Let’s face it.
Sometimes we all need a little extra help.
Not necessarily because something is going wrong. Sometimes we simply need someone outside our own workplace who can listen, challenge our thinking and offer a different perspective.
Someone who isn’t caught up in the internal rumblings.
Someone who can give us a little time when everyone else in the business is under the pump.
Someone who can ask the questions we haven’t thought to ask.
And sometimes, someone who can coach us rather than give us the answer.
Coaching isn’t about having the answers
Coaching is often confused with feedback, delegation or advice.
It isn’t.
Good coaching is about creating the conditions for someone to think clearly, explore their perspective and work out what they need to do next.
It starts with genuine belief in the person’s ability to succeed.
It creates a trusted and psychologically safe environment where someone can say:
“I’m not sure what to do here.”
Or:
“I know what I should do, but something is stopping me.”
Or even:
“I just need to work out what I’m actually thinking.”
Sometimes the most useful question isn’t:
“Here’s what I think you should do.”
It is:
“What do you think you should do?”
That doesn’t mean a coach should never offer advice.
It means knowing when advice will help — and when helping someone think through the problem themselves will build a much more valuable skill.
Because most of us know more than we think we do.
We often have a reasonably clear idea of what we are trying to achieve, what is getting in the way and what the real roadblock might be.
What we sometimes lack is the space to think it through.
Why an external sounding board can be so valuable
Inside a business, everyone has context.
But sometimes they have too much context.
They may be involved in the issue.
They may have their own view of what should happen.
They may be affected by the decision.
Or they may simply be too busy to give the conversation the time it deserves.
An external coach or professional sounding board brings a different perspective.
They can listen without being caught up in the internal dynamics.
They can challenge assumptions without having an agenda.
They can ask the question that makes you stop and think.
And, importantly, they can give you the time to think.
That can be incredibly valuable when you are responsible for making decisions that affect other people.
The evidence matters too
There is growing evidence that coaching can make a measurable difference.
For example, research has found benefits including increased job satisfaction, commitment, performance and wellbeing, as well as reduced burnout.
Some research has also identified significant returns on investment from coaching initiatives, while coaching combined with training has been associated with stronger productivity outcomes.
- The ROI and Productivity Benchmark: A landmark study by Metrix Global demonstrated that pairing workforce development with executive coaching yielded an impressive 529% ROI from productivity improvements alone, which scaled to 788% when factoring in individual employee retention.
- The Drivers of Organizational Performance: This vast economic return is explained by the fundamental structural and psychological changes coaching brings to a business’ culture:
- Optimizing Structural Clarity: Longitudinal data from Stone et al. (2024) and foundational research by Kim et al. (2014) in Human Resource Development Quarterly supports that structured managerial coaching directly enhances employee role clarity and job satisfaction—the primary psychological catalysts that indirectly push workforce performance and organizational commitment to the next level.
- Insulating Against Burnout: Complementing this structural clarity, Wang et al. (2024) details how a coaching leadership style builds essential psychological capital and social support. Which acts as a critical protective buffer that helps employees internalise vital business resources, directly mitigating the risk of emotional exhaustion and workplace burnout.
The Human Core
The numbers are useful. But for me, the more interesting question is why coaching works.
Perhaps it is because people are given something that is increasingly difficult to find at work: undivided time to think.
The right coach for the right moment
I’ve been incredibly lucky throughout my working career to have additional voices around me who challenge me in the best possible way.
They question my thinking.
They offer perspectives I hadn’t considered.
They broaden the things I need to think about.
And then they give me the time and space to work out what I want to do with that information.
I’ve needed different things at different times.
Sometimes I’ve needed someone to really push my thinking.
Sometimes I’ve needed grounded reassurance.
Sometimes I’ve needed someone with the facts and context to help me make a better decision.
And sometimes I’ve simply needed someone to listen.
That’s why I don’t think there is one definition of the right coach.
There is the right coach for the right person, at the right time and for the right need.
Coaching isn’t about fixing people
Perhaps the greatest value of coaching is that it doesn’t make someone dependent on the person giving the advice.
If I tell you what to do, you have my answer.
If I help you think through the problem, you develop your own answer — and perhaps a better ability to solve the next problem too.
That’s the difference.
Coaching isn’t about refusing to give answers.
It is about recognising that sometimes helping someone find their own answer is the more valuable intervention.
So if you’re leading a business, managing a team or simply carrying a lot of responsibility, consider who you have outside your organisation who can be that sounding board.
Who challenges your thinking?
Who gives you perspective?
Who listens without immediately jumping in?
Who can ask:
“What would be useful for us to work through today?”
And perhaps most importantly:
Who helps you trust your own judgement a little more?
Because everyone needs a coach sometimes.
The real skill is finding the right person for the moment you are in.
