Why Leadership Coaching Actually Works (And Why You Might Need It)
- linnearader
- Oct 27
- 8 min read
"Leadership coaching is basically having a professional guide who helps you figure out where you're strong, where you're struggling, and how to bridge that gap."
Let me be honest with you: when I first heard about leadership coaching, I thought it was something for executives at Fortune 500 companies who had too much budget and not enough real problems. I figured if you were a good leader, you just... led. You didn't need someone holding your hand through it.
I was wrong. Again.
Leadership coaching isn't about fixing broken leaders. It's about helping good leaders become even more effective. It's about having someone who can see your blind spots, challenge your assumptions, and help you develop skills you didn't even know you needed.
What Leadership Coaching Actually Is
Leadership coaching is basically having a professional guide who helps you figure out where you're strong, where you're struggling, and how to bridge that gap. It's not therapy, you're not lying on a couch talking about your childhood. It's not consulting, they're not going to swoop in and fix your problems for you.
It's a partnership focused on making you a better leader. Through one-on-one conversations, assessments, feedback, and sometimes uncomfortable questions, a coach helps you see yourself more clearly and develop the skills you need to lead more effectively.
The key message? It's tailored. This isn't some cookie-cutter program where everyone gets the same advice. Good coaching is customized to your specific challenges, your organization, your leadership style, and your goals.
When I Finally Admitted I Needed Help
"My to-do list was overwhelming, my stress was through the roof, and I was caught in a cycle where even good days or weeks eventually spiraled back to feeling completely overwhelmed."
I was a director. I'd acted as Managing Director before. Could I admit I needed a leadership coach? Would people think I wasn't capable? That I didn't know what I was doing? Would asking for coaching make me look weak or incompetent?
My self-talk skills were clearly in dire need of help.
But here's the thing, I was drowning. My to-do list was overwhelming, my stress was through the roof, and I was caught in a cycle where even good days or weeks eventually spiraled back to feeling completely overwhelmed. I was hiding it well on the outside, but on the inside I was screaming.
So when I heard about one-on-one leadership coaching at a training session, I wrote it down. Then I actually got up the nerve to ask about it, got it approved, and scheduled my first session.
That decision changed everything.
The Self-Awareness Thing
Here's what coaching did for me that I couldn't do on my own: it helped me see how I was actually showing up as a leader versus how I thought I was showing up.
Through six months of at least twice-a-month conversations, soul searching, and homework, I started realizing where my concerns with myself came from. I got a handle on the realities of my situation. And guess what? It wasn't as bad as I'd made it in my head. Surprise, surprise, I was way harder on myself than I needed to be.
We all have blind spots. Things we do that impact our teams in ways we don't realize. Maybe you think you're being thorough, but your team experiences you as a micromanager. Maybe you think you're giving people autonomy, but they feel abandoned and unsupported. Maybe you think you're being direct, but you're actually being harsh.
A coach helps you connect the dots between your intentions and your impact. That's uncomfortable but incredibly valuable. More importantly, they help you develop the tools you need to not only be successful, but to actually feel successful.
Better Decision-Making
"They'll push you to think strategically instead of just reacting."
One of the most practical benefits of coaching is learning how to make better decisions. Not just what decisions to make, but how to approach decision-making in general.
A good coach will walk you through frameworks for evaluating options. They'll help you identify your decision-making patterns, do you avoid conflict and choose the path of least resistance? Do you jump to conclusions too quickly? Do you get paralyzed by overthinking?
They'll push you to think strategically instead of just reacting. To consider consequences you might have missed. To separate what you want to be true from what actually is true.
This isn't theoretical. When you're facing a real situation, a personnel issue, a budget crisis, a conflict between team members, having someone help you think it through strategically can be the difference between making a good call and making a mess.
The Employee Engagement Connection
Here's something I didn't expect: when I worked on my own leadership skills through coaching, my team's engagement improved.
It makes sense when you think about it. When you're a more effective communicator, people feel heard. When you recognize contributions appropriately, people feel valued. When you give meaningful feedback instead of generic praise or harsh criticism, people know where they stand and how to improve.
Engaged employees are more productive. They're more creative. They stick around longer. They create a better work environment for everyone else. All of that starts with leadership that knows how to create those conditions.
