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Dussehra marks the triumph of Sri Rama over the 10-headed demon king Ravana, who abducted Rama’s wife, Mother Sita. Dussehra is also the culmination of the nine-day Navaratri festival. Ayudha Puja, worship of weapons, is done on the 8th day of the festival. In South India, especially in Kerala, worship of Mother Saraswathi, Goddess of knowledge and wisdom, is an important element. School-going children get a break from mandatory daily-learning when books and pencils are kept for worship on the 7th day, and taken after worship on the last day. ‘Ravana represents lust… Ravana’s lust cost him as well as other demons dearly’. ‘Real happiness lies in controlling the senses. When lust is sublimated and not suppressed, it is transformed into divine love, giving us inexhaustible joy. And the chanting of the holy names of God helps us sublimate lust’. Om Kama Krodha Dhwamsine Namaha

“Leadership is the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them still feeling empowered and accomplished.” – Lisa Cash Hanson Great leadership is about having the coaching mindset You have moved up the corporate ladder spending time and making the effort to check all the right boxes – academics, meeting the deadlines, upgrading skills, achieving targets and more. However, there is a lot of difference in becoming the leader and being the leader. Just being good at your job is not enough anymore, leadership as you grow up the ladder is more and more about managing people than completing tasks. As Marshall Goldsmith says, “What has got you here, will not get you there”. You must make the transition to be the leader who inspires the team to put forth the best foot forward. Inspiration happens only when you move away from “Command and Control” mode to “Empower and commit”. This transition requires you to suspend judgements, provide support and guidance, rather than tell or give instructions. Coaching mindset helps build trust, enables people working with you adapt to the constantly changing and challenging environment, in ways that unleash ownership, enthusiasm and accountability. When Satya Nadella took over as the CEO of Microsoft, he moved the mindset of people from “know it all” to “learn it all “. He went around the organisation soliciting thoughts and listening empathetically. This helped him bring the change that Microsoft most needed. He embodied a coaching mindset, where he would always ask the below questions What are we trying to do? What worked? What did not work? How can we get there? With disruption, remote working, and the need to deliver more with less being the new norm, moving to a coaching mindset, is the most important leadership and organisational development initiative needed to transform yourself and your organisation. What happens when leaders move to a coaching mindset? Team will feel inclusive and valued. Work Relationship improves. You will create a team comprising of free thinkers and stimulate greater thinking People find newer solutions to problems never faced before. People own, commit and are enthusiastic towards the work You will inspire your team to shift the game to the next level. Why sign up with us? Based on the framework of International Coaching Federation- The gold standard in Coaching Learn what and how of the coaching competencies – Less theory, more practice Learn how to implement coaching in day to day workplace conversations Grasp Coaching related skills and concepts Learn Powerful and transformational coaching related tools. Transformation is where ‘ We believe that the coaching mindset is a must-have at all levels of management and not only for senior executives. To combat the waves of change, the organisations must transition from the ‘Managing Mindset’ to the ‘Coaching Mindset’ to an organisation, where Leaders are Coaches .

In a leadership role, the most important thing you can do is help your team members make progress on what is meaningful for them. That is the most powerful motivating experience at work. Many leaders neither take out time for development conversations nor have the skills to do it. Consequently, employee growth, engagement, and retention suffers. Leaders who engage in coaching conversations , create a better connection with their team members. When they help someone achieve something important for them, it is a transforming experience. This not only leads to greater employee satisfaction, but also helps the leaders feel better about themselves. Listed below are the best five ways to have a meaningful coaching conversation… Five ways for having a better coaching conversation The COACHING CULTURE begins by having better COACHING CONVERSATIONS! To add more meaning and satisfaction in your job as a leader, you can have regular coaching conversations with your team members to support their ongoing learning and development. 1. Listen actively We have all experienced a conversation wherein we try to communicate something important, while the other person is drifted and distracted. Contrast to this, imagine the experience of having someone listening attentively to every word you have to say, with an open mind and an open heart. There is sea of difference between the two. The experience of being ‘completelypresent’ is a game changer. Active Listening is the beginning of a coaching conversation. You could start a coaching conversation with a question like, “What goals would you like to achieve from this session?” Equally important is to create time and a conducive space for a coaching conversation, wherein you have no physical/mental distractions. Doing this engages your team members and encourages them to open up and be creative. 2. Ask, don’t tell Leaders are used to being direct in telling their team members what to do. This prescriptive attitude works with defining milestones for project plans or when consulted for expert advice. However, in coaching conversations, leaders need to control the temptation to provide answers. Your way need not be your employee’s way. Coaching is all about asking relevant and powerful open-ended questions. To succeed as a coach, you enable your team members to define their goals and challenges and find their own answers. When they do this, their priorities are clarified, and they identify solutions that are aligned with what is important to them and that they are committed to. 3. Build a developmental partnership While a coach does not provide answers, a coach supports their team members’ developmental goals and learning plans. For example, if an employee aspires to be a project manager and wants to assist a project manager to learn how to manage projects, then providing that opportunity becomes the responsibility of the leader, if you agree that this would benefit both the employee and the organization. Following through is essential for strengthening the developmental partnership. Checking on progress, helping with difficulties, appreciating new achievements are few of the actions to take, for follow-through support of developmental plans. The more a leader does this, the better trust they gain from employees, who become even better engaged, in a virtuous cycle. 4. Focus on finding solutions During coaching conversations, a team member may go on venting their frustrations. They may say they don’t have time to learn or build a network; there is too much pressure or a demanding customer who takes up all their attention. While acknowledging the frustrations, a leader/coach encourages the employee to find a solution to deal with them. A leader/coach can ask, “Which actions of yours will help build your competency in delivering on your primary objectives and add value to the organization?” “How could you take out some time every week to work on your development plan?” ” Do you have any ideas on how we as a team could become more efficient so that we can free up time for our development?” 5. Take ownership While you follow through on commitments made to your team members during coaching conversations, you need to ensure that they, too, take ownership of creating and implementing their development plans. Ownership strengthens the effectiveness of coaching conversations, making it a critical part of organization development. Encourage team members to develop their learning plans, achieve their development goals and the investment requirements by a deadline, and increase ownership. You will then need to support it, on time, as well. What will I gain from coaching my team members? Coaching strengthens your relationship with your team members, encourages them to take ownership of their learning and build the competencies they need for their current role and future aspirations. You will enjoy greater satisfaction from your role, as your team delivers better performance, gets more creative, delivers innovations for customers, and adds value to the organization. So, let’s get started with coaching conversations. Do consider getting Coach training by attending the Regal Coach Certification Program for practicing and aspiring leaders. We have world-class master coaches, certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). If you are looking forward for meaningful conversations, find us here:

