A team member brings you a problem. You ask a few questions, offer a suggestion, maybe help them think it through. And by the end of the conversation, the problem somehow becomes yours to solve.

It feels helpful in the moment. But over time, it trains your team to bring you problems instead of thinking them through on their own first.

Here’s the thing: many leaders are already using coaching skills every day without recognizing it. And when you start using them more intentionally, conversations shift. Team members take more ownership. You stop being the person responsible for doing all the thinking.

You don’t have to become a coach to get those results. But a few small changes to how you communicate can make a real difference.

Here are five ways coaching skills can strengthen your leadership, starting tomorrow.

1. You start noticing your own blind spots

Most leaders are focused on solving problems and moving things forward. What often gets missed is how your own assumptions and habits show up in those conversations, and what they’re costing you.

A coaching mindset asks you to pause before reacting.
Instead of jumping straight to fix-it mode, you start asking yourself:
• What am I assuming here?
• What’s the real problem?
• Am I solving the right thing?
• What might I be missing?

That kind of awareness changes how you respond. And when you respond differently, your team starts to as well. Leaders who develop this habit often find they stop getting blindsided by the same issues repeating themselves.

2. Your conversations get more effective without getting longer

A lot of leadership conversations sound productive but don’t actually move anything forward. There’s plenty of talking and advising, but not always a lot of clarity by the end.
A coaching approach shifts the focus from telling to asking.

A few simple changes:
• Ask one clear question instead of three at once
• Listen for what’s really being said, not just what’s on the surface
• Give the other person space to think before you fill the silence

These things help you get to the heart of the situation faster, not slower. And they tend to leave the other person feeling heard rather than just managed.

3. You make better decisions by slowing down just enough

Leaders are expected to make fast decisions. That pressure leads to reacting instead of reflecting, and sometimes to decisions that create more problems than they solve.
A coaching-informed approach introduces a small but useful pause.

Before you land on a decision, you might ask yourself:
• What’s actually important here?
• What outcome am I aiming for?
• Whose perspective haven’t I considered yet?

You’re still making the call. But you’re making it with more information and more intention, and that tends to show in the quality of the outcome.

4. You develop your people instead of just directing them

When you have experience and you know what you’d do, it’s easy to just say so. It feels efficient. The problem is that when leaders consistently provide the answer, teams learn to wait for it.
A coaching-informed approach shifts that dynamic.

Instead of leading with “Here’s what you should do,” you can try asking:
• What options do you see?
• What do you think would move this forward?
• What matters most to you here?

It can feel slower at first. But over time, your team starts thinking more independently. They take ownership of their work. And you stop being the only one responsible for figuring everything out.

5. You create accountability without micromanaging

Most leaders struggle with this balance at some point. Step in too much and it becomes micromanaging. Step back too far and things fall through the cracks.
A coaching approach offers a middle ground.

Instead of taking over or checking in constantly, you create space for ownership by asking:
• What’s your next step?
• How will you know you’re on track?
• What support do you need from me?

You’re still engaged. You’re still responsible for the outcome. You’re just not carrying everyone else’s work on your shoulders to get there.

A different way to think about leadership

You don’t have to become a coach to use coaching skills.
But as a leader, the conversations you have every day shape how your team thinks, acts, and takes ownership. The real question isn’t whether you’re coaching. It’s whether your approach is making your team more dependent on you, or helping them learn to think for themselves.

That shift doesn’t just improve your team’s performance. It changes how much you have to carry.

If this is resonating, we’d love to hear from you. We’re exploring the idea of a practical training for leaders who want to strengthen these skills in real-world conversations. Contact us and tell us what would be most useful.

And if you want to go deeper on your own first, we highly recommend The HeART of Laser-Focused Coaching* by Marion Franklin. Many leaders have told me it changed the way they communicate, not just at work, but in general.

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“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” – Ken Blanchard

A leader is often defined as someone who guides or directs a group, but leadership definitely is not just about being a taskmaster or making people get their work done. It is also not about being a figurehead who just wants to look good and take credit for a group’s success.

Ideas about leadership have changed a great deal over the years. In the past, leadership was viewed as you being the expert and everyone following you. Now, leaders are often expected to be more empathetic and collaborative with those they lead.

So what is a leader?

Leaders are role models for those they lead. If you want to lead others, you must first lead yourself. This means it is important for a leader to be dedicated to working on his or her own personal growth.

No leader will be perfect in every area of their life. The job of a good leader is to continually develop and demonstrate attitudes, behaviors and skills that inspire others to do their own personal best. The more you develop your own personal and professional skills, the greater capacity you will have to lead others and make a difference in your family, your community, your workplace, etc.

What does a good leader look like?

There are many characteristics of a good leader and even more opinions about which characteristics are most important. As a coach who works to help leaders communicate and connect better with those they lead, I have noticed that there are six traits that are most important in any leadership role whether it is that of a parent, community leader or CEO.

1. Self Awareness
We often hear how important it is for good leaders to be confident and believe in themselves. This is true, but what’s even more important is that a good leader has an accurate understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. The more aware a leader is about areas where they do well and areas where they may need further development, the more confident they can be.

Leaders don’t make it long if they try to do everything perfectly in every area or try to do everything themselves. Knowing when to seek help is one of the most important skills a leader can possess.

”We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face … we must do that which we think we cannot.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

2. Adaptability
This trait is more important today than ever. Things change so fast under normal circumstances, but as I write this, the COVID-19 pandemic has everything turned upside down. We are having to figure out how to communicate, manage projects and do business in completely new ways. I believe being adaptable and flexible in our approach to problem solving will become even more important in the years ahead.

