Coaching New Leaders (Part 1): Orientation & Group Coaching That Works
The day we promote someone into leadership, we often hand them a title and a to-do list — and quietly hope they figure out the rest. But leadership is a different job than the one that earned them the promotion, and coaching new leaders well is the difference between a rocky first year and a confident, capable one. This is Part 1 of a two-part look at how I develop new leaders: here, the shared journey of New Leader Orientation and group coaching. (Part 2 covers the one-on-one coaching that makes it stick.)
Start With Orientation, Not Overwhelm
In their first six months, new leaders join a highly interactive New Leader Orientation — short, weekly (or bimonthly) sessions built on reflection, interaction, and applying concepts to real situations. There is very little lecture. People retain what they do, not what they’re told, so each session opens with a brief introduction to a competency, then moves quickly into small-group or written reflection, honest self-assessment, and real-play practice. Leaders practice the skills and teach each other — even as the curriculum stays grounded in proven, benchmarked best practices.
Orientation does something else that matters just as much: it brings leaders together from every corner of the organization. They brainstorm solutions, build working relationships outside their own unit, and — maybe most importantly — discover they are not alone. When leaders normalize their challenges with peers who truly get it, the isolation that sinks so many first-year leaders starts to lift.
Why Coaching New Leaders Means Asking, Not Telling
Here’s a belief at the heart of coaching new leaders: they already have what it takes. Coaching isn’t telling someone what to do — it’s helping someone get better at what they already know how to do. Especially with experienced, highly trained professionals, I rarely teach or tell. I ask. I spend most of our time on inquiry: powerful questions and deep, active listening. My aim is to strengthen each leader’s self-efficacy and internal locus of control — the belief that their own actions shape their results. As Andrew Neitlich of the Center for Executive Coaching puts it, the real energy in coaching is in our listening; I let the client do more of the heavy lifting.
This matters enormously in healthcare, a helping profession living through massive disruption and change. Coaching is essential to the well-being of providers and leaders — and the organizations that thrive will be the ones that build resilient, adaptive leaders who welcome change, experiment instead of defending the status quo, and can make hard decisions without waiting for permission from the top.
Leader Learning & Coaching Groups
After about six months, new leaders move into competency-based Leader Learning & Coaching Groups — small cohorts that meet monthly (often in several three-hour virtual sessions) for deeper reflection and practice. Group coaching is a powerful — and far more affordable — way to develop leaders than individual coaching alone. It costs a fraction of pulling each leader off their floor one at a time, and leaders often get more value: they discuss real challenges, coach one another, share ideas, and collaborate on organizational goals during and between sessions. Participants take an active role in leading the discussion while I support and guide as needed.
Action Learning, Stretch Assignments, and Mentoring
Three design choices keep the groups grounded in real results, not theory:
- Action learning. Leaders solve real organizational problems — improving employee engagement, fixing an inefficient process, designing training — building systems thinking, problem-solving, and change-management skills as they go.
- Stretch assignments. Emerging leaders (especially top talent) want to be challenged. A well-matched, visible assignment grows them faster than any lecture.
- Mentoring. We ask senior leaders to co-teach parts of each session and present themselves as mentors — matching first-time leaders with peers, high-potentials with leaders a level or two up, and pairing near-retirement experts with newer leaders for knowledge transfer.
Each group culminates in a real change initiative or performance-improvement project, so the learning is results-driven — and the organization benefits while its leaders grow.
Setting the Groups Up to Succeed
Strong groups start before the first session. I confirm fit with each participant’s sponsor to get clear on expected outcomes and how we’ll measure them, then meet each leader individually to understand their goals and gauge their coachability. We open with an orientation and a few simple ground rules — show up on time, remove distractions, stay positive, keep confidentiality, complete assignments, and let everyone participate. Then we assess, using a 360, the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), and DISC, so every leader can see their strengths and growth areas clearly before we begin.
What This Looks Like in Practice
One cohort of brand-new nurse managers I coached came in wary — brilliant clinically, but convinced “soft skills” were a luxury they didn’t have time for. We started with their assessments and a simple ground rule: coach each other. Within a few months, they were bringing real problems to the group — a stalled project, a tense peer relationship — and solving them together. The action-learning project they chose cut a wasteful step from their intake process, and just as importantly, they stopped feeling alone. Several went on to mentor the next cohort.
Coaching New Leaders Is a Shared Journey
Coaching new leaders isn’t about fixing people. It’s about giving capable leaders the orientation, the cohort, and the shared practice to grow into their roles — together. That’s the work I do with organizations at AdvantEdge Leadership Coaching.
If any of this resonates with you, contact me! I’d love to work with you! I coach leaders who are ready to get to the next level, without it costing them anything. They’re not looking to be fixed — they’re looking to grow: to make hard calls with less second-guessing, to lead through change without losing confidence, and to have the capacity to thrive, not just survive.
The leaders I work with are already performing well. Yet decision fatigue, overwhelm, conflict & stress can be challenging. And because they’re the person everyone else goes to… They seldom have someone safe to help themselves.
After all, the strongest leaders don’t just push harder. They grow from the inside out. By “from the inside out”, I mean that you develop more than just skill sets. We work on emotional intelligence and winning mindsets too. Since I’m a trained clinician AND certified leadership coach — we go deeper than tips, techniques and frameworks. If you want more than information, work with a coach like me, who provides transformation.
Read Part 2, on the one-on-one coaching that makes it stick — and see how it all fits into a full leadership development program. Ready to develop your new leaders? Explore my coaching & training services or reach out for a conversation.
Barbara Jordan, LPC, Certified Leadership Coach
LPI (Leadership Practices Inventory) 360-FeedbackCertified Coach
DISC Certified Behavior Analyst
Cutting Edge Coaching “from the inside-out”.
More than just skill sets–mindsets too.
Beyond information, to TRANSFORMATION!
920-246-1309 | advantedgegreen