Research Paper Assessment Name: Date: Email: Ndeye Seck Sanchez 28 October 2012 ndeyess@ hotmail.

com

Complete your 2000 word research paper and insert it in the space below. Then email this document as an attachment to assessment@icoachacademy.com

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

Coaching: A Tool to Empower Clients To Become Leaders in Their Professional Life

International Coach Academy CPCP Final Research Paper

Student Name: Ndeye Seck Sanchez Number of words: 2 042 (body of the paper)

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

Table of Contents
Introduction Definition of Leadership The Five Levels of Leadership Characteristics of a Leader Leadership Types The importance of Being a Leader in Ones Professional life Coaching: An Empowering Tool The Benefits of Coaching The Coaching Process Case Study Conclusion Biography 4 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 9 11 13 14

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

Coaching: A Tool to Empower Clients To Become Leaders in Their Professional Life

Introduction Many people wish to be leaders in their professional lives. However, as a result of obstacles they face, usually internal, they have a tendency to behave more like spectators than like actors. They struggle to achieve their objective of becoming leaders at work and do not fully attain their professional potential, which has an impact on many other areas of their lives. People who are dissatisfied at work are often stressed and frustrated. Since many people spend most of their time at work, it is crucial that they do their best to be fulfilled professionally.

This research paper acknowledges that not all people aspire to be leaders and respects such a choice. It is important to emphasize that it concerns those who wish to become leaders but have difficulties achieving their goal. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how coaching can be a tool that empowers such people to become leaders in their professional lives.

First, professional leadership will be defined.

The levels of leadership, the

characteristics of leaders and leadership types will then be explained. Finally, the paper will discuss the importance of being a leader and how coaching can empower people to become leaders. Definition of Leadership If ten people were asked to define leadership, they would most probably give ten different answers. In books and on the internet, one can easily find fifty definitions

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

that differ. In this paper, leadership will be defined as the art of motivating people towards a goal (http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/leadership/g/leadership). The terms leadership and management very often lead to confusion and are used incorrectly as synonyms. Consequently, it is necessary to clarify both concepts. Generally, a manager is by definition a leader. However, the opposite does not always prove to be right, i.e. a leader is not automatically a manager. Indeed, the leader may influence his/her environment without having any managerial skills. On the other hand, the manager whose responsibility namely involves planning, organizing, staffing, directing and staff development must have some level of leadership as described in the following section.

The Five Levels of Leadership In his book Developing the Leader Within You, John C. Maxwell (Maxwell, 1993) indicates that leadership is influence. He explains that the ability to lead and to influence people involves five (05) levels as listed below: 1) Position, the basic level of leadership: it is the influence one exercises that results from his/her title. 2) Relationships, the second level of leadership: it is getting people to work for you when they are not obligated to do so. 3) Results, the third level of leadership: turnover is low and goals are reached. 4) People development, the fourth level of leadership: empower and develop people. it is the ability to profits increase, morale is high,

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

5) Personhood, the last and highest level of leadership: it is when leaders reach a complete level of satisfaction as leaders. Most leaders do not reach this level because it takes a lifetime of proven leadership.

Characteristics of a Leader A number of different characteristics such as ambition, vision, self-confidence, intelligence, motivational style, adaptation to change and communication skills are qualities found in leaders and will define what type of leader one will tend to be. The Academy of Management Executive has published analyses on leadership traits and has identified six (06) core characteristics that the majority of effective leaders possess as described below (Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991): 1) Drive: Leaders are ambitious and take initiative. 2) Motivation: Leaders want to lead and are willing to take charge. 3) Honesty and integrity: Leaders are truthful and do what they say they will do. 4) Self-confidence: Leaders are assertive, decisive and enjoy taking risks. They admit their mistakes and foster trust and commitment to a vision. Leaders are emotionally stable rather than recklessly adventurous. 5) Cognitive ability: Leaders are intelligent, perceptive, and conceptually skilled. They show analytical ability, good judgment, and the capacity to think strategically. 6) Business knowledge: Leaders tend to be experts in their field. It is however important to note that a leader is only one as long as the group allows him to be.