9 Months of Covid19 We have got so caught up with our day to day life, we have forgotten to dream. We have forgotten what were our old dreams. We have stopped reflecting.  Covid19  was an opportunity to pause for perspectives. But are we making full use of it? We have forgotten we can set goals, work for them, and #ManifestMagic. As a friend mentioned recently, I have gained an inch or two around my waist, maybe gained a kilo or two screen time has gone up would have loved to meditate more If  success  about where I am today compared to where I was in March… has it been a success or more a failure? You just do the best you can with what you’ve got.. and sometimes magic strikes: Sally Field Regal@60: Beyond IKIGAI What is the best age to become the POTUS? Is there a right age? Does it help to become a young president, for the president and the country? or is it better to have a seasoned politician with experience and wisdom. It does not depend on external factors. Only based on politicians’ preferences. It is a matter of personal choice. Ladder Vs Wall : Often we look at the ladder and the effort to climb up. We don’t pause to check if the ladder is on the right wall. This also is applicable to all leaders. Joe Biden’s journey of being one of the youngest senators to the oldest US President In 1972, was first elected and has since served six terms as a senator for the state of Delaware. Aged 29, he was one of the  youngest  people ever elected to the US Senate and was ranked as one of the  leastwealthy  members in the Senate. Two failed attempts for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008, finally secured this year. If you can dream it, you can do it – Walt Disney The presidential  dreams  that the veteran leader from Delaware had harbored since childhood seemed all but over for a third time until he won South Carolina’s Democratic Party primary on February 29, forcing most rivals out of the race and making one of the most  dramatic  comebacks in American political history. Leadership is about #IQ2EQ2SQ – At Soul level. While accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in August, Biden pledged to restore the “soul of America”, and be an “ally of the light, not the darkness. Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya – Lead from darkness to light. Is that not what is leadership? To lead…. to lead to light? Leadership  is about setting #goals, aligned with dreams working on them, selflessly:  #legacy  is linked only to selflessness focus on collective good  #I2We2He What if there was still a chance? What if you could #ManifestMagic in next 50 days of 2020? What would it take to step back, set goals, and work towards them?

Culture is the Most Critical Element of Any Workplace, Culture is the most critical element of every corporate workplace. A shared culture unites all employees towards achieving a common purpose. Organizations that do not build a common culture have disconnected silos of functions or departments that are not delivering their true potential. Shared core values that everyone follows are the foundation of a culture that may include communication, excellence, integrity, passion, performance, respect, trust, sharing, teamwork, technology, and a global outlook. What is a coaching culture? An organization that has adopted coaching practices as their primary way of leading and developing people can be described as having a coaching culture. Such an organization grows and develops through its leaders using a coaching method and style to lead and develop its people. In an organization with a coaching culture, leaders do not see coaching as an added burden that takes up too much time. They see coaching as an efficient and effective way of improving team performance, resulting in improved business performance. Such leaders know when a coaching style is required to lead their teams, and they will apply coaching skills in their role as leaders . What is done differently in organizations with a coaching culture? Some of the things that you would see being done differently in an organization with a coaching culture: Employees have the opportunity and receive encouragement, to come up with their own ideas, solutions to problems, and ways of achieving their goals, instead of being told exactly what to do by their managers. Employees feel more empowered and are highly committed to action, as they have been a part of the decision making process. Problems are solved more creatively, explored openly and non-judgmentally. There is less looking for someone to blame by leaders and team members. Leaders coach employees to grow and develop their full potential. Team members take ownership of their individual development with the support of their leaders. Who does the coaching? In organizations with a coaching culture, leaders take ownership of coaching their team members and have received the training and coaching to build their skills. Some leaders may also be designated as coaches to those who are not their own team members to enable a more open and honest discussion, mainly where performance issues are due to manager-employee relationships. While a true coaching culture can only be achieved when leaders fully commit to coaching as an essential part of their role, external coaches may be used and may be seen as ‘safe’ and impartial to organizational dynamics. Organizations usually hire external coaches to kick start the building of coaching skills and mindsets of leaders and team members and help grow the organization’s culture of coaching.oaching mindset, leader as coach The benefits of creating a coaching culture All organizations face the challenge of creating a great culture, where you have great leaders who find great talent, lead them to outstanding achievements through solving problems creatively and methodically and consistently. Leaders can accomplish this by developing their coaching skills , and the organizational processes support a coaching culture. The advantages of a coaching leadership style are: Increased engagement Developing people and improving performance Higher levels of creativity and agility Increased levels of ownership among employees Strengthens change management capabilities How does coaching strengthen management capabilities? Research conducted by the International Coach Federation shows that high-performing organizations have more robust change management capabilities. Coaching is an impactful way to successfully initiate and execute change management in an organisation. Leaders coaching their team members to build and lead an agile culture is correlated with their greater confidence in their team members’ strengths in planning and executing change. The research also found stronger coaching cultures associated with a more substantial talent pool, improved business results, and tremendous success at managing large-scale change. Coaching is an integral element of the evolving leadership roles Coaching is no longer an experience reserved exclusively for overstressed senior executives. Coaching is now a rapidly growing means for organizations to develop their people who take greater ownership for their actions, communicate more efficiently, collaborate with others, and are motivated by their goals. As organizations create a coaching culture, people listen actively, question constructively, feel empowered, enjoy better relationships, and feel comfortable conducting authentic two-way conversations. Therefore, investing in building a coaching culture is now a strategically important priority for all organizations. We, at Regal Unlimited believe that “Coaching is the future of Leadership” and offer exclusive programs on coaching , coach-training and healing to equip the corporate leaders, change agents, agile and scrum practitioners, self-employed business owners and professionals with coaching mindset and thereby assisting them in stepping up their leadership game and institutionalizing the coaching culture in an organization.

