Guiding: an often neglected leadership task

No other function in companies has been so ideologically overloaded in recent years as the leadership function. This is made clear by the numerous attributes attributed to managers today. They are supposed to be entrepreneurs, i.e., they have to think and act like entrepreneurs. They are supposed to be leaders, i.e., a beacon to which their employees can orient themselves. And they should be coaches for their employees, i.e., support them in their development and performance.

Core task of leadership: ensuring results

In some cases, the core task of every manager has been forgotten - namely, to ensure that his or her area makes a contribution to the success of the company. All other management tasks - including employee development - are subordinate to this task.

Despite this, the statement "Managers should be coaches for their employees" can now be found in more or less encapsulated form in the management guidelines of almost all companies. Accordingly, seminars are booming that are supposed to qualify managers for this task. However, this usually does not sufficiently reflect the fact that managers are always also the disciplinary superiors of their employees. They therefore decide to a large extent on their professional advancement and have not only the power but also the task of sanctioning undesirable behavior on their part.

It is also not sufficiently taken into account that the manager-employee relationship is primarily a relationship of purpose. In other words, if a manager promotes the development of an employee, then unlike in a father-son or mother-daughter relationship, the aim is not for the "offspring" to develop as a person and to be able to shape his or her life successfully. Rather, the goal is for the employee to identify with his or her tasks in the organization and to perform them adequately; in the short, medium and long term.

Guiding does not mean instructing

This framework places tight limits on the coaching function of managers. It is largely limited to providing the Guide employees in their work. Today, however, this is often frowned upon. Because instructing is often equated with giving instructions. But instructing does not mean giving other people orders to "do this" and "do that," but rather giving them the necessary assistance - be it of a technical or mental nature.

Another reason for the poor image of instructing is: It is largely associated with the field of training. Wrongly, because what does a good instructor do? He doesn't give his protégés the solution. Rather, he asks them, "How would you approach this task?" In other words, he motivates them to come up with their own proposed solutions. And if it becomes apparent that they need support, he gives them assistance before agreeing with them on a solution. But that's not the end of his job. Rather, while implementing, he keeps asking "Are there any problems?", "What have you achieved in the meantime?" in order to intervene in a corrective and supportive way if necessary. In this way, he ensures that his protégés go through learning processes and achieve the desired results.

Reflect on the essentials

Such "guidance" is also needed by experienced employees - above all,

• when they take on new tasks with which they have little or no experience, or
• when the framework conditions of their actions change massively, so that they - alone or in a team - have to break new ground in coping with their tasks.

Because otherwise, it is largely left to chance what work results the employees achieve. That's what it's all about when it's demanded: Managers should coach their employees. Then this translates as: Managers guide your employees and offer them the support they need on a day-to-day basis to fulfill their (current and future) tasks.

This is a classic management task. In the current situation, which is characterized by major changes and a decline in the ability to plan, those responsible in companies should focus more on this instead of constantly inventing new attributes for their managers. In doing so, they are not helping to raise their managers' awareness of their core tasks. Instead, they ensure that they increasingly lose sight of the essentials in their day-to-day management work, and this is often fatal, especially in stressful situations.

To the author:
Claudia Christ works as an organizational consultant and team developer as well as trainer and coach for profit and non-profit organizations (www.claudiachrist.de). In doing so, the qualified psychologist pays particular attention to the question: How can organizations as well as their teams and employees achieve their goals with the available resources?