Team Coaching: The New Frontier for Executive Coaches
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Team coaching opens new avenues for making a significant impact within organizations. However, stepping into the realm of team coaching can feel both exciting and daunting for executive coaches. According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), team coaching is one of the fastest-growing areas in the coaching profession, with increasing demand for coaches who can facilitate team performance and alignment.
For executive coaches contemplating layering team coaching into their service offering, it's essential to reflect on these considerations:
Foundations of Team Coaching
Team coaching isn't merely applying individual coaching techniques to a group; it's about navigating the complexities of team dynamics and the space between the individuals, the team, and the broader organizational system. Effective team coaching involves facilitating collective performance and aligning the team's goals with organizational objectives. Renowned executive coach Peter Hawkins highlights that a successful team coach must “hold the whole system in mind” to foster cohesion and alignment.
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Embracing Diversity and Inclusion
A key aspect of successful team coaching is fostering an environment where all team members feel valued and included. When team members can bring all of themselves to work, teams thrive. Research from the ICF underscores that diversity within teams can lead to enhanced creativity and problem-solving, provided that unconscious biases are addressed. Facilitating a space for these systemic biases to be explored and promoting inclusivity are key competencies a coach can bring to team coaching engagements.
Navigating Team Development Stages
Teams evolve through various stages of development, and understanding these stages can help coaches enhance their team coaching effectiveness. Effective contracting—defining goals, roles, and expectations—is crucial to guiding teams through these transitions. As team coaches, we can bring awareness to these stages of development and influence the long-term success of individuals, teams, and organizations. By contracting clearly and adapting your coaching methodology at each stage, you can facilitate smoother transitions between the developmental stages and increase team engagement.
Using Team Assessments
Assessment tools are invaluable for gaining insights into team dynamics, helping teams maximize their strengths, enhance their communication styles, and identify potential areas of development. Ethically administering assessments, and maintaining confidentiality, in team coaching is crucial for maintaining trust, respecting individual privacy, and ensuring that insights are used responsibly to foster positive team development. Assessments create a common, shared language and enable teams to move forward with a clear and actionable growth plan.
Team Talent and Managing Conflict
Maximizing the full potential of team members requires recognizing and leveraging their unique talents and aligning them with team goals. Given the unique contributions, preferences, strengths, and communication styles within teams, conflict is inevitable. Executive coach Patrick Lencioni notes that “productive conflict is essential to building a strong team.” Team coaches help facilitate the team's ability to manage conflicts constructively, transforming challenges into opportunities for development.
Building a Team Purpose
A successful team serves as an organizational blueprint for success, aligning team members with the organization's vision and values. Team coaches seek agreement among the team members for clarity in roles, responsibilities, and purpose. Appreciative inquiry and positive psychology can be powerful tools for building a team that not only guides but also inspires. These strengths-based approaches encourage teams to focus on what works well and envision their ideal future, aligned with their values and those of the organization.
Influencing Organizational Culture
Team coaches often play a role in shaping organizational culture. By promoting trust and psychological safety, coaches can help teams—and the larger organization—become more resilient and adaptive. Psychological safety is foundational for effective team collaboration, and expert Amy Edmondson's research supports this, showing that teams with high psychological safety perform better and are more innovative.
By incorporating these evidence-based practices, along with training and certification in team coaching skills, coaches can effectively transition their executive coaching skills to a team setting, creating positive, lasting change within teams and throughout organizations. Team coaching offers a unique opportunity to expand coaching influence and contribute to the success of not just individuals, but entire teams and organizations.
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References
- International Coaching Federation (ICF). (2019). ICF Team Coaching Competencies. Retrieved from https://coachfederation.org/team-coaching-competencies
- Hawkins, P. (2017). Leadership Team Coaching: Developing Collective Transformational Leadership (3rd ed.). Kogan Page.
- Berger, J. G. (2012). Changing on the Job: Developing Leaders for a Complex World. Stanford Business Books.
- Wageman, R., Nunes, D. A., Burruss, J. A., & Hackman, J. R. (2008). Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great. Harvard Business Review Press.
- Clutterbuck, D. (2007). Coaching the Team at Work. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
- Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass.
- Auerbach, J. E. (2001). Personal and Executive Coaching: The Complete Guide for Mental Health Professionals. Executive College Press.
- Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.
