Someone Coachable
The Power of Partnership: Coaching and Feedback for High-Performing Teams
In today's fast-paced environment, the most successful teams are those empowered to manage themselves and continuously learn. At the heart of this empowerment are effective coaching and feedback mechanisms. These aren't just managerial tasks; they're foundational strategies for cultivating a thriving and self-directed team culture.
The Coaching Mindset: Partnership and Potential
The modern approach to leadership shifts from simply directing to acting as a coach. This perspective aligns closely with the principles set forth by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which defines coaching as "partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential."
The ICF's core values—Professionalism, Collaboration, Humanity, and Equity—provide a strong ethical and relational framework for providing feedback and coaching.
Beyond "Coachable": Intentional Developmental Styles
It is often said, “I’m not too worried about experience, I just want someone coachable for this role.” While coachability is vital, the burden of success also rests on the leader's ability to choose the right communication style for the moment. It’s important to know yourself and your ability to deliver coaching, but more so, to know the spectrum of support you can offer.
How do you determine your approach when recognizing the need for one or several of the following styles?
Coaching: Setting goals and asking powerful, open-ended questions while allowing the other person the time and space to answer. Firmly believing the other person has the answers and can get unstuck to achieve their goals. Occasionally offering an example of how someone may have achieved something similar in the past.
Enablement: A measurable plan for success with objectives and key results defined. Example: "When we’ve reviewed this material together, you will be able to X and here is where you can reference these concepts in the future."
Setting Direction: Being clear about outcomes and allowing the team or team member the freedom to define their own path to that outcome. Sharing what others may have done in the past as suggestions or lessons learned.
Mentoring: Listening to the other person’s depiction of their current state. Understanding how they got there, offering differing perspectives and advice based on past experiences. Offering contacts and making recommendations.
Try keeping each of these communication styles intentional and separate in your next employee interaction. Perhaps you’ll never get into a mentoring relationship—and that is okay. The key takeaway is that communication is everything.
Empowering Teams with Structure and Feedback
Christina Wodtke's book, The Team That Managed Itself: A Story of Leadership, illustrates the practical steps a leader can take to transition a dysfunctional group into a high-performing, autonomous team. A key lesson from the book is that self-managing teams don't just happen; they need guardrails, facilitation and a clear system for improvement.
The book emphasizes that an essential component of this system is a culture of continuous, constructive feedback. Wodtke advocates for frameworks like the GROW Model and structured feedback to ensure conversations are objective and action-oriented. By setting clear expectations and goals (such as through OKRs) and establishing regular feedback cadences, leaders enable their teams to constantly learn and adjust—transforming management into a coaching role that ultimately leads to greater autonomy and success.
Read Christina Wodtke’s book with your team to start a conversation on guardrails and feedback.
