How to Provide Successful Leadership Coaching to Life Sciences Professionals

Responsible leadership coaching includes actively listening and asking questions, as well as providing specific, honest and ongoing feedback.

Life sciences and pharma professionals who want to develop as leaders can benefit from their HR business partners who are seeking to coach talent in the company. There are many ways to develop oneself and others professionally, but what does it take to coach and to be coached?

“Leadership coaching is about co-exploring different ways of thinking, connecting and solving problems in a way that’s authentic to the person being coached,” says Harsha Raghavan, Director, Human Resources, Gilead Sciences. “Plus, aligning the mission of the company to the personal ambitions and aspirations of the coachee is also important.”

In a recent webinar, Raghavan described elements of successful leadership coaching and a few simple yet powerful coaching techniques. The webinar is suitable for HR leaders in the life sciences and pharma industries and professionals in life sciences and pharma who are leaders that manage people or aspire to develop as leaders.

Watch the free, on-demand webinar to gain valuable insights from Raghavan about leadership coaching for life sciences and pharma professionals.

The Elements of Effective Leadership Coaching

For the employee and the organization to both achieve accelerated development and impact, it is beneficial to explore different ways of solving problems in an authentic manner. To give the organization a strategic advantage, it is not enough to simply hire the best candidates. Current employees will need ongoing coaching and support to help them become empowered and talented leaders.

During the webinar, Raghavan discussed three elements of successful coaching.

First, Raghavan mentioned that should be a formal agreement between the coach and the coachee.

“Coaching tends to be more effective when you have a formal agreement. I’m not referring to a written document with signatures and dates on it, but instead that the coach and the coachee should come to an agreement on what they are going to be working through,” explains Raghavan.

The second element of successful leadership coaching is that the coach should learn as they teach. Coaching may become a burden if the benefit is only one-sided, and learning is best if goes both ways.

The third element of successful coaching according to Raghavan was that it should result in high output to the organization. Coaches have limited time and energy, so they should prioritize those who seem more capable of delivering an increased output after leadership coaching. To do this, coaching should be transformational by bringing out the best in the coachee’s strengths.

Simple Yet Powerful Coaching Techniques

HR business professionals need to make sure that as employees progress in their organization, they are developing the skills needed to be effective leaders. Responsible and powerful coaching techniques that were mentioned during the webinar include:

• Setting goals
• Meeting regularly
• Actively listening and asking questions
• Providing specific, honest and ongoing feedback
• Celebrating successes and analyzing obstacles together

The main takeaway from the webinar was that creating trust, learning and engagement in the relationship between the HR business professional and life science employee is vital. This will ensure that the coaching will be continuously beneficial for both the coach and the coachee and will result in high output for the organization.

To learn more best practices for leadership development and how to identify and mentor future leaders, register to watch the free on-demand webinar featuring Raghavan, HR Director of Gilead Sciences.