Leader? or Coach?
Are You a Leader or a Coach? What's the Difference?
In an excellent article, columnist John Hunt of the Financial Times in London describes the difference between a leader and a coach. Hunt finds a great example of the difference when business leaders take their families on vacation: the qualities that work brilliantly with subordinates are dismal failures with spouse and children. The difference, Hunt says, is that leaders lead by example, "encourag[ing] people to develop through imitation," with a strong emphasis on correcting what's wrong. Coaches, on the other hand, are "developmental, not remedial," with a goal of neither correction nor perfection, but continuous improvement.
Because great entrepreneurial leaders often make poor coaches — and because their subordinates often need to be developed in certain ways to make their greatest contributions, Hunt says, there is an "insatiable demand among managers, from the chief executive on down, for coaching" at all levels of the organization.
See original article.
Other excerpts from the Financial Times article:
"The skills of a leader and coach are very different. The true role of the coach, whether in football or tennis or management, is to transfer skills. Coaches have a long-term commitment to continuous learning in others. Their reward is not self-aggrandizement but to witness potential as it blossoms."
"However, leaders tend to see coaching in a different light. They see it as a short-term fix - a means of correcting failure. … In fact, coaching should be developmental, not remedial."
This does not mean that leaders don't have a keen interest in the development of others, only that the means of development is different: "Effective leaders serve as the exemplar, the role models that other members of the company should copy. Leaders encourage people to develop through imitation. It requires followers to watch and listen."
Our conclusion: Good leaders, then, often have coaches available as well, so that members of their organizations can develop through both channels of learning.