The Coaching Habit

by Michael Bungay Stanier

The leadership press has endless articles about it. Assorted gurus suggest that coaching is an essential leadership behaviour. The number of executive coaches seems to be multiplying according to Moore’s Law. Even Dilbert mocks coaching—and there’s no surer sign of mainstream success than that. Daniel Goleman, the psychologist and journalist who popularized the concept of emotional intelligence, put a stake in the ground more than fifteen years ago in his Harvard Business Review article “Leadership That Gets Results.” He suggested that there are six essential leadership styles. Coaching was one of them and it was shown to have a “markedly positive” impact on performance, climate (culture) and the bottom line. At the same time, it was the least-used leadership style. Why? Goleman wrote, “Many leaders told us they don’t have the time in this high-pressure economy for the slow and tedious work of teaching people and helping them grow.”