leadership here are 3 keys to their success:

  1. Be present with their people

Being present is about being fully tuned in to their people.  It’s not ‘Yeah, I’m listening…” while they frown at their screen and feverishly bang out another email.  Encourage them to be present with their team members with their eyes, ears, heart and mind.

  • Use their eyes – what are they observing/not observing?
  • Use their ears – what are their team members saying/not saying?
  • Use their heart – what might their team members be feeling/not feeling?
  • Use their mind – what might their team members be thinking/not thinking?

Encourage new leaders to set their intention to be fully present prior to their conversations with their teams as well as finding the right time and location.  When you’re talking with them, what do you notice?  Are they drifting off to their laptop, their phone or their thoughts?  If you notice them wandering, bring this to their attention so they can learn from their experience with you, and not repeat this with their team.

  1. Listen intently

It can be tricky to separate the acts of being present and listening; they are interwoven.  New leaders can dramatically increase their chances of listening effectively though when they take the time to be present first.

There are many traps to avoid when listening such as interrupting, making assumptions and not allowing sufficient time for the conversation (also known as the ‘I’m too busy’ trap!).  The most common trap to listening I hear though is the “Yes, but…” trap.  “Yes, but…” shuts down conversations.  A team member approaches a new leader with an idea and they “Yes, but…” them.  Their takeaway: my idea was bad and my leader knows best.  Not much room for learning and growth there, is there?  The antidote?  “Yes, and…”  “Yes, I understand what you’re suggesting and what might be the risks of that approach?”  Using “yes, and…” enables the new leader to acknowledge the contribution from their team member as well as allowing them to offer an alternate view.  Whilst responding “Yes, and…” to something they disagree with may seem counterintuitive at first, after some practice it can elicit excellent results.  If you don’t believe me, try it at home.  Notice what happens.

  1. Ask powerful questions

So they’ve nailed the presence and the listening.  Time for the third element of building their coaching approach – powerful questions.  Time to reacquaint themselves with their inner 3-year old – they ask the best questions.  Encourage them to use open questions – how, what, why – and try to limit their use of closed questions – can you, do you, will you.  Open questions will open up their discussions and keep them flowing, enabling their team members to put forward their own ideas and thoughts.  A great question to add to their kit bag to stretch their team members and encourage them to come up with even more ideas and deeper thinking is ‘And what else?’.

Show them how it’s done.  As you’re mentoring, coaching and supporting them, ask them useful questions.  Just use one at a time, then wait.  Let silence do the heavy lifting for you, don’t fill the space.  They’ll be amazed at what they can come up with when you provide them with a great question and space to come up with a spectacular answer.  And then they can practice this with their people.

As a knowledgeable, skilled and talented HR leader, ensure you model the way.  Taking the time to drop the advice giving and consciously coach your new leaders, will encourage them to follow your lead and through this enhance the way they lead their team.  When we encourage new leaders to stop giving advice we need to be prepared to take our own medicine.  And when we do so we can truly become the leaders we aspire to be.

Anna Marshall is the author of On your marks, get set… LEAD!: A beginner’s guide to people leadership

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