I have a degree in Psychology and I have a Masters in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Even though I have extensive experience in the disciplines of Leadership Development Coaching and Learning & Development, when it comes to leadership, I feel that there is always more to learn.
What does it take to be a great leader? Great leaders understand how to motivate and inspire their people to achieve both their personal goals and the goals of the organisation. A great leader has empathy, is approachable, believable, encouraging, and focused on the growth and development of their people.
At The LLC Academy, we use the GROW Model of coaching and mentoring because as a leader, one of your most important roles is to coach your people to be their best. Empowering people this way, enables them to make better decisions, solve problems that hold them back and learn new skills. This powerful tool is used to highlight, elicit and maximise inner potential through a series of sequential coaching questions, and is excellent particularly for problem solving and goal setting.
Problem solving is a particular interest of mine and is something I consider to be a crucial aspect of leadership. After all, the world has many problems to solve! The benefit of the GROW model is that its structure provides an extremely effective framework for progressive problem solving.
GROW stands for:
- GOAL: Where do you want to be? This needs to be clearly defined, so that you know when your goal has been achieved.
- REALITY: Where are you right now? What is your current reality? How far away are you from your goal? If you look at all the steps you need to take to reach your goal, how many of those steps have you already taken?
- OBSTACLES / OPTIONS: If there were no obstacles, you’d already be at your goal – so what’s standing in your way? Once you’ve identified your obstacles, you need to figure out how to overcome them – these are your options.
- WAY FORWARD: Convert these options into action steps and you have your way forward!
The greatest advantage of the GROW Model is its focus on fully understanding where you are right now, and where you want to go. Great leaders seek to understand before they leap in to make changes. That understanding begins with curiosity. I hope to be a curious, understanding and inspirational leader – after all, we are aiming for progress, not perfection!
If Eileen’s Outlook has piqued your curiosity, contact The LLC Academy. We have a range of programmes focused on developing the leaders of tomorrow, while giving you B-BBEE benefit today.