About coaching

BUILDING TRUST: By being honest, open and consistent and by showing the willingness to trust the team, the leader lays a strong team foundation for the good, but especially bad times.

AUTHENTICITY: A leader cannot help others unless he shares himself openly and honestly.

CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE: Only by making good heart and mind connections with people can the leader hope to influence them to co-operate enthusiastically.

PASSION: The leader does not only have to have a strong sense of responsibility, but passion for the cause.

ADAPTABILITY: Effective leadership is more a consequence of the leader's ability to adapt well to changes than a consequence of his knowledge or experience.

SELF-MOTIVATION: The leader motivates himself with his personal vision, passion, potential and moral convictions.

HONESTY/INTEGRITY: The leader is credible and ethical to the extent that his beliefs, values, attitude and behaviour forms an integrated whole.

SELF-REGARD: Positive self-regard is necessary for a leader in order to accept criticism, learn from it and continue leading with confidence.

LIFE-BALANCE/RESILIENCE: To sustain his energy and ability to focus, and to set a credible example, a leader needs to have good balance between the different areas of his life and model resilience.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS: Leadership is by definition action in the context of relationships. To ignore relationships contradicts leadership whereas building them enhances teamwork.

STRATEGIC THINKING: With the vision or goal in mind, leaders accept responsibility for the most effective way to achieve the vision or goal.

BUILDING SUPPORT: A leader must be able to build support for his ideas and direction or else fail as a leader.

BEING SERVANT: By choosing to serve and not boss the team, the leader builds them up and collectively they grow to become better leaders in service of the organisation.

VISIONARY THINKING: The mental picture of a desired destination, big or small, sparks focused activities and worthwhile endeavours, which is why leaders' first task is to imagine the ideal future.

SELF-INITIATIVE: To be a leader is to take the initiative to make a positive difference.

PERSEVERANCE: Leadership disappears when we give up and emerges when we choose to persevere when others would have given up.

CULTURAL AWARENESS: In an age of globalisation and culturally diverse workplaces, sensitivity for differences is critical to the leader's success in mobilising people as a community.

INSPIRING HOPE: Nothing is as damaging to an organisation as the negative attitudes of its people. It is the leader's uppermost responsibility to inspire hope and create a positive climate.

CREATIVITY/INNOVATION: Since leaders focus on potential and imagine the future to be different, they demonstrate and encourage innovative and creative thinking.

DECISION MAKING: With firm and apt individual decision making together with skilful facilitation of team decisions the leader ensures momentum and backing for the direction taken.

CHARACTER: Leadership involves many tests of courage, resilience and morality which make strong character indispensable.

TECHNOLOGY AWARENESS: Understanding the potential positive and negative effects of technology in the organisation enables the leader to balance human interests with efficiency.

BUILDING TEAM: It is in the development and performance of the team that the leader's effectiveness can be seen.

SELF-DISCIPLINE: The leader's self-discipline sets the standard and example for others without which consistent performance is not possible.

SELF-CONFIDENCE: To lead requires the confidence to take the first step and have others follow you.

RECOGNITION: Leaders recognise people privately and publicly out of real appreciation for their contributions as well as personal qualities.

COMMUNICATION: The leader's ability and commitment to communicate with clarity and appropriateness is essential to his leadership effectiveness.

TREND/SYSTEMS AWARENESS: A big-picture view to spot trends early on and an understanding of the influences of systems and their relationships is needed for the strategic direction that the leader must give.

SELF-AWARENESS: Self-awareness opens the door to effective communication and the leader's ability to relate to others.

LEADERSHIP STYLE: Different situations require different leadership styles to be effective. Good leaders are flexible and versatile in their style.

EMPOWER: The more empowered and free people feel, the more they give to the cause. Rather than trying to control, leaders show trust in people's inherent capabilities.

ORGANISATIONAL AWARENESS: Sufficient awareness of different aspects of the organisation, such as the reason for its existence, the history, structure and culture, enables the leader to align himself and his team effectively.