Yes, it is a dream come true, and “all our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them” and our team has consistently demonstrated the courage, grit, and character in making this dream a reality. It was on 12.12.12 that we decided to set the bird free and become committed to this cause of tapping the unlimited opportunities and potential that lie in each individual (to be regal ). Leaving the plush corridors of the corporate, we chose to pursue our calling… Coaching and Coach Training. Yes, it was a courageous decision but not the difficult one. Helping executives and leaders achieve their maximum potential was the purpose we are passionate about. So, we sailed away from the safe harbor and plunged into crafting this REGAL journey. The journey has been phenomenal, meeting some amazing comrades and fellow travelers, gathering lessons and learnings from their valuable experiences, touching and impacting the lives of leaders (men and women) across industries and functions. We have nurtured an exclusive community of 200+ REGAL COACHES, have trained and mentored around 1000+ leaders through our uniquely designed program ‘Leaders as Coaches’ and have been a catalyst to around 50 + corporations in excelling their performance and in furthering business outcomes. The 8 years of ‘REGAL IMPACT’ would not have been possible without the constant support and efforts from our small team (read family!!!) We have grown stronger, defying the odds, challenging each other, and supporting all the same. Only a passionate team can make a dream manifest… and this dream for sure owes its success to our team.  We take this opportunity to look back at each of the fellow regal coaches and deeply cherish our conversations and learnings. We express our heartfelt gratitude to all the REGAL COACHES for being supportive in this journey with us. With humility and reverence, we look back at the 8 years of transformation and have strong faith in the direction we want to go for many more years to come!!! We still remember the baby steps we were taking, today we take pride in taking the REGAL flight, high in the mighty sky, still rooted in the ‘ground’

Introduction Culture forms the DNA of an organization; creates its identity and personality. Culture is now accorded greater emphasis than ever before. One of the findings of a Deloitte study shows that 94% of executives and 88% of employees consider a distinct workplace culture important to workplace success. In one of our previous article we discussed, Why You Should Create a Coaching Culture?  In that we covered: why we think culture is the most critical element of any workplace; what is a coaching culture; what do we see being done differently in organizations with a coaching culture; who does the coaching; the benefits of creating a coaching culture; how does coaching strengthen change management capabilities; and that coaching is an integral element of the changing trend of leading people. Therefore, investing in building a coaching culture is now a strategically important priority for all organizations. In this article we will cover where do you start when you want to build a coaching culture. Why culture is important for coaching to succeed? Many organizations are investing time and resources on developing coaching competency, expecting that over a period of time, it would become a part of its DNA, and improve employee engagement and productivity. Yet, that does not happen. The culture that does not support coaching, is usually is the roadblock for coaching to become a part of the way of working. For coaching to succeed at the workplace and deliver business outcomes, it must become the way of working across the organization. Every level must experience it and it needs to be ingrained in every conversation. Here are four steps to do enable this. 1. Begin at the top Senior leaders in strong coaching cultures are 60% more likely to be involved in coaching programs . Leaders must “Be the change,” for coaching to become an integral part of the culture. It must become a topic discussed at every meeting, discussion of strategy, and informal conversation. Leaders must communicate the benefits of coaching not just by talking about it, but performing it every day to set the right example. When senior leaders, lead by example, everyone follows. To ensure that it does not become a passing fad, the leaders must motivate their teams through demonstrating how coaching can engage employees, improve team productivity, strengthen leadership skills, and be more innovative. Employees soon see that coaching adds value to them. 2. Train every one Train every employee, regardless of role or level, on the process of coaching for performance improvement. Organizations with pervasive coaching cultures, when compared to those that were less successful, were found to be 40% more likely to provide coaching training to every employee. Through the use of classroom or virtual sessions, make coaching training and development a regular activity. Follow through, with ensuring that the learning is being practiced often to help build and strengthen coaching skills, all across. 3. Put learning into practice To create a coaching culture, you need to put together and implement a plan to support the transition to coaching, as a way of working. It is important to have a follow up plan that works in synch with the organization’s business review cadence. Some organizations deliver a coaching training followed up by small group discussions. Some use a reporting systems, coaching platforms and even apps. Either way, it’s critical to ensure that everyone applies what they have learnt through regular follow ups. 4. Broaden Accountability for Results Organizations often put the responsibility to be accountable, on managers. However, when coaching is put into practice, the situation can change completely. Coaching develops employees that are encouraged to take decisions and own their choices. This process supports employees in taking ownership of their performance and managers to take ownership of how they coach their team members. How does that happen? First, ensure that coaching conversations  are being experienced by all employees. Second, track and publish the data about all the coaching conversations in the organization and the success being achieved by each coach. This data will help the senior management decide on changes that may be required to the program. Finally, if your organization is already investing in developing coaches, don’t stop there. Make it a part of every conversation, being experienced by employees all across. You can then see greater engagement, better productivity, and improved performance across the organization.

