Most people are promoted into leadership because they were reliable, skilled individual contributors. Then they get handed a team and left to figure out the hard stuff through trial and error.

We tend to default to "what is known" when stressed, so new leaders naturally default to the individual strengths that served them in the past when under pressure. Except you're not an individual contributor anymore, so now you're a bottleneck.

Leadership is a systems discipline with observable mechanics. My training focuses on the core mental models and difficult interpersonal practices that high-performing teams require:

1. 1. Kimsey-House, H. et al. (2018). Co-Active Coaching; Schein, E. (2013). Humble Inquiry. ↩
2. 2. Gallwey, W. T. (1974). The Inner Game of Tennis; Whitmore, J. (2017). Coaching for Performance. ↩
3. 3. Beck, R., & Harter, J. (2015). “Managers Account for 70% of Variance in Employee Engagement.” Gallup Business Journal. ↩
4. 4. Scott, K. (2017). Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. St. Martin's. ↩
5. 5. Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Jossey-Bass. ↩
6. 6. de Bono, E. (1985). Six Thinking Hats. Little, Brown and Company. ↩
7. 7. Deming, W. E. (1986). Out of the Crisis. MIT Press. ↩
8. 8. Marquet, L. D. (2013). Turn the Ship Around! Portfolio. ↩

Coaching is “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential” — International Coaching Federation (ICF)

Coaching is not therapy (focused on healing), training (delivering a set curriculum), or consulting (providing expert solutions).

Evidence-based coaching means practice that's grounded in the best available research, guided by professional expertise, and tailored to the client's context. While the academic study of coaching is relatively young (most of the key research has emerged in the past 20–25 years, and some of the pioneers are still active) it draws on decades of work in psychology, adult development theory, and related behavioural sciences.

Professional standards ensure quality: Both the International Coaching Federation (ICF), where I hold the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential, and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) require rigorous training and adherence to core competencies that reflect well-established best practices. Today's certified coaches learn to apply research-based methods: goal-setting strategies, cognitive restructuring, and motivational techniques, all rooted in scientific literature.

The Benefits

There is now a wealth of scientific evidence showing that coaching is not just a fad or “soft” intervention. Over the past two decades, researchers have studied coaching in workplaces and leadership settings to find out if it truly works and the results are overwhelmingly positive¹:

• Enhanced performance and productivity: coaching improves individual, team, and organisational outcomes; organisations with coaching cultures report higher engagement and productivity.
• Greater goal attainment and accountability: coaches help people set meaningful goals, build clear action plans, and stay accountable, leading to higher rates of achievement.
• Stronger leadership skills: coaching develops key leadership competencies (e.g. transformational leadership, adaptability, communication), expanding a leader's behavioural range.
• Increased self-awareness and insight: coaching fosters reflection and perspective-taking, helping leaders understand their strengths, limitations, and impact on others.
• Improved interpersonal and communication skills: clients report stronger relationships, better dialogue, and more effective collaboration within teams.
• Boosted confidence and self-efficacy: coaching consistently enhances self-belief, motivation, and the capacity to handle challenges.
• Greater resilience and well-being: studies link coaching to reduced stress, increased resilience, hope, and overall psychological health.
• Higher employee engagement and commitment: coaching leaders improves team climate, raising commitment, psychological safety, and collaboration.
• Accelerated learning and development: coaching turns insight into action, supporting skill acquisition, ongoing growth, and continuous improvement.

How Does Coaching Create Positive Change?

Modern coaching approaches are effective because they apply well-established psychological principles to help people grow. One big factor highlighted by research is that coaching builds “psychological capital” in individuals. Psychological capital is a collection of positive mental resources, specifically hope, self-efficacy (confidence in one's abilities), optimism, and resilience. When coaching is done well, it tends to strengthen these four capacities in the client. For example:

• Coaches help people set meaningful goals and celebrate progress, which increases self-efficacy (confidence).
• Coaches encourage solution-focused thinking and planning, which builds hope and optimism about the future.
• They serve as a supportive sounding board during challenges, which helps clients become more resilient in the face of setbacks.

In short, coaching works by empowering people psychologically. Because coaching draws on research from fields like positive psychology, adult learning, and organisational development, it employs techniques we know facilitate growth and behaviour change. Many coaching methods have parallels in cognitive-behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, and other evidence-based practices. Although coaching is not counseling, it leverages some of the same scientifically grounded tools. For instance, goal-setting is a proven motivator in psychology, and coaches are trained to set clear, motivating goals with clients and hold them accountable to action plans. Reflective questioning and active listening are techniques rooted in counseling psychology that coaches use to help clients gain new insights and challenge limiting beliefs. Even the simple act of having a dedicated coach provides social support and positive reinforcement, which research shows are critical for sustaining behaviour change. All of these elements combine in a coaching engagement.

Crucially, coaching is a client-centred and solution-focused process. Instead of instructing or lecturing, an evidence-based coach will ask powerful questions, help the client clarify what they want to achieve, and guide them to generate their own solutions. This approach has been shown to increase the client's intrinsic motivation and commitment to change. It aligns with what we know about adult learning – that adults learn best when they find answers themselves with a facilitator, rather than being told what to do. The end result is that coached individuals internalise new perspectives and skills more deeply, leading to lasting changes in behaviour. In fact, scholars have noted that coaching's foundations in positive psychology mean it's fundamentally about unlocking a person's potential and strengths (rather than fixing weaknesses), which research in organisational psychology shows is a highly effective way to improve performance and well-being.

1. 1. Notable researchers and authors in the coaching field include Professor Anthony Grant, Professor Tatiana Bachkirova, Professor David Clutterbuck, and Professor Jonathan Passmore. ↩