Is coach considered a leader?
Coaching is one ‘mode’ of leadership, and not something separate. Along with Teacher, Mentor, and Peer, Coach is one of the four primary roles a leader needs to be able to take on, based on the needs of people they are leading.
Here is a quick summary of the ‘modes’ as I think of them:
- Teacher – sometimes leaders need to help their people obtain fundamental skills, whether the leader does the actual teaching or not. Leaders need to recognize that sometimes their people don’t have the right tool for a given challenge, and must help them acquire the right tool.
- Coach – sometimes people have the essential skills, but are unsure how to apply them. Coaches help people develop the skill of using their skills, and/or direct the team in application of these ‘meta skills’.
- Mentor – when what is lacking is the wisdom that comes from experience teams need the leader to take on the role of a Mentor. Mentors are not directive, using questions and advice to help the team discover the approach they will take.
- Peer – for some situations the most valuable thing the leader can do is provide the perspective of someone not deep into the details, not with the intent of directing an agenda, but merely to point out what the team may have missed by being too close to the problem.
There is no one ‘right’ way to be a leader. True leadership is being what your team needs most to be successful. Not every leader is bound to be equally excellent in all of these roles, but the leader who would do what they do well instead of do what their team needs to suceed should reconsider why they are leading.
There are a variety of more formal models of leadership that capture this same idea, but the above has been the most impactful for me personally.
I hope my answer helped you.
-Alyannahqtzy