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” – Anonymous

3. Strong Communication Skills
Being an effective communicator is necessary to be a good leader. You need to be able to convey to your team or others what your vision is so they can carry it out. Being able to describe what you want done helps your team efforts in moving forward. There are various types of communication styles, and the best leaders are able to communicate to others in the way best suited to each individual.

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. It is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” – Mark Twain

4. A Positive Attitude
Attitudes can be contagious. When you lead with a happy and positive attitude, people tend to work harder and are happier themselves. People don’t want to follow someone who is negative and only sees the problems. Leadership means motivating and inspiring your followers in a positive way. This doesn’t always mean you have to be smiling or in an upbeat mood, but it does mean treating yourself and others with dignity and respect and offering hope for something better ahead even when things aren’t currently going well.

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Charles Swindoll

5. Good Decision-making skills
Leaders will be faced with many decisions. Some will be small while others may impact many other people. Good leaders have learned to trust in their own decisions and stand by them.

”Trust yourself–you know more than you think you do.” – Benjamin Spock

6. Strong Morals
This characteristic is listed last because it is the most foundational. Character traits like accountability, humility, honesty and integrity may sound old-fashioned in today’s business world, but they are just as important now as they ever have been. No one really wants to follow a leader they cannot trust or respect. Leaders who blame others, lie, make excuses, brag about themselves or say one thing and do another will not be successful in the long run. Moral leaders who share credit for their success, are honest, and follow through on what they say they will do have loyal followers and usually see much greater success.

“Every moment matters.” – John Maxwell

I’m sure you could add even more items to this list. What character traits do you think are the most important for a leader? Please share your thoughts in the comments here.

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“A leader is a dealer in hope.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

What John shares in this video doesn’t just apply to people in the corporate world. If you are a parent, a teacher, a volunteer in a community organization, a doctor, a librarian, or really anyone, you can make a huge impact on those around you with just a few encouraging words. Here are a few tips to help you go for the good.

1. Stop focusing on yourself.
I’ve heard this called the belly-button mentality. We tend to get so worried about what we are doing or how others might perceive us that we tend to get stuck focusing on ourselves. Don’t be so concerned about what others think of you. Look up and around instead of down at your own belly-button. This way, you’ll start seeing more opportunities to encourage others.
2. Be authentic.
Don’t offer fake compliments or be a cheerleader. When looking for the good, mention something you genuinely like or appreciate even if it is something small. Then tell the person why you like it. This is a lot more meaningful than just being a cheerleader offering platitudes like, “You’re awesome!” Be specific with your compliments.
3. Do this for yourself.
Acknowledge the things you do well. We’ve probably all heard the admonition that we are not supposed to toot our own horn, but there is a difference between being boastful and simply acknowledging to yourself and others the value you bring to the table with your own unique skills, talents and perspective. This is not just healthy for you. Granting yourself permission to find good in yourself can help encourage others to do the same.

What are some other ways you go for the good? Please share with us below. 🙂

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“John Maxwell Team members are people of value who value people and add value to them.”

This past August, Mike and I attended the live International Maxwell Certification event in Orlando, Florida. It was an amazing experience getting to be around such a wonderful group of positive energetic people. 🙂 Here are just a few golden nuggets of wisdom from the event.

• We must value ourselves before we can value others. We cannot give what we do not have.
• Success happens to us. Significance happens through us.
• We teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are.
• Eeyore is the spirit animal of the pessimist.
• Leadership is making decisions based on principles, not on optics.
• If you do nothing, you drift. No one has ever drifted to a desired location.
• We overcome difficult times on the outside by Becoming bigger and better on the inside.
• There are some people on your team who need to be off the bus.
• How we view things is how we do things.
• Don’t hide your light. When you hide your light, you’re keeping it from someone else.
• Hold tightly to purpose and loosely to plans.
• Speak life into the lives of others including the one in the mirror.
• Fear keeps us safe but also keeps us from opportunity.
• Your story is your superpower.
• It’s only over when you choose to quit.
• Spectacular results are always preceded by unspectacular preparation.
• Success happens day by day not in a day.
• You’ve got to get really good at cheering for yourself. Others will cheer for you after you’ve made it.
• To grow as an entrepreneur, you have to be OK with things being done in a way different from how you would do them.
• When we think nothing is happening, something is happening. The effort you put in to grow and develop is never wasted, it is stored.

Celebrating 10 Years of the John Maxwell Team

**Special note: As of March 2022, the John Maxwell Team is now known as the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team.

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If you truly want to attract and retain the best employees, you will need to incorporate ongoing professional development training into your business model. Your employees will be much more likely to be satisfied and engaged in their work when they feel like a valued member of a team.

• 40% of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year. (Source: go2Hr)
• 68% of workers say training and development is the most important workplace policy. (Source: ClearCompany)

What about my return on investment?

A better question might be to ask what would be possible if your employees were satisfied and fully engaged in their work. Resources invested in staff development will directly impact the success of your business. The upheaval of constant turnover can drastically affect your business’s bottom line.

Regular opportunities for learning, growth, and improved communication can provide employees with skills and tools they need to work more efficiently, become more productive and have a better attitude about their work. This leads to improved results for your business.

• Investing in the growth of your employees by offering personal and professional development training can increase productivity by 5.2%. (Source: Lightspeedvt)
• Studies have shown that organizations with employee development programs are six times more likely to increase employee engagement, have lower rates of turnover, and have a 2.5 times higher productivity rate than organizations that haven’t yet implemented a career development strategy.(Source: VisibilitySoftware)

As it becomes more difficult to find and recruit highly skilled job candidates, it is increasingly important to invest in training and developing your existing employees. At Create a Vision Coaching, we would love to work with you to improve the effectiveness and engagement of your staff so your business can thrive.

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