The Need for Good Leadership Is On the Rise

Quality leadership represents one of the key success factors that organisations need in order to succeed, especially during a time of constant change. Even more so, in a Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) study, 71% of organisations named the development of transformative leaders one of their highest priorities. But 63% said their leadership programmes don’t work. It’s obvious that traditional solutions alone are not sufficient.  This is in part where cohort learning, collective learning, and leadership circles fit in (if you’re keen to deep dive into this, check this article Transforming Leadership Programs).

This blog will provide insight into the power of group coaching to develop leaders and achieve results for individuals and organisations.

The Downside of Inadequate Leadership

Failure to develop leaders can result in systemic problems within an organisation. The absence of leaders in competence may lead to:

• Lapse in Engagement: Without strong leadership, employee engagement will take a back seat to being their best.
• High Attrition Rate: Bad leadership is also blamed due to job-hopping tendencies on the part of talented, successful individuals who try new homes.
• Stifling Creativity: Lack of creative leadership stifles creativity, and leaves you less competitive in the market.
• Waning Team Unity: If leadership fails to unite in conflict situations, it can create distrust and division between teams, resulting in a lack of cooperation.

Knowing what these impacts are highlights the importance of establishing an actually effective leadership development through group coaching programs in particular. 

Five effective principles to strengthen leadership group coaching

Principle 1: Embrace Other Point of Views

The expansion of unique perspectives is one of the greatest benefits to group coaching for leaders. When leaders participate in a cohort, they bring their experiences, skills and challenges to the work.

It encourages perspective, and enables leaders to see things from different angles. To benefit from this variety, HR can establish structured opportunities for frank conversation and deep listening. Proactively put in place activities like ‘story-sharing sessions’ where leaders share or reflect on their life experiences and teach one another.

Principle 2: Create Accountability With the Buddy System

A culture of accountability is crucial in group coaching. When leaders come together, in a group, they set group goals so each leader motivate other to remain disciplined.

You increase accountability by having leaders come back frequently and report on the progress of personal or work goals. It not only maintains motivation but fosters confidence between participants.

Principle 3: Deepening the Development of Capabilities Through Collaborative Learning

Skill development is one of the main aims of leadership development groups. In your group coaching sessions, stick to day-to-day leadership dynamics like emotional intelligence, conflict management and strategic thinking.

Leaders could be encouraged to participate in role-play scenarios that provide the opportunity for leaders to rehearse these skills in a risk-free context. For instance, a simulation could be conducted on conflict management to empower leaders to deal positively and collectively with issues.

Principle 4: Foster a Feedback Culture

Positive feedback is also necessary, too. When managers are in coaching groups, they receive peer feedback that is often more frank than formal reviews.

Organisations can help by establishing a process to distribute feedback at the end of every session, making it part of the culture that no one is above their game. This could help leaders refine their strategies and respond effectively to new problems. Think Feedback Loops rather than performance feedback!

Principle 5: Tracking and Celebrating Progress

Yes, that’s the last point I’d like to make; It is important to measure the results of group coaching programs. Through monitoring individual and team progress, teams can gain insight for areas of improvement as well as recognising group achievements.

Highlight the progress made by the leadership team to emphasize the importance of these development initiatives. Recognition may be just sharing success stories within the company or doing something small in a recognition event.

A Real-World Transformation Story

A leadership group coaching program brought about dramatic results: Struggling at first with departmental strife and low morale, the leaders enrolled on a structured cohort based learning programme to help grow their leadership capacity.

6 months later their scores for staff engagement were up by 28% and the performance of the teams was much, much better.

As a participant put it, “This experience changed the way I look at leading; I now lead with purpose and focus. The growth I have seen in myself and my peers has been life changing.”

Conclusion

Group leadership coaching is an investment that sparks communal growth, accountability and the development of skills within organisations. Through diversity, accountability, skills development, feedback culture and measurement outcomes; businesses can develop a new generation of leaders who are highly effective.

Ready to scale leadership development with group programs? Browse our comprehensive Leadership Training Catalogue to see how we develop impactful leaders.

Or, if you would rather have a personalised conversation, book in for a brief clarity call to see what programme fits best with your company’s objectives! Let’s discover the way through this transformation together.

For more on leadership, see our articles on Leadership Training and Executive Coaching.