Article

7 Essential Coaching Skills for Managers

November 27, 2024

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Emily May

Coaching skills aren’t just for coaches. Managers can utilize coaching techniques to support and connect with their team members more deeply. 

For example, managers can use coaching skills to improve internal communication to boost employee morale and create a psychologically safe work environment. 

We asked our expert network to share the most essential coaching skills for managers so that you can begin applying them to your internal conversations. 

7 Essential Coaching Skills for Managers, According to Experts

1. Building Trust

Building trust in your team is crucial for managers, as it empowers and engages employees to reach their full potential. Trust is cultivated over time through consistent daily actions, such as demonstrating confidence in your team, communicating with honesty, and maintaining openness. 

While building trust takes time, it can be surprisingly easy to break. A foundation of trust enables your team to grow, innovate, and take risks confidently. Without it, team members may feel unsupported and less receptive to coaching and new challenges.

Samantha Davis, Cprime Elabor8

Samantha Davis headshot

2. Regulating Emotions

A critical skill for coaches is the ability to regulate themselves emotionally. Regulation is the opposite of suppression of emotion; it is the ability to feel emotions and be creative rather than reactive. 

Coachees often bring up subjects that can be emotionally powerful for the coach to hold. If a coach can self-regulate, the emotional wisdom that arises can often guide the coach to both deeper self-development and a more profound experience for the coachee. 

Simon Powers, The Deeper Change Academy

simon powers headshot

3. Developing Social Intelligence

Building social intelligence is no longer optional for managers—it’s the foundation for success in today’s digital-first environment. As remote and distributed teams become the norm, the ability to establish trust and create strong relationships across virtual spaces is crucial for team success.

It starts with self-awareness—understanding one’s emotions, triggers, and their effects on others. Next is emotional regulation, allowing managers to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. Finally, cultivating empathy enables leaders to connect meaningfully with team members’ perspectives and experiences, even in digital interactions. 

Together, these skills enhance communication, facilitate constructive conflict resolution, and foster relationships that drive team and organizational effectiveness. 

Nastassia Krupiankova, AgileLAB GmbH

Nastassia Krupiankova headshot

4. Practicing Active Listening

One of the most critical coaching skills for managers is active listening. Active listening involves understanding the speaker’s emotions, context, and underlying needs. Competence in this skill builds trust and mutual respect, with team members feeling valued. 

When managers listen actively, they can uncover the root causes of challenges and find opportunities for improving team performance. Active listening also improves empathy, helping managers respond thoughtfully and build stronger, more cooperative relationships within the team.

Ash Tiwari, Agilityzer

ash Tiwari headshot

5. Mastering the Levels of Listening

In coaching, we often talk about the three levels of listening. At level one, we are internally focused. How does what is being said impact me, and how do I want to respond to what is being said?  Level one listening is the most common stance we take in our daily interactions, and it is the death of a coaching conversation.

At level two, we are focused on the person we are listening to, really hearing what they are saying and understanding their perspective. Level two is often termed "active listening"; we give verbal and non-verbal responses encouraging the speaker to continue and use our powerful questioning skills to help them explore the topic deeper.

At level three, coined as "global listening," we are deeply in tune with not just what the person is saying but hearing the messages in their silence. We read the whole person and the "emotional field" around and between us to understand the whole message. 

In a coaching conversation, we sit in levels two and three listening. These levels promote respect, deep care, hearing what the other person has to say, and responding to it with curiosity and without judgment.

Shane Hastie, Skills Development Group

shane hastie headshot

6. Creating Space

Creating space in a coaching conversation means allowing a person the freedom to explore their thoughts, ideas, and opportunities without feeling pushed or pulled toward any particular goal—even if they’ve set the goal themselves. 

In creating this space, a manager listens more than they speak, remains present and responsive, but doesn’t rush the process. This approach fosters an environment where people feel safe to take creative risks and think boldly. People often say of such managers, ‘Their presence fostered my growth.’

Alexandra Baptizmanskaya, Co-Actors

Alexandra Baptizmanskaya headshot

7. Cultivate Your Coaching Presence

A coaching conversation requires us to be fully present to the person or people before us. Focusing our full attention on someone allows us to truly see and hear them with our entire being. 

But communication is never one way. The neuroscience around mirror neurons explains how our emotional state and thoughts transfer to those around us, whether we are aware of it or not. Your presence perfumes the air, creates an atmosphere, and colors the conversation, especially if you are a leader in the eyes of the person you are coaching. So the next time you step into a coaching conversation with someone, ask yourself these questions:

  • Am I able to give this conversation my undivided attention?
  • What is my emotional state, and is it useful?
  • Am I clear and neutral, and can I fully listen?
  • What am I perfuming the air with? 
  • Can I bring compassion?
  • Do I have an agenda?

Being clear about what you are transmitting with your presence creates personal intention for yourself and better outcomes for your coachees.

Antoinette Coetzee, Centre for Agile Coaching

Antoinette Coetzee

Presence is a key skill for conducting successful coaching sessions. Without presence, engaging in active listening and asking powerful questions becomes nearly impossible. Presence is the foundation that allows coaches to stay fully focused on their clients, promoting trust and nourishing curiosity. 

Similarly, presence is essential for leaders. A leader's presence can set the tone, guide the flow of dialogue, and create an environment where others feel heard and valued.

The purpose of cultivating presence is to step out of the endless chatter in your mind and connect with the impact of your responses—both on others and on yourself. It allows you to be intentional, empathetic, and effective, whether guiding a coachee, leading a discussion, or making a critical decision.

Mahmoud Ghoz, Vidscola DWC

Mahmoud Ghoz

Conclusion

From self-regulation to active listening, the types of coaching skills outlined in this article all contribute to a shared purpose: fostering connection. As a manager, you’re in a people-first role, and expanding your coaching knowledge will help you better serve your team.

Not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered. Our one-of-a-kind Coaching Essentials Micro-Credential course will provide you with the skills necessary to facilitate coaching conversations in your team that promote empowerment, accountability, and growth. 

See you in class!

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TAGGED AS:
Leading Change, Agile Team Coaching, Agile Coaching, Enterprise Agile Coaching, Enterprise Agile Coaching

About the author

Emily May | ICAgile, Marketing Specialist
Emily May is a Marketing Specialist at ICAgile, where she helps educate learners on their agile journey through content. With an eclectic background in communications supporting small business marketing efforts, she hopes to inspire readers to initiate more empathy, productivity, and creativity in the workplace for improved internal and external outcomes.

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