Which type of Coaching?
Coaching, when executed well, is incredibly powerful. It has the power to transform lives with ripple effects expanding out into whole organisations and communities. Where school and education leaders are concerned the reaches go far beyond professional growth. Lets take a look -
Personal and Professional Growth:
Coaching provides a dedicated space to reflect on strengths, areas for development, challenges, goals and next steps.
A skilled coach can prompt leaders in considering an array of perspectives to enhance their capabilities and capacities.
Coaches can facilitate leaders in developing skills such as strategic thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, conflict resolution, and team building by prompting different stances, angles of consideration, in-depth review and having a broader take.
Coaching relationships can be mirrored across an organisation between different roles and across peers.
There are a core set of common principles that sit at the heart of coaching processes which include collaboration and accountability, raising awareness, responsibility, commitment, action planning and action (Grant, Curtayne & Burton, 2009). However, coaching can be approached in a number of ways. Within education the general approach tends to be instructional, but there are other dimensions to coaching for individual, team and systemic reasons that can reap very different results. To shed more light on this, coaching approaches fit into one of the following categories:
Instructional coaching: the coach provides feedback and works on improving specific areas of practice. It is typically a directive approach and can clash with the principles of coaching if too directive.
Peer coaching: focuses on mutual support and collaborative growth. It is a low stakes approach where people can reflect and learn together.
Solution-focused coaching: this is generally a strengths-based conversation, focusing on what the individual can do within their power to overcome a particular block or a barrier. This is often used to create an empowering culture encouraging others to take the initiative.
Developmental coaching: conversations are structured in a way that prompts individuals to unpack their decisions and internal processes, to expand their thinking and not just their skills. Skilled questioning is a key component here.
Transformational coaching: this is a deeply reflective form of coaching aimed at developing high competence in self-awareness and emotional intelligence, identifying the source of existing mindset enabling professionals to empower effective and sustainable change for themselves, communities and systems.
The Glass House Leadership Lab takes a transformational approach to coaching. We have found that this dynamic approach to coaching can be of particular significance when:
Leading in complexity: transformational coaching enables you to hold multiple perspectives and factors in your mind so that you can prioritise and strategically navigate change internally and externally.
Understanding the experiences behind your leadership approach: identifying your values and beliefs and the source of them. This is essential if you are truly understanding how they influence your leadership behaviours and decision making, giving you the framework to make sense of your professional identity and the areas for development.
Common frameworks provide common language within your team to be able to share what is often the cause of both tension and innovation, enabling you to integrate the team and reframe bias into strengths.
Support during transitions and change; where leaders are adapting to new roles, navigating challenges and leading through change – ensuring smooth successions and continuity of leadership.
Organisational growth: achieving growth sustainably is a serious challenge, investing in leadership coaching supports with the dynamic changes that occur as an organisation expands and allows you to consider multiple stakeholders and phases of organisational maturity when designing and implementing strategic change.
Deliberately developmental culture: transformational coaching promotes a culture of continuous improvement because the leader has unique insight into colleagues and is able to align their capabilities with their role and distribute highly effectively.
What does this look like in schools and school groups?
Refining visionary leadership: Coaches work with educational leaders to clarify their vision for the school, align it with the needs of the community and stakeholders, and inspire others to share and commit to that vision and purpose. They encourage leaders to think beyond the status quo, embrace innovation, and create a compelling future for the school and community surrounding it. They become purpose driven and living their values.
Growth: Coaches help individuals identify their strengths, values, and aspirations, and support them in setting meaningful goals and creating action plans. They then help individuals to unlock their potential in moving forward with their goals and overcoming any obstacles as the leader becomes aware that change is both inevitable and an opportunity rather than feared and suppressed.
Building Strong Relationships and collaborating: Coaches assist leaders in developing effective communication skills, active listening, and compassion. Leaders can use their coaching sessions to explore their decision-making processes, how they approach seeking diverse perspectives and create a sense of ownership with their staff. This enhances trust, engagement and collective momentum.
Values-Based Leadership: Transformational coaching emphasizes values-based leadership. Coaches help leaders identify and articulate their core values and align them with the values of the school community. The begin to take a pluralistic approach because they can identify the power of diversity in the values of others and what each person brings as their ‘value add’.
Continuous Learning and Reflection: Transformational coaching encourages a culture of continuous learning and reflection. Coaches promote self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-assessment among leaders and educators. They support leaders in seeking feedback, reflecting on their practice, and identifying areas for growth, nuancing this with the language that aligns to the individual lens.
Sustainable Change and Impact: Last but most definitely not least - Transformational coaching aims to create sustainable change and long-term impact in schools. Coaches help leaders develop and implement strategies for change – from the initial planning to the review. This is because the coaching can tune the physiological, emotional and psychological energy to avoid burnout and thrive in their role.
By embodying these characteristics, transformational coaching in schools can inspire and empower educational leaders to create positive change, nurture a culture of growth and collaboration, and ultimately enhance student learning and well-being.
It is worth remembering that coaching is not always for individuals, but for teams and, whole organisations. Individual coaching and team coaching serve different purposes and offer unique benefits.
Individual Coaching:
Centered around the needs, goals, and growth of an individual. It provides a safe, dedicated and highly personalised space for personal reflection, skill development, and addressing specific challenges. As such a promotes self-awareness and self-discovery. Individuals can gain clarity on their personal values, their strengths and areas for improvement. Individual coaching holds individuals accountable for their goals and commitments. Coaches help individuals set clear objectives, develop action plans, and provide ongoing support and encouragement to ensure progress and achievement.
Team Coaching:
Focuses on the growth and effectiveness of a group of individuals working together as a team. It aims to improve collaboration, communication, and overall team performance. This process helps align team members around a shared purpose, vision, and goals. It fosters a sense of synergy, where team members leverage their diverse strengths and skills to achieve collective success. It further provides a platform for addressing conflicts and challenges within the team; through coach facilitated dialogue where necessary.
So how do you know which style of coaching you need? Different styles will be appropriate at different times depending on your personal situation, your organisation’s situation and the surrounding context. What is key however, regardless of coaching approach, is finding a coach that you connect with and who has the skill and nuance to adapt according to your needs and goals. Is not afraid to challenge you, but is sensitive in doing so.
Decision guiding flow chart for different coaching approaches.
If you are interested in exploring coaching options at The Glass House Leadership Lab and how you and your organisation can benefit please book a free introductory call or contact us at info@glasshouselab.com. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to keep in touch.