Blog: Team Coaching: The Question That Started It All

By Laura Hauser, PhD, PCC, MCEC

When working with executive coaching clients, I often hear, “This has been incredibly helpful. Can you also coach my team?”

If you are like me when I started receiving this type of request 18 years ago, then you have a depth of business experience and education about building successful teams, yet no specific training about how to coach them. Trust me, you are not alone.

I decided to focus my PhD research on team coaching, because little knowledge existed at that time. I’m glad to share a few of the key things I learned having thought deeply about the stories from the master coaches I interviewed, the literature I reviewed about teams, and my years of experience working with teams over the decades:

• Coaching work teams, compared to coaching individuals, is significantly more complex than coaching individuals due to systemic and other factors
• Coaching work teams requires a broader base of knowledge, skills, and competencies, such as those related to team performance, group dynamics, stages of team development, systems, team structure and design (just to name a few)
• Coaches dynamically shift the shape of their roles–commissioner (formerly called the advisor), educator, catalyzer, and assimilator–at different times in the moment and during the phases of the team coaching engagement.
• The effect of working with the team and its larger organizational system is greater than coaching only an individual or only one part of the system, thus creating leverage

As a result of my journey, new frameworks and resources have been published and put to practical use by leaders, and professionals who support leaders and their teams. For example, I created a new team coaching framework called Shape-Shifting (Hauser, 2012, 2013) and the Team Coaching Operating System™ to help leaders and other professionals navigate the complex and often messy landscape of working with teams.

I’m glad to share an additional resources with you that you can apply right away. Enjoy listening to Dr. Krister Lowe interviewing me in this podcast called Shape-Shifting: The 4 essential & dynamic roles of the team coach.


You also can request my free TIP SHEET: When NOT To Coach A Work Team by clicking here.

I hope you found this EBC blog thought provoking. I am passionate about shaping the future of coaching teams in organizations. I welcome you to join me and other pioneers who are forging this new frontier. I can be reached at lhauser@fielding.edu.

Warmly,
Laura

Laura Hauser, PhD, PCC, MCEC
Creator of Team Coaching Operating System™ | Master Team & Executive Coach | Educator | Speaker | Author

Fielding Graduate University | Evidence-Based Coaching Faculty
President, Graduate School Alliance for Education in Coaching (GSAEC)
Founder, Leadership Strategies International
laura@leadership-strategies.com

Laura Hauser, PhD, PCC
T. 661-251-0641 www.leadership-strategies.com
www.linkedin.com/in/laurahauser5
Leadership Coaching and Organizational Consulting

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