There is a strong business case for building and nurturing a coaching culture in organizations. A 2017 study performed by the International Coach Federation and Human Capital Institute found that those organizations with strong coaching cultures grew their revenue much more than industry peer group members (51% versus 38%). Their employees were significantly more engaged (62% versus 50%). A lot of coach training does not produce results because of neglecting to build a coaching culture that supports coaching as a way of life. Older, traditional command and control cultures, unless changed, will come in the course of coaching, becoming the way of managing a business. No amount of training will help. However, culture is based on shared values or principles. They can make a big difference. We have earlier discussed Why Should You Create a Coaching Culture? and Where do you start when you want to build a coaching culture? Now let us take a look at an organization that was built on a coaching culture. It has achieved remarkable growth in multiple businesses while starting from scratch and challenging entrenched incumbents. Studying Richard Branson’s Virgin Group gives us the 3 Pillars of a Coaching Culture that every organization that wants to build a coaching culture should consider adopting. The Virgin Group Case Study Richard Branson created the Virgin Group in 1970. As he and his partners had literally no experience in initiating and running businesses. Yet they made multiple successful businesses beginning with Music and going on to unrelated Airlines, and many others. The Virgin Group has now been in existence for 50 years, currently operating 40 companies across five business sectors and five continents. The business sectors are as diverse as Travel & Leisure, Health & Wellness, Music & Entertainment, Telecoms & Media, Financial Services, and even Space. Some quotes from Richard Branson that exemplify his coaching oriented leadership style are given below: “The simple fact is that nobody ever learned anything by listening to themselves speak.” A coach usually does not tell but asks questions and listens. “Frustration can be an enormous driver of change if you are good at spotting the opportunity sitting right at the center of a problem.” Looking for problems to solve is a way to find an opportunity than to live with frustration. Coaching is about helping people solve their problems by themselves. “Surround yourself with people that are smarter than you, give them everything they need to grow, and your business will thrive.” When you hire talented people without feeling insecure and give them the freedom, resources, and support they need, they will ensure the business will do well. “In order to grow, you must be able to let go.” It is important to give people freedom. “There’s only one thing that is an absolute certainty in business – we all make mistakes.” If you want team members to be creative, experiment, do new things, take risks, they will inevitably make mistakes. The most innovative organizations not only tolerate mistakes, some even celebrate them. “My mantra in business has always been ‘screw it, let’s do it!’ and that has meant that Virgin has pursued a number of ideas that haven’t worked out. I don’t see them as failures; I see them as experiences to be learned from.” Willingness to learn from failures helps build future success. The 3 Pillars of a Coaching Culture Richard Branson hired Carol Wilson to run the music business. He had asked her what she was inspired to do (a coach asks questions), and she wanted to do anything but the job of a secretary, which was what women mostly did back then. She didn’t know the music business, but no one else did either. It took her two years to realize how and in the third year, they launched the business, and in five years, they were able to compete with Warner Brother and CBS (now Sony). She writes that in the first two years, while learning, she achieved less than experienced managers, but after that, achieved much more than other managers in the industry as she was able to discover new ways of doing things. ( https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sir-richard-bransons-coaching-culture-virgin-carol-wilson/ ) With her extensive experience in the music business, she writes about the three principles that are the pillars of a coaching culture: Responsibility If people are micro-managed, they stop thinking for themselves. Provide a strategic plan, skills training, information access, freedom to decide, and to act how it suits them best. Encourage diversity of skills, thoughts, opinions, and approaches in teams. Given responsibility, people will rise to the challenge if given a safe and supportive environment. Coaching ensures that the peers / team members have a safe-space ensuring emotional and psychological safety from judgement and bias. Self-belief To build self-assurance in people to suggest new ideas, they need encouragement. To build faith and courage in their abilities to carry them out, they need to be allowed to learn through trial and error. The same way that a parent instinctively allows a child to fall several times while learning to walk. At the workplace, the supervisor tends to behave differently. To encourage and motivate new thinking and new ideas is critical. Blame free If an organization is ever to become a coaching culture. Nurturing an environment where mistakes are treated as a learning process rather than a case for punishment is warranted. To build a coaching culture , it is critical to maintain an environment where mistakes are treated as a learning process rather than being punished. People who are punished for failure will do what they have succeeded in doing before. They will avoid doing anything new, which would make it impossible to keep pace with a fast-changing environment. COACHING: The most powerful intervention for the future!!! If your organization is not run on these three principles, you need to change the way leaders think and act. Do educate your leaders on the mindset necessary for coaching. If your organization has these principles in mind but does not always succeed, you need to keep working at it to get better, as the more people are respected, the higher the level of trust, the better the level of performance. Start getting your leaders focused on learning how to coach. Regal Unlimited provides coach training and coaching to executives , organizational leaders of repute in upskilling their performance. If your organization is already doing well in practicing all three, you have the three pillars of coaching in place and are probably informally doing coaching already. You can accelerate the process with a company-wide formal coaching initiative. Regal Unlimited has had success stories of launching and running enterprise-wide Coaching Programs , where in Tier 1 and Tier 2 Leaders of the organizations have successfully undergone coaching interventions.

