Why Systems Coaching Skills Are Essential for Leading Change

Systems Coaching Is Paramount for Organizational Transformation

When it comes to organizational change, especially as it relates to increasing organizational agility, human systems are at the heart of the change effort. This is amplified by the fact that agility at scale is achieved through people, not processes. In addition, genuine transformational change cannot happen in organizations without human change. Therefore, it is paramount that change agents who are supporting organizational transformations can coach a system and hold an overall systems perspective. Oftentimes, people within an organizational system do not have a common understanding of the systems in which they interact. Coaching human systems in the space of transformation commonly starts with applying tools and techniques to generate collective awareness and shared understanding of the system, its characteristics, patterns, unique goals, and pain points. Trained systems coaches often discuss the need to “reveal” or “expose the system to itself.” Developing systems awareness also allows for the identification and/or establishment of important feedback loops to help the system evolve in its chosen direction. This is a prerequisite to unlocking a system’s true potential and evoking transformational change.

Taking a systemic approach in today’s uncertain world is as important or more important for leaders than it is for coaches. Leaders at all levels of an organization need both to understand the importance of system coaching in organizational transformation and to increase their own systems awareness and thinking. One of the first rules of change is don’t try to change it if you don’t understand it. Leaders must continually develop an awareness of their own impact on organizational systems and how their mental models and behaviors might unintentionally undermine the organizational culture they seek to create.

“To be successful, organizational transformations must start in the mind of the leader, since a business can never outperform the effectiveness of its senior leaders,” notes Michele Madore, co-creator of the Integral Agile Transformation Framework. Systems thinking approaches and tools greatly enhance a leader’s ability to see the big picture and create an inspiring vision for change. Without this ability, an organization will fall short of achieving its full potential.