Coaching, Communication, Difficult Conversations, Fear, Leadership, Leadership Development, Learning & Development, Performance Management, Performance Reviews, Team Management

Why leaders find giving feedback difficult and what to do about it

CommsMasters Insights The prospect of ‘giving feedback’ can make even the most confident of leaders stumble over their words or struggle to articulate what needs to be said. A recent Gallup poll found that 69% of senior managers have difficulty communicating, and 37% find it hard to give negative feedback. [1] In our experience, issues with feedback don’t just arise where a leader needs to communicate what isn’t going well – it can also be hard to tell someone they ...

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Coaching, Communication, Leadership, Leadership Development

Why We Shouldn’t be Developing Leaders as Coaches

 I ran my first coaching skills programme for leaders way back in 1992. At that time the concept of managers coaching was still new, the GROW Model for coaching was a bit ‘out there’ and I recall lively debates around whether or not coaching was a good thing. In the intervening years, coaching has become a flourishing industry and managers are expected to coach peers and bosses as well as team members. Sometimes, they’re even encouraged to coach themselves! But ...

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Coaching, Communication, Leadership

5 Reasons Why Coaching is *Not* a Useful Tool for Leaders

By Heather Campbell >> I ran my first coaching skills programme for leaders way back in 1992 – more than two decades ago! At that time the concept of managers coaching was a bit ‘out there’ and I recall the lively debates around whether or not managers should coach their teams, and why. In the intervening years, coaching has become a burgeoning industry in its own right and managers are nowadays expected to coach peers and bosses as well as direct reports. They’re even ...

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Coaching, Communication, Leadership

4 Occasions When Line Managers Can Use Coaching to Add Most Value

By Heather Campbell >> I recently observed an interaction between a senior line manager and their direct report, also a manager. The latter had asked the senior manager for their opinion about something. This senior manager had recently completed a coaching programme that naturally had emphasised that the coach should avoid being directive or imposing views. The senior manager had taken this message to heart and decided to apply it. As a result, rather than answering what was a direct and reasonable ...

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