Perspectives of inspirational leadership coaching (2)

The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses” (Napoleon Hill).

True leadership is a partnership between the leader and the followers, where the leader is in essence a bridge between the people being led and their goals, desires and aspirations. True leadership thus results when the ideas, ideals, desires and deeds of the leader match those of the followers. It is the perfect fit between the expectations of the leader and the needs of the follower in a particular situation and environment that engenders transformation.

It is for this reason that the theory and practice of transformational leadership over the years have always placed much emphasis on the development and amplification of personal characteristics, behaviours and attributes of a transformational leader. It is those personal characteristics, behaviours and attributes more than any other value that inspire followers. Therefore, in every successful leadership coaching engagement, the focus of the coach and the generally desired outcome of the process remain the reinforcement of belief systems that combine personal passion and confidence of a leader with the truth and reality of the operating, environment, situation or circumstance.

This is very important because one of the traps of transformational leadership is that personal passion and confidence can very easily be mistaken for truth and reality. Sometimes, extremely passionate leaders are led to believe that they are right. But in reality, just because someone believes he or she is right does not necessarily mean they are right. That is why practical leadership coaching is not just about content, but also about context. The truth is that transformational leaders often have large doses of enthusiasm which, if relentlessly applied, can wear out their followers. This is because such leaders tend to see only the big picture, but gloss over a lot of salient and important details.

Transformational leadership thus requires the support and sounding board opportunities that leadership coaching provides, especially in bridging information and knowledge gaps. In situations where there is no coaching to take care of this, quite a few of the decisions and actions of leaders face the huge possibilities of being doomed to fail. But, it is not always the fault of the leader. Rather, it is the complex interplay of needs and expectations that impose the challenges of effecting and facilitating compelling change. This is essentially what transformational leadership is all about.

Transformational leadership theory is based on the leadership philosophy that inspires leaders to continuously invest in their own personal development as well as in the personal development of others. It suggests the development of a leadership culture of collaboration rather than command and control, where change is welcomed as an opportunity rather than a threat. It also recognises that leadership needs to be demonstrated at certain times and in different situations by every member of the team.

Transformational leadership is favoured by corporate organisations, where the benefits of emotional stake holding are touted and encouraged. This is of course due to the opportunities of collective or collaborative leadership, in fostering improved relationship among people. This suggests interdependency of the team members and their ability to act upon a shared vision. This of course tends to bring out the best in individuals and the team, and encourages people to show genuine concern and express the highest level of respect for one another.

Quite often, we speak of transformational leadership when describing the leadership style that seeks to meet both the challenges of a rapidly changing environment and the need to emotionally engage everyone within the team. As a result, transformational leadership inevitably presents a range of personal behaviours that focus on developing and sharing an inspiring vision of the future. But in this future also exist more challenges. Therefore, wisdom demands that the leader is just as passionate about change as he is about the context and implications of the change for everyone.

It must be recognised that people are different and a leader will have to deal with so many and different kinds of people. And, because different people require different styles of leadership, the transformational leader must also be quite adaptable to people and be flexible in the adopted approach in dealing with people at different times, situations and environments. In essence, the leader must know his people. The leader must learn to discover how to use a good understanding of human nature to bring about joy, achievement and fulfilment for his people.

This requires good knowledge of not just the needs and emotions of the people, but also how to use such knowledge to develop both the internal and external environments as growth stimulating platforms for people. What brings about the transformation in people in this regard is that they learn to buy into such facilitations and become the desired change themselves. That is what leadership coaching brings to the fore in every engagement with a leader irrespective of his level and position. You can read more about the transformational power of coaching at www.ceedcoaching.com.

Emmanuel Imevbere