“An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.”- African Proverb. This proverb captures the essence of the importance of leadership. The Leader has the responsibility to steer the organization to achieve its objectives and targets. Change is the only constant. The leader must be well equipped to navigate the winds of change.  The future workplaces will have coaches and not bosses. As the leadership baton is handed over to Millennials and Gen-Z, the traditional autocratic leadership style will not work. Leadership and its style must be revamped to cater to the new reality. Coaching style of leadership is the answer. Leaders, as coaches, will provide guidance and support while their team members learn to adapt to change thereby driving organizational growth on an entirely new horizon. Coaching leadership style is growing in success and relevance at workplaces. Coaching has become a necessity and is no more a luxurious choice for the leaders. Why Does Coaching For Leaders Matter? “Coaching is the future of leadership.”- Subash CV, Founder and Managing Partner, Regal Unlimited. On a personal level, coaching for leaders- ● Increases Self-Awareness ● Builds Self-Confidence ● Works on Strengths ● Develops Communication Skills On a professional level, coaching for leaders- ● Brings New Perspectives ● Builds Executive Presence ● Improves Business Performance ● Better Teamwork & Collaboration Leadership Coaching not only maximizes the potential of the leader but also enables the organization to realize its potential. The top 6 ways organizations can benefit from Leadership Coaching are: 1. Helps increase revenue/ margin 2. Develops the leadership pipeline to create able successors 3. Equips leaders for change management 4. Can reduce/ arrest attrition 5. Improves team performance 6. Helps set healthy company culture The Leader’s Role as a Coach Is Critical For The Organization “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”- Ronald Reagan. The team is as important as the captain. If the leaders give the space to their team members, the team will be able to tap into their potential and achieve greater results. The role of a leader is undergoing great change. However the leader, as a coach, would have the responsibility to- ● Lead instead of managing teams and employees ● Maximize the team’s/organization’s potential and performance ● Stimulate innovation and growth ● Shape new leaders Coaching leadership style helps unlock untapped potential and improve performance. You can read more about that on our dedicated blog. To enable coaching leadership, one may enable with hiring an ICF credentialed coach to coach leaders to strengthen their personal and professional skills. Leaders can also become better at coaching by mastering the methods and discipline of coaching from these mentor coaches. This is vital towards creating the right capability in leaders. However, it is also important to create a learning organization. All leaders must work as coaches for their team members. This helps develop an innovative culture in organizations that can deal with the rapid pace of change in the business environment and the customers’ fast evolving needs and demands. The innovative culture helps organizations build a competitive advantage. One More Time – What Is Coaching? Coaching leadership is the antidote to the traditional leadership style. The leader’s approach is the differentiating factor in the leadership styles Autocratic leadership relies on top-down decision making. Coaching leadership style is infused with partnering, collaboration, guidance and support. Coaching leadership style involves leaders providing assistance and direction as against commands and orders. Employees learn how to adapt to a rapidly changing environment in ways that spark vitality, ingenuity, and commitment. Mentoring cannot be misconstrued as coaching. Mentoring involves an expert sharing knowledge with a less experienced team member. Although mentoring is valuable, it is not coaching. Coaching involves asking powerful questions that provoke insights and introspection in team members. Skillful coaching helps leaders, as coaches, to help their employees to reach into their untapped potential to maximize their performance.  What Prevents Leaders From Being Good Coaches Change is not easy but it is unavoidable. “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”- Winston Churchill Some of the challenges that leaders face in their journey of becoming good coaches are: 1. Misunderstanding Coaching Many leaders confuse coaching with mentoring, counseling, therapy et al. Coaching is none of that. The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. This lack of understanding is one of the main reasons why leaders do not become good coaches. 2.Perception of Coaching to be tedious and uncomfortable Leaders who are used to dealing with subdued performance by telling people what to do look at coaching as a very soft approach. “If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority.”- Proverb Commanding and direct people asserts authority which can be addicting. As coaching is not about asserting authority, rather partnering, many leaders may feel uncomfortable with coaching. This lack of comfort can lead to excuses like lack of time, lack of requirement, or team not being coachable et al. This assumption is further strengthened by research findings that have found that leaders usually rank coaching as their least favorite style of leadership. 3.Tendency to overestimate coaching skills Many leaders tend to overestimate their own coaching effectiveness and ability. This was proven through a study where it was found that 24% of managers overestimated their skills and rated themselves above average while their team members ranked them in the bottom third. This is a huge discrepancy.  This proves that the coaching skills in managers are often worse than they think. 4.Coaching can be challenging In a Leader As Coach program session, managers were asked to role-play a scene where a manager had to choose between firing and coaching an underperformer.  The plot- The underperformer has made a mistake and the situation has been aggravated by some confusion caused by the manager by alternating between ignoring the employee or micromanaging him. 9 out of 10 managers want to fire him.The manager knows he must ask and listen and not tell and sell.  