She was speaking about her manager. A life coach who knew nothing of her sector.
“When my manager joined, at first I was skeptical”, she said. “How could she lead me effectively, not knowing anything about IT?”.
There was a profound shift in role definition. Her manager’s role was not to micro-manage, but to get obstacles out of her way. To give her feedback on her qualities and strengths. To bolster her self-confidence. To help her come up with solutions, strategically harnessing the support from colleagues and stakeholders on the way.
It was a new world. And she loved it.
When I come across stories like these, it makes me happy. They are such a beautiful testament to why I created School of Change. Our coach training programme for leaders, helps people gain coaching skills for their day-to-day. While some of our alumni go on to become fully-fledged coaches, most people simply want to learn the skills – as one would learn a new language – to apply them to the way they engage with people at work and home.