The ICF’s An Exploration of the Coach Approach to Managing and Leading reveals that when managers lead with coaching skills, they can dramatically strengthen relationships, empower employees, and improve engagement. But it also highlights a reality check — most managers and leaders use coaching informally, with little or no training, meaning many are missing the full benefits that certified coach training can deliver.
Key Insights from the Research
- Empowerment & engagement go hand in hand – Employees thrive when managers give them autonomy, trust their judgment, and encourage them to take ownership of decisions.
- Coaching builds self-awareness and potential – Managers who take a coach approach help team members reflect, learn from mistakes, and develop critical thinking skills.
- Trust is the foundation – Confidentiality, even if informal, has a measurable positive effect on job satisfaction, career growth, and engagement.
- Training matters – Professional coaches receive extensive training in building trust, active listening, and structuring growth conversations. Most managers, however, receive minimal coaching skills training — which limits their impact.
- It’s more than being “nice” – A coach approach is a participative management style that still requires accountability and goal-setting, balancing support with constructive challenge.
How Businesses Can Harness the Coach Approach
1. Invest in training your leaders – Formal coaching skills training gives managers the tools to have deeper, more impactful conversations, and to confidently balance guidance with empowerment.
2. Partner with certified coaches – External coaches bring impartiality, structure, and confidentiality that internal managers may not be able to provide — especially valuable for sensitive development work or leadership transitions.
3. Build a coaching culture – Integrate coaching principles into team norms: active listening, powerful questions, goal alignment, and feedback that builds trust.
4. Focus on the big picture – Use coaching to connect daily tasks to personal growth and organisational purpose, not just to improve short-term performance metrics.
5. Make confidentiality clear – Even partial agreements improve trust; certified coaches can model best practice for this.
Our Perspective at Talent Insight Solutions
We’ve seen first-hand that when leaders adopt a coach approach — and get the right training or partner with skilled, certified coaches — workplaces become more engaged, agile, and resilient. Coaching transforms “managing people” into “developing people,” which in turn lifts retention, innovation, and performance.
As one manager in the ICF study said, their coach-like leader “gave me the confidence to take risks, learn from mistakes, and grow in ways I never thought possible.” That’s the power of coaching done well.
If you want your managers to lead with confidence, curiosity, and care — or to explore how partnering with us as strategic coaching partners can strengthen your business — we’d love to start that conversation.
Click here for more resources and practical tools on building a coaching culture in your workplace
