Leaders love coaching when they learn it. They leave workshops energised, confident, equipped. But a month later? The pressure kicks in… time disappears… performance conversations can revert to directing and telling… and coaching becomes a nice-to-have, not a leadership habit.
So what does it actually take to make coaching stick?
The real reason coaching matters
When coaching becomes a normal part of leadership, not a standalone activity, everything improves. There is plenty of evidence to back this up including Gallup’s latest “State of the Global Workplace”, showing that when we teach managers effective coaching techniques it certainly boosts both manager and team performance.
✔ Ownership: people step up and take accountability
✔ Performance: problems get solved faster, with better thinking
✔ Engagement & retention: people feel valued and supported
✔ Leadership capability: Leadership capability strengthens naturally in the flow of daily work
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
Organisations talk about coaching because they knowthese benefits. But few achieve it at scale. Why? Because in order to create a coaching culture… you have to make coaching a leadership habit but in reality this is difficult to do as sustained behaviour change is rare.
Where coaching breaks down
The challenge is there are many barriers in organisations to coaching habit formation both individually and organisationally.
Individual barriers
From an individual perspective there might be a lack of skill, confidence or even mindset to change approach, particularly if they don’t see the value of it. Some leaders may have had training but if there’s no reinforcement or accountability within their role then it’s not going to stick. It’s too hard to let go of old habits if there’s no reward for new habits.
There are often good intentions to take a coaching approach however these good intentions get buried when they get stuck in firefighting and urgent priorities. That’s why it’s so important that any coaching skills training in organisations is rooted in their day to day challenges so they are properly equipped to utilise a coaching style within a time poor, and high stakes environment.
Organisational barriers
The organisational culture and structure and systems doesn’t always support a coaching culture. Many environments unintentionally reward quick fixes, top-down direction and firefighting, the very behaviours that undermine learning, ownership and autonomy. There is also huge diversity in employee expectations and needs making a coaching culture more complex and nuanced to embed. It requires real clarity on what coaching means in yourorganisation, not a generic set of skills without context.
Critically, senior stakeholders must role model the behaviour. If leaders default to command-and-control, everyone else will too.
We’ve seen through all our experience of delivering leadership programs that a coaching approach really sticks when line managers support and role model the new behaviours, giving leaders permission and confidence to show up differently.
To maintain coaching as a habit, here are three key principles:-
1. Integrate coaching skills into the day to day
When coaching is something leaders “fit in when they can,” it disappears. Instead, embed coaching into everyday leadership routine. Here are practical strategies we’ve seen leaders use to make coaching stick across their leaders and organisations:
- Team check-ins with open questions eg. What’s the outcome you want here? where everyone is expected to contribute and own their part. Not just the leader running the agenda.
- Coaching led performance conversations: What’s one change that would make the biggest difference? Model curiosity, rather than control.
- Coaching training is nuanced and equips leaders to coach in the context of their day work, particularly under time pressure. Not just in the context of a one hour development conversation.
- Follow-up any learning through group coaching, peer support, accountability partners.
2. Role-Model a coaching approach at the top
If senior leaders don’t adopt a coaching approach, it becomes very difficult for others to follow. Securing committed Exec level sponsorship is essential and they can support by:
- Defining what coaching leadership means in their organisation and why it matters
- Connecting coaching to business strategy and performance goals
- Demonstrating the value in action, not just in words
- Measuring and reviewing progress, sharing impact stories and success data
- Celebrating leaders who grow others, not only those who deliver outputs
When senior stakeholders consistently model curiosity, active listening and empowerment, that behaviour spreads. We have seen a brilliant example of this recently in one of the leadership programmes we are facilitating. Senior stakeholders were invited to share real stories from their own leadership journeys, advocating how a coaching approach has shaped their career progression, transformed projects, strengthened their teams and delivered stronger results. Hearing the organisation’s most influential leaders talk openly about the impact of their coaching style made the behaviour credible and aspirational. It showed participants that coaching isn’t a “nice skill;” it’s a key driver of performance, progression and business success.
3. Reinforce the habit until it becomes second nature
Systems must support the behaviour you want. Habits fail when systems say something different. Here are some initiatives organisations can take to make coaching stick:
- Recognise and reward coaching-led leadership
- Embed coaching behavioursinto performance reviews, talent development, HR systems and reward processes.
- Regularly track coaching activity and its real-world impact
- Leaders rate and reflect on how ‘coaching-led’ their style is
- Peer coaching circles to maintain momentum and shared learning
- Simple weekly rituals: check-ins, commitments and follow-ups
- Visual prompts and nudges to keep coaching front of mind
- Clear accountability for behaviour change, not just attendance at training
When these three principles work together, coaching becomes natural. People grow faster, teams take ownership of outcomes, and leaders spend less time directing and more time enabling.
Coaching stops being optional, it becomes expected.
Coming soon – Coaching for Performance – January Workshop
A practical, 2-hour virtual session to sharpen your coaching approach and translate it into stronger accountability and performance in 2026
📅 Thursday 29th January, 3–5pm GMT 🎟 £174 early special early bird ticket.
Message me for more info or if you’d like to bring this into your organisation.