In my time working on the MBA Personal Leadership Development module, I’ve seen prospective leaders come to sessions incredibly angry or tearful – because of experiences at work. Often, it turns out they are struggling because they’re modelling their leadership style on a boss they’ve had before, but it doesn’t resonate with them. It’s not their authentic style. That’s when we bring out the tools of coaching – curiosity, active listening and powerful questioning – to help them understand what they’re feeling.

Society, particularly work, doesn’t usually teach us we’re valuable as human beings, just as human doings. We are what we do, rather than what we feel. But research from the International Coaching Federation shows that happier humans make for a more effective, efficient, productive and motivated workforce. And coaching for leaders – which is part of RSM’s MBA and Executive Education courses – can help make this change.

Traditionally, a boss would be very forceful, and that’s what seemed successful. But psychologist Daniel Goleman teaches there are six leadership styles, from ‘coercive’ to ‘coaching’. We only need coercion in some situations – the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, because there were rules people had to follow.

But some styles are about making personal connections or growing democratic consensus. At RSM, we believe in training human-centred leaders who know they don’t have to be the boss all the time, who can let people be people at work, and empower their team to think for themselves. After all, we are all leaders in our own lives, even down to what we have for breakfast. (That’s a more important decision than you think, because it’s about how you look after yourself.)

In coaching, we believe that every single person is inherently creative, resourceful and whole, and that we all have an intrinsic need to be seen and heard. Leaders might listen but not hear, so coaching can be a valuable competency, as well as a source of positive change.

For example, we worked with the European office of a global business, whose board and HR team told us in a coaching session that they had had a values system imposed upon them that didn’t resonate. We ran manager workshops on ‘social safety’ – how to speak up. We also worked on personal and team values and a team charter, keeping the global vision and mission as an overall purpose. At the annual review, the staff reported not only speaking up, which they thought they’d never do, but also that they ‘felt lighter’ and the atmosphere was more motivating and fun.

Until recently, workplace coaching has been about managing a problem employee rather than empowering employees to meet their potential. But that is changing. And I feel evangelical about it – because I know it works.