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

Leadership types Depending on the environment, the situation and the organization, the leadership style varies. According to the psychologist Kurt Lewin, there are three (03) different leadership styles: (i) participative leadership; (ii) delegative leadership and (iii) autocratic leadership (psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/leadstyles.htm). 1) Participative Leadership (Democratic): In this case, the leader involves subordinates in most of the decision-making process. The manager still maintains control but he/she motivates and empowers employees to make decisions and take action. Confident of their strengths and skills, subordinates become proactive. Consequently, their performance level improves. In this type of leadership, it is crucial, however, that the leader delegates wisely. It is also important that he/she remains focused and keeps his/her position of leader in order to reassure the group. He/she should never look indecisive.

2) Delegative Leadership (Laissez-faire):

In this type of leadership, team

members are independent. They deal with the issues they face on their own as long as they perform and deliver. The leader remains available for advice but has given up most of his/her control to his/her team. This method is effective only if the team is skilled and motivated. 3) Autocratic Leadership: The manager makes all the decisions and dominates team members. This approach is often found in developing countries in Africa where continual pressure and direction from the leader is often required in order for employees to perform (Brown, 2001). Unfortunately, this approach is not an constructive way to get the best performance from subordinates since

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

they are simply executants and do not really take any responsibility. Nevertheless, this style can be time-saving in case of urgency.

The Importance of Being a Leader in Ones Professional Life Being a leader in ones professional life is important for several reasons since it can lead to many benefits.

At the professional level, being a leader enables people to constantly take their career to a higher level. It empowers them to tackle challenges more easily, to face and handle conflicts in a positive way and to have a clearer vision of their professional objectives. They also develop greater awareness about their competencies and acceptance of their weaknesses that they constantly strive to improve. Since leaders usually earn higher incomes than subordinates, being a leader also comes with financial reward and greater financial freedom.

At the personal level, being a leader results in personal fulfilment, satisfaction, stronger self-confidence, recognition, valorisation and further motivation to achieve ones goals. The financial rewards offer more opportunities to undertake enriching social and cultural activities such as entertaining, sports and travel.

Coaching: An Empowering Tool The Benefits of Coaching The benefits of being coached to become a leader in ones professional life are many as illustrated by Steve Elliot who identified the following benefits after being coached

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

(http://christopherscottblog.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/as-a-result-of-beingcoached.html): He became more secure in himself as a leader and was more confident in his ability to lead. He gained more understanding of what his strengths were and how he could use them for the benefit of leading others. He became more patient with people to allow them to catch up to his vision and goals. He was more opened to other peoples ideas and suggestions when those ideas and suggestions did not match his. He became more comfortable dealing with conflict because he understood it was a necessary part of leadership.

The Coaching Process In his book Distilling the Wisdom of CEOs (Bryant, 2011), after interviewing many CEOs and gathering insights on the art of managing and leading, Adam Bryant concluded that they all shared five (05) qualities: a passionate curiosity, a battlehardened confidence, team smarts, a simple mind-set and fearlessness. Bryant says that these qualities are developed through attitude, habit and discipline. He believes that these traits can be acquired and are within the control of potential leaders. Once these traits are incorporated in a persons behavior, he indicates that she will become a better leader.

The coaching process can help people develop these traits as illustrated by the case study presented in this paper. The main objective of coaches is to partner with their

Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

clients to help them move forward so they can achieve their objectives. The coaching process includes powerful questions, attentive listening, support, accountability and encouragement. In order to empower clients struggling to become leaders in their professional lives, coaches may use the steps below. Indeed, coaches may support their clients in doing the following:

1) Lead clients to clearly identify their objective (i.e. what type of leader they aspire to become and what positions they intend to hold) by using the SMART analysis.

2) Conduct various assessments to determine their clients personality type, current leadership style, values, etc. These assessments will enable clients to determine where they stand when the coaching process starts and to better evaluate their progress.

3) Ask clients to elaborate a very detailed action plan that will help them achieve their goal. This plan will have to include specific actions and deadlines.

Examples of actions would be the behavioural changes clients need to make to be a leader, the skills they need to develop, their career plan and the steps they will take to implement it.

4) Identify the internal obstacles (e.g. underlying automatic commitments -UACs) as well as the external obstacles (e.g. their working environment, the opportunities for promotion within their current job and the resources

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available to them) clients face that prevent them from fully achieving their goal.

