Drive Growth through collective intelligence

Leaders need to be as vigorous as never before. However, for many companies the problem remains one of developing courageous, accountable leaders. Often individual, executive coaching is used to develop leaders. Though this is arguably one of the most tailored and possibly effective ways to address leaders’ blind spots, companies more and more opt for leadership group coaching.

This is an interactive method of leadership development based on shared experiences, multiple viewpoints and mutual accountability. In this blog I focus on the benefits of engaging with leadership development groups, and how these can significantly enhance organisational leadership capacity – taking good quality leaders from being effective enough to outstanding.

The Increasing Need for Leadership

“People want to know that someone is in charge and has a plan” – Justin Wright

Our newly co-created digital AI world fosters a fast-paced environment, where effective leadership becomes the most significant factor of success for organizations. A study by the Center for Creative Leadership found 71% percent of companies saw “developing transformational leaders” as the top issue in their business. But 63% saying leadership development efforts are not effective. It’s evident that traditional methods are inadequate on their own, and that’s where cohort learning, collective learning, and leadership circles come in.

This blog will focus on the value of group coaching in creating great leaders and achieving tangible success for both individuals and organisations.

The Cost of Poor Leadership

Failure to take leadership development seriously will result in a range of organisation wide problems. A leadership vacuum can have the following effects:

• Loss of Engagement: When leadership is poor, employees are quick to disengage, as they get discouraged from giving their best.
• Superior Employee Retention: Bad leadership has been associated with increased turnover, as the A players leave for greener pastures.
• Innovation Stymied – Uninspired leadership and creativity tank; conditions which increases the vulnerability to competition in the marketplace.
• Poor Team Dynamics: When leadership is not cohesive, it encourages the emergence of skepticism and fissures on teams resulting in less team collaboration.

The importance of understanding these impacts highlights the need to invest in effective leadership development such as group coaching. 

Five Steps to Enable Leadership Group Coaching

Step 1: Accept Different Viewpoints

One of the key benefits to leadership group coaching is the added layer of different contexts. When leaders participate in a cohort, each person comes with his or her own past, skills and challenges.

It expands perspectives and enables leaders to see the world from others’ point of view. To take advantage of this diversity, HR people can establish structured environments for open discussion and active listening. Introduce ‘story-sharing sessions’ where the leaders share their journeys and learn from each other.

Step 2: Accountability Through Peer Support

Group coaching requires high degree of accountability. By having leaders together in a group context, we are able to develop common goals that keep us accountable and focused.

Leaders are more likely to stay the course around personal and professional goals when encouraged to check-in often and report progress. This doesn’t just help keep participants motivated to continue, but also helps establish trust between them.

Step 3: Improve skill development with peer learning.

Enhancing their skills is an important purpose of leadership development. Group coaching – practical leadership skills, such as emotional intelligence, conflict resolution and strategic thinking.

Storytelling—Leaders can be taught and encouraged to practice role play where they are able to learn these skills in a safe, supported setting. For instance, a team might schedule simulations around conflict management situations to help its leaders become more effective problem-solvers together.

Step 4. Establish a culture of constant feedback

Movement is all about learning faster — not only from our partners and customers who are providing us with data, but also within the organization, so that we can give relevant and timely feedback to any area in which teams need it.

Feedback is good for the soul, so to speak. When leaders are in a coaching group, they get peer feedback that is often more open and forthright than what is provided in traditional performance reviews.

That is something an organization can influence by creating a way to share the feedback at the end of each action, building a culture that thrives on openness and constant progression. It can also help leaders fine-tune their tactics as they contend with fresh obstacles.

Step 5: Gauge and Celebrate Progress

Finally, outcomes must be measured for group coaching initiatives. Tracking personal and collective progress helps organisations identify what needs adjustment and where real growth is happening.

If the finish line is a team that communicates openly and has each other’s back, name the moments that show it: people asking for feedback, challenging each other respectfully, or stepping into shared leadership. Those are milestones worth recognising. Appreciation can be shared publicly through success stories or celebrated in smaller, local moments of recognition. 

A Real-World Transformation Story

A group leadership coaching program resulted in dramatic transformations: Having previously grappled with departmental tensions and low morale, the senior team participated in a cohesive cohort-based learning programme to strengthen their leadership stances.

By six months, not only had employee engagement scores shot up by 30%, the overall performance of teams dramatically improved.

As one member put it, “This group coaching helped me change the way I think about leadership, and in a great way. The development I have seen in myself and my colleagues has been profound.”

Conclusion

Leadership group coaching is quite effective in encouraging organisational growth, fostering accountability and facilitating skill development through an investment program. By promoting diversity, building accountability, developing skills, practicing feedback and measuring results businesses can develop a new wave of impactful leaders.

Next Steps

Do you want to advance your Leadership Team with a group program? Browse our full Leadership Training Catalogue to see how we help develop effective leaders.

Or, if you need a more tailored discussion, schedule a 15-Minute Clarity Call to find out which program aligns most beautifully with your organization’s goals! This is the transformation we need to embark on together.

For more information about leadership, read our articles on Leadership Training and Executive Coaching.