Explore Your Coaching Style

Thinking About Your Coaching Style

All of us have a natural, or preferred coaching style. We need to understand what it is and when it is appropriate so that as coaches we can learn to adapt our style to the needs of the situation and the person we are trying to coach. To develop a good understanding of our style it’s helpful to consider the extremes.

At one end of the coaching continuum there is the “Teaching” Coach. This type of coach does a lot of “telling”. They have the expertise and they are trying to pass it on to help the other person achieve something concrete. In using this style, the coach is typically drawing on his or her experience to pass on the skills and knowledge the other person needs to achieve an outcome or to do their job. This sort of coaching is appropriate when tasks are to be performed in the “right” way over and over. It’s often (but not always) particularly helpful to people who are in front-line jobs where they have to achieve a consistent and predictable outcome in providing a product or a service.

At the other end of the scale is the “Learning to learn” Coach. This type of coach is more interested in asking questions and listening than telling. Rather than hands-on technical experience the “Learning to learn” Coach often has a broader ‘people empowerment’ expertise which they use. They typically recognise the potential in people and have a commitment to giving them challenges and opportunities to stretch themselves and learn how to learn (especially when the individual may have projects to undertake as part of their learning journey). This sort of coaching is appropriate when there are many paths to a good result and there is not just one “right” approach. It’s particularly helpful when people are developing as managers/leaders or working on projects which are breaking new ground for them.

As a coach, one of the most important things you need to be able to do is ADAPT your style to match the situation. To read more about effective coaching, we recommend our short booklet "Effective Leadership Coaching" as an introduction to the topic. To explore your coaching skills, consider taking our "Coaching Effectiveness Profile" to see how you rate on seven key coaching skill. Or to explore all our Coaching Resources, visit our Coaching and Mentoring Topic Page.