Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2025 - 45

STRATEGIES
THE RIPPLE EFFECT:
COACHING THE COACHES FOR OPTIMAL IMPACT
BY CHAPIN BRINEGAR, MS, CPTM
For most training teams, resource
allocation remains one of their
greatest - and most consequential -
challenges. Each decision concerning
where to focus the team's attention
will directly impact the organization's
ability to succeed. Knowing where and
when to leverage limited resources is
just as vital as understanding how to
deliver them.
Unfortunately, when making such
decisions,
many training
teams
neglect one of their organization's
most consequential roles: second-line
leaders. These are typically directors,
one level above the first-line managers
directly overseeing teams of individual
contributors. Overlooking second-line
leaders is a serious miscalculation
because effective coaching and
training of these directors can often
yield the greatest impact on your
training team's investment.
Since second-line
leaders
act as a
bridge between senior leadership
and the wider organization, a strong
second-line training program creates
a ripple effect producing far-reaching
benefits at every level of the org chart.
These include generating a more
effective leadership pipeline, fostering
a productive top-down coaching
culture and ensuring alignment of
priorities across the organization that
maximizes sales and financial impact.
What training team could ask for more
from their next initiative?
UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF
SECOND-LINE LEADERS
CHOOSING
THE RIGHT
COACH MAY
BE THE MOST
IMPORTANT
DECISION YOU
MAKE WHEN
DESIGNING
YOUR TRAINING
PROGRAM.
While the responsibilities of first-line
managers and their team members are
usually known to trainers, the role of
the second-line leader is often not as
familiar. This lack of understanding can
prevent trainers from uncovering these
leaders' training needs - and from
recognizing the unique opportunities
inherent in providing an effective
second-line leader training program.
As previously noted, second-line
leaders are uniquely positioned to
influence the success of the entire
organization. By acting as a bridge
connecting senior leadership to
the wider organization, secondline
leaders provide strategic
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - WINTER 2025 I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
alignment, foster a performancedriven
culture and maximize crossfunctional
collaboration. Through
their
role, these second-line
leaders instill ownership, promote
accountability, coach to expectations
and communicate the vision of the
organization to their teams. By
improving
a second-line
leader's
ability to carry out their role, trainers
help their entire organization flourish.
THE RISK OF NEGLECTING SECONDLINE
LEADERS
It is understandable that trainers often
overlook their organization's secondline
leaders. Many mistakenly assume
second-line leaders - who are usually
few in number, and often among the
most experienced members of the
organization - simply do not need
coaching or training as much as firstline
leaders or the teams they manage.
Failure to effectively coach second-line
leaders can create serious, cascading
problems. When second-line leaders
fail in their role, priorities become
misaligned, first-line managers become
disengaged and performance across
teams becomes inconsistent. Consider
again the analogy of second-line
leaders acting as a bridge between
leadership and the wider organization.
What happens if that bridge fails?
BEST PRACTICES FOR TRAINING AND
COACHING SECOND-LINE LEADERS
Though second-line leader training
initiatives may vary widely, there
45
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Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2025

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