The Act of Leadership

Chapter 5MUM WAS WRONG It really does matter what others think of you

This chapter in a nutshell

• you'll see why Mum was wrong, and why it does matter what others think of you
• you'll see why traditional efforts at 360 feedback sometimes miss the mark
• you'll be shown a 360 feedback technique that is far more likely to help you learn, grow and develop as a leader

The purpose of coaching is to help people to learn, grow and develop. In essence, it's to nurture a growth mindset in the people I'm working with.

The coaching process I use is based on the frameworks shown in figures 5.1 and 5.2.

The development of a leader — or any role for that matter — can be thought of as a triangle, as illustrated in figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1: development of a leader

When we think of development, we often think of gaining more knowledge or skills, but maybe we don't spend enough time exploring the mindset and habits required to develop. That's where coaching comes in.

Remember, my coaching lens looks like this:

Figure 5.2: the sweet spot of coaching

The sweet spot of coaching is where we use insights to motivate ourselves to act in a new way that — as well as improving performance — provides us with new insights.

As explored in part I of this book, we sometimes lack awareness ...