5) Determine the resources (human, financial, time, etc.) they need to achieve their goal.

6) Define ways to celebrate every success.

Case Study As an illustration, I will share the coaching process I used to coach the owner of Roksen Enterprise which has ten (10) employees. I have been coaching this 30 years old Senegalese female business owner for four (04) months. She has quite an unconventional background and is facing a lot of issues in being a leader. She has lived half of her life abroad, i.e. in the United States and several European countries. When she obtained her degree in Finance, she decided to return to her home country to start an organic farm business.

She was very excited about her business idea but had not fully grasped the meaning of being a leader when she started her business a year ago. Indeed, she had

focused more on the business set up and marketing strategies of her business. The business has an incredible potential to be more then successful but her struggles with leadership have proved to be a real obstacle.

The issues she faced when she requested to be coached were as follows: Understanding why she struggled to be an effective leader.

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Defining her leadership style. Determining how to communicate her vision to her employees. Identifying how her employees, mainly men, could accept her leadership since she was a woman.

Overcoming cultural barriers between her and her employees as the cultural differences were truly a source of stress and frustration. This situation had a negative impact on business results.

Achieving work life balance since she worked 12 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Through coaching, I have been supporting my client in developing her leadership skills. So far, she has achieved the following results: She has developed greater self-awareness and knows the type of life she wants to live, both at the professional and personal levels. She established a career plan by clearly defining her goals. She has a better understanding of the cultural context in which she lives and the implications it has regarding being a woman leader. She set realistic goals by taking into account the realities of her work in the Senegalese context. She wrote an action plan for her business (prioritizing actions, maximizing productivity). By doing so, she defined a new vision for her business, more adapted to her current situation and the daily realities she faces. She identified the adequate leadership style to use--which enabled her to impose herself as a leader while developing an empowering relationship with her employees who, at first, had resisted her leadership.

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She revised her human resources policies, namely regarding recruitment, turn over, employee motivation, training, team building and staff development.

She created a dream team locally which includes her coach and a mentor to support her in her role as a woman business owner/leader.

She clearly defined her role as a leader and manager. In the process, she identified the responsibilities she could delegate to other employees. This decision enabled her to have a lighter workload and to achieve greater worklife balance.

Her business productivity increased by 20%.

Conclusion As demonstrated in this research paper, coaching is a powerful tool to empower clients to become effective leaders. However, it is crucial to note that leadership requires constant work on behalf of clients in order for them to remain great leaders. That explains why the greatest leaders in the world (i.e. CEOs, presidents, etc.) always services of coaches to support and empower them. However, leaders must be aware that there is no perfect leader and that they cannot control certain factors.

The leadership style a leader adopts is most often influenced by his/her values, motivation, decision-making ability and his/her cultural, social, political and economic environment. In our history, we have examples of great leaders such as Bill Gates Chairman of Microsoft, Steve Jobs former CEO of Apple, Jacques Diouf former FAO Director, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Indira Ghandi, John Kennedy and Mother Theresa. They all had different leadership styles but they all possessed the ability to motivate, influence and inspire others. They also made profound changes in their respective fields.
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Ndye Seck Sanchez - CPCP Research Paper

BIOGRAPHY
Brown, S. (2001). Authoritarian Leaders and Multiparty Elections in Africa. Third World Quarterly, Vol 22, N 5, pp 725. Bryant, A. (2011). Distilling the Wisdom of C.E.O.s, Times books. Elliot. S (2012), The Five elements of Coaching (n.d.) http://christopherscottblog.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/as-a-result-of-beingcoached.html Kirkpatrick, S. A. and Locke, E. A. (1991). Leadership: Do Traits Really Matter? Academy of Management Executive Leader versus Manager (2012). http://managementstudyguide.com/leader_versus_manager.htm Lewin, K,. Lippit, R. and White. R.K. (1939). Patterns of Aggressive Behavior in Experimentally Created Social Climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10,271-301 Maxwell, J. C. (1993). Developing the Leader Within You, Thomas Nelson. Ward, S. Leadership (n.d.) http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/leadership/g/leadership.htm Interviews with the small business owner of Roksen Astu Turpin and her team (2012)

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