Core Coaching Skills for Managers and Leaders

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

1. Understand the role of coaching and how it can benefit you, your teams and your organisation.
2. Demonstrate a coaching mindset and approach to leadership: shift from “telling/giving advice” to “asking, developing, supporting”, and create psychological safety in their conversations.
3. Listen actively and deeply: understand not just what’s said, but underlying motivations and perspectives.
4. Ask powerful open questions that stimulate insight, reflection, positive action and accountability.
5. Give feedback in a developmental way: balancing challenge and support.
6. Apply coaching skills in everyday managerial contexts: 1:1 check-ins, performance reviews, team meetings, peer conversations.
7. Use coaching for conflict resolution.
8. Embed the basics of a coaching culture: encouraging autonomy, encouraging growth, building trust and accountability in teams.
9. Recognise the impact of self-awareness and emotional and positive intelligence in working relationships.

By mastering these core coaching skills, managers can transform everyday interactions, such as one-to-ones, performance conversations, difficult conversations, team meetings, brainstorming sessions, strategic reviews and more into opportunities for growth, engagement and stronger performance.

The benefits of coaching are widespread – it is not just about developing the organisation leaders, but rather about strengthening the overall organisation as when leaders improve and develop, they inspire, influence and motivate their teams to also be better. It is about everyone’s personal and professional development.

Why Coaching Skills Matter:

Embedding a coaching mindset and behaviour in leadership has very real benefits. Some evidence:

• Organisations with strong coaching cultures report significantly higher employee engagement, resilience, well-being, retention and productivity.
• Other benefits include improved team collaboration, stronger leadership capability, heightened problem solving skills, better communication, stronger relationships, enhanced innovation, and adaptability in change contexts.
• Teams who report having coaching style leaders report higher levels of trust, job satisfaction, confidence, reduced stress and fulfilment.

Who Should Attend?

This course is tailored to newly promoted or soon to be promoted Supervisors who have a responsibility for staff. This could include: Yard Supervisor, Trade Counter Supervisor, Showroom Supervisor, Office Supervisor, Department Managers, Transport Supervisors and Trainee Managers or Supervisors.

Methodology

The content will be highly tailored to the specific needs and interests of the industry and will be delivered through a mix of methods including: Trainer introduction of key concepts delivered in short presentations using highly relevant and practical examples both on and offline, group/pair exercises exploring training topics, brainstorming sessions to work through real like scenarios and case studies, and opportunities for personal reflection on current challenges, approaches and practices.