Back in 1996 The Karpin Report stated that Australian managers rank at less than the 50th percentile in the comparative international rankings. David Karpin also added that Australia had a lack of "people skills" in individuals who held positions within the management stratas of Australian organisations. 9 out of 10 Australian managers say that managing their people is one of the more difficult aspects of their role. We still live with the legacy of more than 60% of Australian managers having their first management position before they receive any training on how to manage people.

The 21st century leader is one who combines the best attributes of managing the business, its processes and structures to achieve success, with developing and building the capacity of people. Leading through coaching is a paradigm that takes the best capabilities of leading results and combines it with responsible development of people to enhance their capacity and potential.

For any 21st century work group to be effective they must move toward a team culture where the power of the collective capacity of individuals is what helps the organisation to achieve success. The 21st century leader is someone who builds teams through a coaching because the most intense capacity of a team is its people.

Common traits that describe effective leadership in the 21st century include:

1. They listen first
   
2. They affirm people for who they are and then how they contribute
   
3. They acknowledge result and effort
   
4. They continuously encourage others to achieve their potential
   
5. They empower others to take responsible action
   
6. They delegate to expand the opportunities for people to grow
   
7. They create a safe environment where it is easy for people to be accountable
   
8. They celebrate milestones, achievement and goals
   
9. They consistently model values-driven behaviours
   
10. They continuously look for challenges that will improve current practice and business performance
    
11. They share the vision of what the team and business can become together
    
12. They spend real time in strategically thinking and planning
    
13. They learn from everything and see learning as a natural part of living
    
14. They find joy in the work itself
    
15. They use influence and persuasion to align the actions of the team

So how do you rank on these 15 characteristics? Where can you improve?

Our experience suggests that when managers shift to becoming someone who listens first, they discover that people can solve their own problems, that interdependence within the team becomes more evident, and performance of results improves. When managers shift from using coercion, power or control to using influence and persuasion they uncover more effective means of achieving results, greater ownership by individuals, and the team moves from competing against each other to competing to achieve combined success.

So, how does the coaching paradigm help? Coaching blends the need to get the job done with developing the capacity of people. Coaching helps leaders grow people beyond the demands of today to the needs of tomorrow. The 15 traits listed above are traits of coaching.

Let's ask a few more questions to see if coaching would enhance how you lead:

• How much success is evident in your team?
  
• Have you disseminated amongst your team the power/authority to act responsibly?
  
• How much laughter does your team enjoy?
  
• How much opportunity is offered to your team to advance and progress?
  
• How much does your team share about how they are growing personally and professionally?
  
• How many new ideas does your team create and explore together each time they meet?
  
• How effective are the relationships within the team?
  
• How well does your team exemplify organisational values or code of conduct together and with others?

If your answers tended to indicate some to none - then you need to look at building coaching with your style and approach with others and you will quickly discover how effective this can be to helping everyone achieve results. If your answers were toward most of the time - then you have some natural coaching skills that with some additional development could improve the performance of yourself and your team. Either way, developing coaching will close the gap in how you and your team perform.

So, what will make the 21st century leader different will be their abundant people skills. The goal of helping people grow is best achieved through effective coaching. Effective leaders are excellent coaches. Coaches work on the play with people to increase their capability and capacity to hit more "wins" and be ready for tomorrow's challenges today.

An important value of coaching is that excellent coaches maintain or improve the dignity of all those with whom they are involved. Leadership coaches say YES more often, unless there is a real good reason to say no. They co-create an atmosphere of trust within the team. They build teamwork before things go wrong - not when they've already gone wrong and you need more hands to get out of difficulty. They look for the learning in everything (effective and ineffective).

So how do you move toward the coaching paradigm. Start by seeing yourself as their coach. Imagine your team are a sports team and you are their coach - get this mental model into your consciousness and operate from this mental infrastructure.

Then work on getting to know their individual talent alongside working together as a team on the game plan. Be very clear with each other about what a "win" looks like. Then move to the sidelines and let the team get on with the game. Do time-outs when necessary to improve the game plan and the potential to win. Spend time in the locker room (or team space) celebrating success or renegotiating the game plan to achieve success.

Here are four additional ideas that will also help:

Getting the right people isn't just about removing old talent to hire new talent - it is about building the right people from the talent you have. So invest in coaching your people to become the "right" people.