From Star Player to Leader Coach
Creating the Leader Coach
A Success Formula
Newly promoted leaders often fail because they don’t make the necessary transition—they forget to embrace their new mental model, which requires them to start thinking like a leader coach.
Becoming a new leader is not only a physical transition from one job to the next, but it must be a mental shift from being the star player to the leader coach. This is the mistake most successful individual contributors make when they are promoted into a position of leadership.
Highly successful individual contributors thrive on being the star players. They like raising their hands and having the correct answer. In fact, for many, it is difficult to give up the prestige of being the best in the class. Organizations fail their star players when they promote them without supporting their mental shift from individual to team.
Without good coaching, star players will most often fail because they will do one of two things: (1) attempt to replicate what they know by attempting to turn the members of their newly appointed team into versions of themselves; or (2) they will ignore their mission altogether as a newly appointed leader coach and attempt to remain the star player. Either scenario is dangerous.
With good coaching, it is possible to help the star player become the leader coach. The first step in this process is to carefully explain what success looks like in a leadership role—set expectations. The sooner the newly appointed leader understands his new framework, the easier it will be to make the necessary transition. By focusing on team goals and recognition of others, the shift will become more apparent.
The second step in the transformation from star player to leader coach must be a shift in mindset, which leads to a higher degree of awareness. The new leader must be coached to become comfortable with an ethos that changes from “how can I stand out” to “how can I help my people become star players”? This process will most likely not be accomplished in a single conversation. Remember, it is about helping them to shift the core of what made them successful as individual contributors—it will take time.
A good coach can help with the paradigm shift by asking thought-provoking questions.
- When you think about your role on the team, what do you take the most pride in?
- What excites you about your professional life?
- What are some of your core values?
- What things, if they were taken away or you couldn’t do them, would make life unbearable? What makes these things valuable to you in your career?
- When making your most important decisions for the team, what are the fundamentals you base them on?
- What do you look forward to the most when coming to work?
The third step in this transformation is for the managers of the newly promoted to lead by example. It is critical to build a relationship with this newly appointed leader so that there is a high-level of comfort with seeking advice. Building this relationship earns the right to coach and develops a solid foundation of trust. The manager must also take advantage of teaching moments. Recognize the leader coach for successful steps in this transformation process and coach him (by asking thought-provoking questions) through the times he retreats back into the star player mindset. This may especially be necessary in highly stressful situations where the new leader will seek the comfort of the star player mindset as a means of coping. It is the manager’s responsibility to create a lasting partnership with the leader coach that invites inquiry, learning, and change.
Finally, not everyone can make the transition from star player to leader coach. If an organization looks to its top individual contributors as a pipeline for future organizational leadership, it must be comfortable with the idea that not 100% of its star players will successfully make the transition to a leader coach and the organization should have a plan for helping those employees return to individual contributor roles.