Originally published in the July 2003 Issue of Link & Learn.

An organization's culture is the collective (conscious and unconscious) attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviors that define "how we do things around here." However, leaders set the tone, pace, and expectations for a culture as they role model what is expected, desired, and/or tolerated in the company.

Truly effective leaders:

1. Set clear direction (vision, mission, strategy, goals) for the business, and do so as collaboratively as possible;
2. Role model the core values of the organization; and
3. Coach people to alignment and optimal performance on the above.

What has been largely missing so far is the ability of leaders and managers to coach. As leaders become skilled at the leadership practice of coaching (the antithesis of 'command & control' management) and authentically become a coach for their teams, they experience powerful benefits. They also set the tone and expectations for coaching to become a legitimate leadership and team practice within and across the business.

As this transformation occurs, a "performance-focused, feedback-rich" organization develops, establishing a competitive advantage for the organization.

Creating a coaching culture is THE NEXT STEP in the evolution of the high-performance organization. Through this transformation, leaders and managers become skilled coaches for their teams. Then, the teams also learn the practice of coaching - gaining a new, integral way of interacting with one another.

When an entire organization is "on the same page" and shares a common coaching language and approach to working together and solving problems, we see the following results:

• Leaders become more effective in their roles;
• More open and trusting relationships are formed;
• Interpersonal and organizational conflict is more quickly resolved;
• Teamwork and true collaboration become easier - and expected;
• Learning is captured and shared across the team more willingly, thus reducing errors and cycle time;
• Creativity and innovation are unleashed and more energy is focused on solving customers' needs;
• Resistance to change is greatly reduced - more people actively support change initiatives because they are involved;
• Organizational values are revitalized and become meaningful;
• People receive the developmental time and attention they need in order to grow;
• The organization becomes a better place to work and people consequently become more engaged in their work and in serving the mission of the business; and
• People have more fun and turnover is reduced.

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