In any organisation, a leader should want each member of their team to succeed; you want them to play a part in goals being met. There are many tools available to help you help them, but availability isn’t the same as suitability.

If you experienced coaching and it was beneficial to you, you may see opportunities for its use across your team. But you should exercise caution. Not everyone is coaching ready and coaching is not right for every situation. Just because coaching was right for you doesn’t mean it’s a cure-all for everything and everyone.

There are five key things to consider when deciding if coaching is the appropriate tool for members of your team.

Training before coaching

Coaching does not teach or tell. If the individual has just taken on a new role (perhaps as a first-time team leader), you need to have provided relevant training (to give the individual an understanding of models and methods for communication skills, delegation, giving feedback, prioritisation, etc.) before coaching commences. With the foundation of appropriate training, coaching can help an individual work out how they will deliver in their new role in their own unique way.

Your own people development responsibilities

You need to ensure that you have communicated responsibly, have delegated well, and have given feedback to the individual. This safeguards against potential falling standards.

You also need to be honest about why you are offering coaching. It is not fair to attempt to outsource “fixing” someone to a coach – rescuing an individual from your lack of people skills, after damage has been done. You should not be abdicating difficult feedback to a coach.

Appropriateness of coaching

You need to consider if the subject matter lend itself to coaching or does it require more of a therapeutic intervention or a physical health perspective. Other professionals are more suitably qualified to work with the individual in these arenas.

Timing

Getting timing right can be tricky. Coaching can be invaluable in times of significant change, helping people come to grips with a huge transition. However, sometimes change can be a large enough distraction that it fragments an individual’s focus, impairing their ability to engage in coaching. A frank conversation about this is necessary.

Alignment of goals

You may think you know what someone wants for their career, but you can only really know what you would want in their position, based on your experiences. But do they want the same as you want for them? Do they want something different?

It is a mistake to assume that the same progression or opportunities you have had are everyone else’s goals or ambitions. For example, the opportunity to work abroad will thrill some and fill others with dread, and some people need to take into account the careers of their partners, or the stability of their children’s schooling.
Coaching is a big investment your organisation is making, but this is also a big investment for individual – it will be their time and their energy. Do they want to make that investment?

If you still think that coaching could be right for this individual, and you have investigated their perspective before taking it any further, you should ensure that they know what is involved in the coaching process.

Understanding coaching

Coaching is a joint endeavour to create new thinking. The coach will treat the individual undergoing coaching as a thinker and will invite them to see themselves as a creative and resourceful.

Coaching is a partnership, and it requires intentional practice from both parties. The coach’s responsibility is to encourage and enhance the thinker’s thinking and learning for themselves. The thinker’s responsibility is to wring the most value out of the coaching.

Coaching is not the same as mentoring or consultancy; the aim is to build the thinker’s own agency and self-efficacy through the process of exploration. Coaching is not just another meeting; it is self-development. It is not a cosy chat. It is a place for challenge and stepping up. It is not to be taken lightly.

If all parties agree that this is a good fit for the desired outcomes, a good fit for the person, and the right timing, only then is it time to meet with a coach to assess whether your team member and the coach, can work together. Once that matching process has happened and coach and individual have decided to proceed, the coach will continue to work with the individual to enhance their coachability.

But your role does not stop there.

Because the line manager is a pivotal support in between coaching sessions, tripartite meetings are useful to set up the coaching for success, addressing all stakeholder needs. The tripartite brings the voice of the paying client into the room and lays out all stakeholders’ expectations of this process.

And, as a line manager, you still play a part once the coaching has started. You are with the individual more often than the coach, and you are responsible for day-to-day feedback, support and challenge.

Summary

Coaching is an effective tool for fostering growth, addressing challenges constructively, and unlocking potential, but remember that the employee must be willing, and the circumstances must align.

Clare Norman

Clare Norman is author of ‘Cultivating Coachability’ (published October 2024) and founder of Clare Norman Coaching Associates. Clare is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), a Master Mentor Coach and a Certified Coach Supervisor. She has a Masters in Training and has received multiple awards for ground-breaking leadership development. For over 25 years, Clare has focused on maximizing individual, team, and organisation effectiveness, enabling people to express their needs, in service of a more caring world. Clare’s two previous books are The Transformational Coach (2022) and Mentor Coaching: A Practical Guide (2020). For more information see: https://clarenormancoachingassociates.com/


References:
Heath, C & Heath, D (2017) The Power of Moments. Bantam Press.

Whitworth, L, Kimsey-House, H & Sandahl, P (1998) Co-active Coaching. Davies Black Publishing.