The conversation- Manager: How do you think you are doing? (It is good to begin with an open-ended question) Employee: I am doing good. (Unexpected answer) Manager: Do you think there were any areas where you could have done better? (Paraphrases the question) Employee: I think I did accomplish most of what I was expected to do (Again, not the expected answer, adding to the frustration) Manager: Don’t you think your skills and talents are better suited to a different role than what you are doing now? (Asking leading questions) Employee: No, I think I am in the right role. I like doing this job. (Getting defensive. Less likely to give the expected answer.) Manager: Look, I think you are not delivering what is expected from a person in this role. I think you should look for an alternate role elsewhere. (This is telling; to get the message across) There exists a misunderstanding between the manager and the employee. The manager believes that he put in his best and the employee is to blame. The employee feels that he is being singled out unfairly and does not understand why he is being treated so. This conversation is an example of what is not coaching. There was no learning or growth as an outcome of this conversation. This scenario is a recurring event in organizations. This is why employees rate their managers poorly in coaching. Organizations with such managers are adversely affected on multiple levels. Low levels of employee engagement, talent retention, creativity and innovation, and under-motivated underperforming employees lead to low customer satisfaction and underachievement of organizational goals. Why is Leadership Coaching Important? The Keys Benefits “One of the most important actions, things a leader can do, is to lead by example. If you want everyone else to be passionate, committed, dedicated, and motivated, you go first!”- Marshall Goldsmith Leaders face a constantly challenging environment. They need to be best equipped to navigate the winds of change. 8 reasons why leadership coaching is important are- To handle change and disruption more effectively We live in uncertain times. The pandemic, the looming recession, the Russia-Ukraine War, and inflation pose multiple challenges to a business. A coaching mindset enables a leader, as a coach, to emerge as a more resilient, agile leader. Your coaching mindset extends and creates a safe space for your employees to function at their full potential irrespective of the challenges and changes in the organization. To enhance productivity A research by Delotte reveals that organizations where senior leaders coach effectively have better business results, an increase of 21%, when compared to other organizations without coaching leadership style! To improve collaboration Leaders who coach inspire and motivate teams to resolve conflicts. This resolution enhances effective collaboration which gets teams to work towards common goals. Satya Nadella is a great example of how a coaching style of leadership was instrumental in transforming Microsoft’s competitive culture to a collaborative one. To enhance problem-solving capabilities Coaching transcends into a space of genuine curiosity and questioning that enables struggling teams to identify areas of concern and discover solutions. This path of self-discovery motivates teams to adopt corrective action and achieve excellence. To embed a coaching culture in the organization When the organization adopts a coaching leadership style, the coaching mindset percolates down and eventually becomes a part of the organization culture.  TCS benefited from a coaching culture that helped them face challenges that came with the pandemic. To achieve short-term and long-term goals Leaders, as coaches, enable teams to achieve short-term and long-term goals effectively using the GROW Model. Achieving short-term goals regularly fuels the motivation to achieve long-term goals.  To adapt to the current workforce The workforce is changing. As the leadership hands over the baton to the Millennials and Gen-Z, the traditional working style will not stick. Their motivations and aspirations are starkly different from their predecessors. They are seen to respond best to new-age leadership styles like the coaching leadership style. To manage diversity Leaders, as coaches, are perceived and are more empathic and inclusive while managing a diverse workforce. Coming back to the TCS example, the leaders began to respect different time zones which was seen as a direct result of adopting the coaching mindset. How To Become a Better Coach? There are a few strategies you can employ to become a better coach.  1. Hire ICF Credentialed Trained Coaches to experience Leadership Coaching  2. Get an ICF certification and credential 3. Continuously educate yourself by reading more books and attending webinars You can read our blog on why leaders should consider becoming coaches for further details. How Can Regal Unlimited Help Good Leaders Become Coaches? Leader As Coach Program-  Our Leader As Coach program is an in-house curated premier leadership program that is based on the ICF and EMCC frameworks that helps embed a coaching culture in the organization. The LAC program has empowered more than 1000 leaders to add coaching to their skill set. These leaders, as coaches, have inspired and motivated their teams and transformed the fortunes of their organizations. You can read more about our Leader As Coach program here . ICF Certification and Credentialing-  Get an ICF certification and credential with us. Regal Unlimited is an ICF certified coach training institute. With 8 years of experience, our track record is enviable and our competition pales in comparison.  ● Our trainers are ICF MCC and PCC coaches so you are learning with the best. ● In the last few years our learner coaches have had a 100% success rate. ● Out of 50,000 ICF certified coaches globally, 300+ are our alumni! The Regal Coaches Community is a vibrant community that is engaged in continuing education, business and support. You are the best. You deserve to learn with the best. You can check our webpage for further details.

