• Home |
• About Us |
• Our Clients |
• Our Team |
• Contact Us |
• Testimonials

Can you coach your own boss?

I have been asked this question by some of the people I have been coaching and I have found it a tricky one to answer. This is because of various factors that affect the likely success of this activity. The fundamentals of this being a successful process would be based on the strength of the relationship between the coachee and their manager, their command of the skills required of a good coach and of the openmindedness of the manager to enter into this process with one of their own reports.
Another thing to consider is the language that is used by the coachee and the manager in describing this process to people outside this relationship e g peers of the coachee and of the line manager and even the line manager’s manager.
For the coachee to openly say that they are coaching their manager suggests a form of role and responsibility reversal that however accurate it may be, paints the line manager in an unfortunate light and may elevate the coachee above their normal job and role position. It could lead to questions like “who is managing who here” and potential assumptions of undue influence and power.
We should also look at motives here. Quite often when a person suggests to me that I or they should be coaching their line manager it is sometimes with a hint of sarcasm and of implied criticism of the manager. “If only they could sort themselves out like I am doing with you as my coach, then maybe my life would be much better and I would be performing much more effectively”! In other words it is the line manager who is the problem and not me the job performer who is responsible! It is therefore only a short step for the coachee to take mentally to conclude “I should be coaching my manager – rather than being on the receiving end of this coaching”! In these instances as a coach I need to address these questions of motive and responsibility if I am to keep my coachee focused and on track with their own learning and performance agenda.
In reality therefore it is very unlikely but not impossible that a coaching subject could not go on to coach their own boss. A number of key factors would need to be place however for this to work effectively ie an excellent relationship, a coachee with very good coaching skills, appropriate confidentiality, a very open minded line manager, a sympathetic organisational learning culture and the ability of the coachee to keep focused on their own job and developmental agenda as well as the coaching agenda of there line manager.