Coaching practices for Other Directedness Leadership

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Other Directedness Leadership, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • I lead by directing and correcting and stepping in to fix things, and my team has gone quiet and passive, waiting to be told
  • I treat my whole team the same way and run the same kind of one-on-one with everyone, and it’s landing flat
  • I lead a team and I’ve realized the people I lean on most are the ones who remind me of myself or are just easy to be around
  • I keep forcing myself to lead the way I think a leader is supposed to, even when it cuts against my grain, and I can’t actually name what I’m naturally good at
  • My people route every little decision up to me, even ones squarely in their own authority

Practices that may help

  1. Leading from behind — the servant leader stance
    Influence others more through example, listening, and restraint than through assertion and command.
    The Tao Te Ching, Made Practical
  2. Treat each person as an individual with distinct needs and aspirations
    Know what each team member needs to grow and provide support tailored to them.
    Transformational Leadership, Made Practical
  3. Directing — high direction for the eager novice
    With someone new and keen but unskilled, give clear, specific instruction and tight structure.
    Situational Leadership, Made Practical
  4. Manage LMX differentiation fairly as a leader
    Acknowledge that you develop different relationships with different people — and ensure the differences are earned, not arbitrary.
    Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), Made Practical
  5. Identify your dominant leadership strengths — and lead from them
    Know which of the four leadership domains you naturally operate from and amplify it rather than trying to be equally strong in all four.
    Strengths-Based Leadership, Made Practical
  6. Break the advice-dependency loop
    When people come to you for every decision, it signals advice-giving is making them less capable, not more.
    The Leader as Coach: A New Management Paradigm
  7. Supporting — step back on direction, stay high on support
    For the capable-but-cautious performer, lighten the instructions and bolster their confidence.
    Situational Leadership, Made Practical
  8. Invite clients or reports to contribute insight to your approach
    Asking someone you lead for their input increases their investment in the outcome.
    The Ben Franklin Effect, Made Practical
  9. Decentralized command
    Push decisions to the people closest to the problem, bounded by a clear commander’s intent.
    Extreme Ownership, Made Practical
  10. Distribute leadership rather than centralizing it
    Develop leadership capacity throughout the team, not just in the designated leader.
    Transformational Leadership, Made Practical

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