In our previous blog, 3 Pillars of a Coaching Culture , we looked at Carol Wilson’s experience at the Virgin Group with Richard Branson, who built many successful, unrelated yet profitable businesses by adding unique value to customers across several industries. One primary reason for Richard Branson’s success was incorporating a Coaching Culture at the Virgin Group. He was always willing to listen as he believed he didn’t know everything and was ready to trust experts and give people the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. That kind of leadership is based on creating three strong pillars on which the coaching culture is built at the Virgin Group. To recap, these are: Responsibility – Giving people the responsibility along with the freedom to decide and act. Self-belief – Encourage and motivate to try new ideas and learn through trial and error. Blame free – Treating mistakes as learning opportunities, rather than punishment cases. Blame free – Treating mistakes as learning opportunities, rather than punishment cases. As a leader, when you practice these values every day, it becomes a part of the organization’s DNA and inherent to the culture of the organization. These are very powerful in ensuring that coaching is pervasive and not superficial. It then becomes the way of working. Launching a Coaching Culture If your organization is convinced that coaching can significantly elevate the organization’s level of performance and add substantial value to the business, you would like to build a coaching culture, where to make a beginning is usually the first question. After the 3 Pillars above, which are critical values to practice for a coaching culture, you may refer to our previous blog, “ Where do you start when you want to build a coaching culture? ” These are: Begin at the top – When senior leaders lead by example, everyone follows. Train everyone – Through classroom or virtual sessions, make coaching training and development a regular activity. Put learning into practice – It’s critical to ensure that everyone applies what they have learned through regular follow-ups. Broaden Accountability for Results – This process supports employees in taking ownership of their performance and managers in taking ownership of how they coach their team members. Having understood the above four elements of the approach to take when launching a coaching culture, it is time to get down to the brass-tacks and develop an action plan to build a coaching culture at your organization. So now we will get into the details of the step by step process for doing it. For this, we can again refer to what Carol Wilson talks about, from her experience in leading Virgin Music and other music companies, on what you can do to build a coaching culture at your organization., in her blog post about the innovative 10 point plan for building a coaching culture. 10 Steps to creating a coaching culture Vision and purpose: Having a clear purpose for building a coaching culture. The goal may vary. Some organizations may want to be more innovative. Others may want to improve accountability and performance. Some others may be struggling to manage growth or the after-effects of downsizing. Organizational health check: What do we have and what do we need? What budget do we have? What is already covered in existing learning programs? What should we keep, and what should we replace with a coaching program? Identifying the stakeholders: The people who have an interest or are affected by the program. They may include: Influencers – Board members, HR & OD Head. Approvers – CEO, CFO, Function/Dept Heads. Users – Managers, Team Leaders. Shapers – L&D and HR Head. Getting buy-in: Not just from those who approve budgets like CEO/CFO but also other stakeholders.  Where to start: Discuss with experts, coach training providers, and research, then select who to partner with. Get the best you can. What to measure: Depending on building the coaching culture, you can come up with the right measures. It is essential to differentiate between benefits directly attributable to coaching versus those because of other actions by asking questions like: What benefits are attributable to coaching by how much (estimated percentage)? What tangible benefits are attributable to coaching? Increased sales, higher customer satisfaction, greater productivity, cost savings are examples. Implement pilots: It is safer to start with a small pilot project and resolve any issues that may come up before launching company-wide. Evaluation and forward planning: Budget time to take feedback from all stakeholders to make adjustments. This also increases with stakeholders. Implement the next phase: After the adjustments, you can roll them out across the company. Maintain the momentum: Coaching programs generate energy and enthusiasm. They are to be encouraged and motivated as managers and team leaders implement these coaching actions. When coaching programs ‘go viral,’ people become happier, kinder, more aware of themselves and others. Organizational performance improves with reduced stress at work and freedom from fear. Regal Unlimited can help organizations of the future to create, nurture and institutionalize the coaching culture through their exclusive program for corporate leaders – Leaders as Coaches . We have done this program globally for corporates, senior leaders, and professionals.

The ongoing #Covid19 pandemic has unveiled how little we are doing to sustain our organizations in the future. Unpredictable change and disruption can come in the most unexpected ways and times. Organizations, leaders, and employees all need to be better equipped to deal with the existing and forthcoming dynamic environment. Competencies that made leaders successful in the past are longer adequate. Leaders are unable to cope with the fast pace of change. These are times when leaders and individuals need #coaching to develop new capabilities to enable themselves, their teams, and organizations to grow and thrive in the #VUCA world of today and tomorrow. The culture of coaching helps build a culture of resilience The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors.”  Defining the word more simply, #resilience , according to Merriam Webster, “is the ability to bounce back from change or challenge.” The Covid19 #Pandemic has been one of the biggest challenges facing a whole generation of leaders. Resultantly, the new leadership skill set encapsulates being mindful, self-aware, and able to cope with new challenges while maintaining wellbeing and continuing to lead your people effectively. Coaching can help develop these skills to overcome ongoing challenges and improve performance. Let’s look into a few challenges faced by most leaders today, where coaching can help them bounce back from the situations. Balancing remote working needs while providing everyone fair access to communication, support, development, and inclusion. Transforming crisis – transpired from lost opportunities – by developing a progressive mindset and seizing subsequent opportunities. Boosting your team’s morale while keeping up your own, showing intense energy – all the time! Establishing a culture of problem-solving, resilience, processes, team-spirit, and coaching. The future of leadership is coaching At Regal Unlimited we believe that fostering mentorship and coaching culture at work is integral for companies to survive the pandemic and the way ahead. The shift to remote working spaces requires us to focus on employee development as central to better communication and collaboration within teams. With more employees spending time alone and limited face-to-face interactions, we need to support and make time for morale-boosting, team building, and positive interactions between teams. Our  leadership coaching programs support leaders to drive more engagement and motivation to help employees understand the value of aligning personal goals with those of the organization As companies assess the impact of Covid-19, we, at Regal Unlimited, propose to assist leaders & executives and facilitate them through the new #crisis at work. The opportunities and the tool-kit provided in our coaching programs help develop a skill set to adapt and create positive changes within an organization and address concerns and “put out fires” effectively. As we examine the workforce’s return to the workplace or even remote work setups, we must rise to meet challenges with optimism and find potential in the processes and people involved. “Capable leaders, backed by credible coaching, support their teams with empathy &  inclusiveness, and create a collaborative effort that results in a value-driven work-life that inspires action.

