Manager as Coach, does it really work?

I recently came across some articles in German by Dr. Nico Rose, where he covers the topic Manager as Coach. His latest article can be found here in its original version. Since I agree with most of his arguments, I'd like to reflect and share his thoughts and add my interpretation.

Dr. Nico Rose's article "Manager as Coach? Wenn das mal nicht in die Hose geht..." (Manager as Coach? If this doesn't go south (wrong)...) is a follow-up of a sequence of articles that cover the topic of Coaching vs. Leadership and the Leader as Coach. His thesis is that the role of a coach and that of a manager in a hierarchical system are not compatible, which doesn't mean that managers can't apply coaching skills or techniques in their leadership.

My experience is that, besides the skill set, the mindset you develop as a coach can also help you as a leader. (see my personal journey here).

The reason why these roles aren't compatible are mainly rooted in the role itself and its different responsibilities.

Roles and Responsibilities

In a coaching setting the coaching counterpart defines the goal and outcome and the coach is providing the process and the framework for their counterpart to come up with their own solutions.

Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. 

As a manger you usually bring the outcomes and targets into the conversation, those being defined by the targets derived from the company's strategy. Additionally, there is a dependency because of the predominant hierarchical system that most organizations are in. This conflict makes it difficult to act as manager and coach. You have to make it clear to your team when you are in which role. The prerequisite is that you are clear for yourself what's the different between these two as well as what coaching is.

Developing the Competencies

Dr. Nico Rose also refers to the Harvard Business Review article "Most Managers don't know how to coach people..." by Dr. Julia Milner and Trenton Milner, which I read and shared last year. The basis for this article is their study of 98 managers, where they investigated their ability and understanding of coaching.

The biggest takeaway was the fact that, when initially asked to coach, many managers instead demonstrated a form of consulting. 

Instead of coaching the managers relapsed to their old/learned management behavior. Giving advice instead of supporting the counterpart to find their own solution. Sometimes this piece of advice is disguised as a question. An observation that I share. When providing coaching practices and coaching conversations trainings to the managers in my organization it happens. The participants fall into consultation mode when practicing coaching for the first time. Our managers have been successful with the way they lead and they've learned their behavior over a long period of time. Additionally, not every situation is suitable for coaching. You have to learn when to coach and when not to coach (see roles and responsibilities above).

The articles of Dr. Nico Rose and the research of Dr. Julia Milner, as well as my own learning and observation lead to being a manager and being a coach requires a deep understanding of your roles, responsibilities and the competencies required. This understanding will not come overnight.

Developing yourself towards a coach takes time. Not without reason the International Coach Federation (ICF) requires 60+ hours of training and 100+ hours of coaching experience for their entry level of certification. Additionally, supervision and mentoring by experienced coaches are key for your reflective practice.

If you take away only one thing here, it’s that coaching is a skill that needs to be learned and honed over time. 

I have invested my resources and spent roughly 200 hours in coach specific training and more than 500 hours of coaching experience and I still feel as if I just started. I first practiced coaching outside of my role as a manger by coaching peers and like-minded people, then expanding to be an internal coach before stepping into the role as a coach for my associates.

The understanding that becoming a coach takes time, effort and continuous reflective practice and that you have to be clear towards yourself and your team about your roles and responsibilities is key if you want to integrate coaching in your leadership.