Manager of Managers: Coaching and Mentoring People Managers

Overview

Great leaders don’t just manage people—they develop them. This course equips senior leaders and managers of managers with practical tools to coach and mentor people managers for long-term growth, confidence, and performance. You’ll learn how to apply structured coaching techniques to help managers solve problems, improve decision-making, and lead their teams more effectively. You’ll also explore mentoring strategies that build strategic thinking, foster leadership identity, and support career development. Through real-world examples, reflective activities, and hands-on practice, you’ll build the skills to empower others while staying aligned with your organization’s goals. Whether you’re developing new managers or guiding experienced leaders, this course will help you lead through others—with clarity, trust, and impact.

Syllabus

Lesson 1: The Role of Coaching and Mentoring in Enabling People Managers

In this foundational lesson, learners will explore the fundamental differences between coaching and mentoring, when to use each, and how both contribute to developing effective people managers and leaders. This lesson builds the foundation for leadership development by helping learners shift from directive oversight to strategic enablement.

Lesson 2: Coaching for Performance—Applying Frameworks to Guide Growth

This lesson focuses on how to conduct impactful coaching conversations using structured models like GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will), CLEAR (Contracting, Listening, Exploring, Action, Review), and OSKAR (Outcome, Scaling, Know-how, Affirm, Review). This lesson focuses on solving real management challenges by enabling learners to support decision-making, accountability, and performance improvement through coaching.

Lesson 3: Mentoring for Long-Term Leadership Development

In the final lesson, learners will dive into mentoring strategies that foster strategic thinking, confidence, and long-term growth in people managers and leaders. This lesson helps learners build a scalable mentoring culture that supports succession planning and continuous leadership development.