The idea of taking time from a busy work schedule for executive coaching sessions seems to be an extravagance and only the recipe for a nightmare of backlogged tasks to get done. Also, you often have the feeling that it is superfluous as you have the expertise for the job. After all, consecutive positions in a successful career have led you to the position, and you have gathered the competence needed as you progressed in your job. However, in the days of ever-changing global work environments, it pays to step back and upgrade your skills in the context of the specific challenges you are facing.  This is where executive coaching steps in. Regal Unlimited has offered one-on-one executive coaching programs in India to reputed organisations in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc., and also to aspiring executives overseas. What Exactly Is Executive Coaching? ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Executive coaching involves partnering with you to unleash your hidden potential. What Can an Executive Coach Do for You? An executive coach can help you become the best possible version of yourself as a leader, unleash your hidden potential, thereby, improving your personal and professional life. By partnering with you in a deep conversation, asking you questions from a space of child-like curiosity, an executive coach will nudge you to achieve any audacious goal set by a leader and overcome any stifling challenge identified by the leader. There are several reasons why investing time in the Executive Coaching Program is beneficial; we list 11 of them here: 1. Customized for the Coachee The coaching process in some of theexecutive coaching programs of Bengaluru and Mumbai assigned a coach to the executive undergoing the Coaching. An initial session is devoted to the coach and client understanding each other. This ensures that the coaching process is tailored to the client’s requirements and is therefore much more useful than online courses that are more generic in the structure where the course contents may not be suitable for the client’s job demands. So when we coach you, your experience is entirely unique owing to the curated offering. 2. Gives the big picture In a demanding job of an executive, your day is often filled with daily tasks that have to be completed with strict deadlines. These tasks organically take over your time and reduce the time available to think about long-term strategies and plans. The coachnig sessions create time in the daily schedule to step back and see the big picture enabling you to develop strategies by considering more parameters into the planning. 3. Provides fresh perspective Continuous interaction with the same people within the organization progressively makes your perspectives subjective. Interaction with the executive coaching during the coaching sessions allows developing a more balanced view by introducing an objective component. 4. Coaching goes beyond softs skills The engagement challenges the biases, shapes the beliefs, evokes self-awareness, improves presence – a must need for executives. – Undergoing Coaching enables you to sharpen your soft skills, especially in the team’s context at hand. Skills like conflict resolution take on different forms in the context of other teams and people. The experience of resolving such issues with guidance from an executive coach is invaluable. 5. Improves employee engagement  An essential aspect of executives’ work is to engage employees productively. The Executive Coaching helps in:  understanding intent of employees,  improving employee engagement,  defining goals and objectives for employees, and creating a routine for constructive feedback. These abilities go a long way to improve the workforce. The team and the employees are an asset for an Executive. If they are constructively engaged, then organizations can catalyze their performance. 6. Supplements Management Strategies Good planning is the key to the success of any business—the executive coaching program aids in improving your management strategies by training you to plan for the short-term and long term. Techniques to prioritize and delegate effectively are also taught to groom you into an effective executive. We at Regal Unlimited have groomed executives from India and Overseas. 7. UpgradesLeadership skills The Coaching applies leadership theory to enable you to take concrete steps to upgrade your leadership skills:  Fostering desirable qualities of creativity, assertiveness, decisiveness, accepting responsibility, perseverance, self-confidence, and trustworthiness. Training to identify situations and be effective administrators taking into consideration the maturity of group members Guidance on building great teams by creating an environment that encourages group members’ participation and contribution. The Executive Coaches at Regal Unlimited have over two decades of corporate experience in senior leadership positions. Being executives themself, they understand the dilemmas of leadership and the pangs of scaling the businesses. We know precisely where the shoe pinches, and that makes the executive coaching from Regal Unlimited highly desirable for aspiring executives.  8. Agile leadership training Agility at work has become essential in the current-day scenarios of fast-paced business evolution. Training is given for fast learning, making better decisions, and taking strategic initiatives to achieve the desired impact in complex situations arising in a short time. 9. Improves critical thinking Critical thinking is essential as it promotes creativity, improves presentations, and helps self-reflection. All these qualities are crucial to build a good business organization, and the coaching sessions pay particular emphasis to develop your critical thinking. 10. Results are seen during the coaching sessions The executive coaching program offered by Regal Unlimited are designed with well-identified goals and deliver specific, measurable results. Therefore, Coaching can be rewarding as it delivers results on the fly, even during the process, apart from the long-term benefits from the techniques learned. 11.Work-life integration  Sometimes executives achieve lopsided success in life; due to focussing on some areas of life while neglecting others. Failing to prioritize overall wellbeing leads to professional fatigue, dysfunctional relationships, loss of motivation, etc., and therefore a coach is needed to bring back balance. Life coaching provides essential support for work-life integration, preventing burnout, and mend relationships by addressing issues beyond just work-life balance. Executive coaching transforms you into a leader with a vision from an efficient executive who fulfills a set of functions needed by an organization. Being a visionary leader gives you a greater sense of fulfillment and achievement. Many of the skills you learn from the coach are applicable across organizations. Therefore the Coaching can also boost your career by giving you a quantum leap in the potential to manage organizational challenges with confidence in any organization. Regal Unlimited offers Executive Coaching across industries and verticals. Over the last eight years, we have coached a wide range of executives, including CEO, CFO, COOs, mid-level professionals, successors to family-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and even leading artists from the performing and visual arts arena. We have successfully conducted executive coaching programs in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Owing to the Global Pandemic, we have taken the overseas as well through online mode. To know more about Executive Coaching and how we can help you drop us an email on: info@regalunlimited.com or subash@regalunlimited.com