Strategic coaching is essential to employee engagement and the highest levels of performance. Tactical coaching is focused on specific skills or requirements. By strategic coaching, I mean coaching that is ongoing and focused on developing the whole person.

Think of how athletes, from grade school to the pros, describe their most influential coaches. You’re probably thinking of words like mentor, or supporter. Or maybe a phrase, like “looks out for my best interest,” or “wants me to be the best I can be.”

When effective, coaching is something your employees will want, ask for, and look forward to. Here are three essential aspects of strategic coaching that are at work with the most engaged teams.

One is that strategic coaching is viewed as a relationship not an event. The best coaches build relationships of trust and respect. They help clarify goals, give honest and helpful feedback, and provide positive reinforcement. And that relationship goes both ways. They learn where leadership and the organization can get better.

A second essential aspect of strategic coaching is that it is built on the customers’ or citizens’ perspectives and doing what’s right for them and the larger community they are part of. That is true north.

Organizations that do a great job with this create scenarios and role plays. You won’t be able to anticipate or train on every issue that comes along, so your employees will need to know how to make good decisions, come what may.

Finally, and a related principle, is to remember that the most common and, ultimately, most effective coaching is self-coaching. It’s that talk each person is having with themselves day by day, moment by moment. For self-coaching to be effective, each person has to understand deeply the organization’s mission and values. They need to be empowered to make good decisions on the fly.

The leadership secret here is to approach training, coaching, and quality standards as opportunities to empower your employees to coach themselves. That’s a strength that will then play out every moment of every day.

If you enjoyed this blog post, you might find this complimentary resource, Traits of Engaged Employees, helpful.