Coaching helps you develop the specific skills that drive engagement: communication, recognition, feedback, conflict resolution, creating psychological safety. These aren't just nice-to-have soft skills, they directly impact your team's performance and your organization's results.
How to Make Coaching Actually Work
"If you're not willing to try new approaches and reflect on what happens, you're wasting everyone's time."
If you're going to invest in coaching, whether for yourself or for leaders in your organization, here's what actually makes it effective:
Be honest about what you need. Don't sugarcoat your challenges or pretend you've got it all figured out. The value of coaching is directly proportional to your willingness to be real about where you're struggling.
Set specific goals. "Be a better leader" is too vague. "Improve how I handle conflict with my team" or "develop my strategic thinking skills" or "learn to delegate effectively," those are goals you can actually work toward and measure.
Find the right fit. Not every coach is right for every leader. You need someone whose style works with your personality and learning preferences. Someone who will push you but also understands your context.
Actually do the work. Coaching sessions are valuable, but the real growth happens in between sessions when you're applying what you learned. If you're not willing to try new approaches and reflect on what happens, you're wasting everyone's time.
Get feedback from others. Ask your team, your peers, your boss, are they seeing changes? Is your leadership actually improving from their perspective, or just from yours?
What This Creates in Your Organization
When leaders invest in their own development through coaching, it sends a message to the entire organization: growth matters here. Learning matters here. We're not expecting anyone, including leadership, to have all the answers.
That creates a culture where people are more willing to take risks, try new approaches, and admit when they need help. Where feedback is seen as a gift rather than a threat. Where continuous improvement is the norm, not the exception.
I've watched this play out. When leaders model that growth mindset, when they openly work on their own development, their teams follow suit. Suddenly you have an organization full of people who are trying to get better instead of defending their current performance.
Real Examples
I've seen coaching transform leaders and organizations, including myself.
When I started coaching, I was struggling with time management, emotional control, and saying no to requests. I had zero grace with myself and lacked confidence despite being in a director role. Through the coaching process, I developed systems that actually worked, like limiting my daily to-do list to 3-5 realistic items instead of trying to accomplish everything at once. I learned to take a breath before reacting emotionally. I figured out how to say no or redirect requests without feeling guilty.
Others could see the changes, but most importantly, I could feel them. I became more productive, less stressed, and actually felt successful instead of just looking successful on the outside.
A department head who was overwhelmed and micromanaging everything used coaching to develop better delegation skills. She learned to trust her team, create clear expectations, and step back. Her team became more capable and confident, and she finally had time to focus on strategic work instead of putting out fires.
These aren't magic transformations. They're the result of focused work with someone who could see what these leaders couldn't see themselves and help them develop new approaches.
Is Coaching Right for You?
"When you invest in developing your leadership capabilities, you're investing in every interaction you have, every decision you make, every person you influence."
Here's how to know if you could benefit from leadership coaching:
Do you feel stuck in certain patterns? Do you keep running into the same challenges with different people? Do you wonder why your team isn't responding the way you expect? Do you feel like you're working really hard but not getting the results you want?
Are you in a new leadership role and feeling overwhelmed? Are you dealing with challenges you've never faced before? Are you trying to grow your impact but not sure how?
If any of that resonates, coaching might help. It's not admitting failure, it's recognizing that even good leaders can get better with the right support.
The Investment That Pays Off
Leadership coaching isn't cheap. Good coaches charge real money because they're providing real value. But consider what ineffective leadership costs: high turnover, low productivity, poor morale, missed opportunities, bad decisions that create expensive problems.
When you invest in developing your leadership capabilities, you're investing in every interaction you have, every decision you make, every person you influence. That's a multiplier effect that keeps paying dividends long after the coaching engagement ends.
Moving Forward
"It's focused work with someone who can help you see yourself clearly and develop the skills that will make you more effective."
If you're interested in coaching, start by getting clear on what you want to work on. What specific challenges are you facing? What skills do you want to develop? What would success look like?
Then find a coach whose approach resonates with you. Talk to them about their process, their style, their experience with leaders in your situation. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s someone else, regardless, make sure it feels like a good fit.
And then commit to the work. Show up honestly. Try what they suggest. Reflect on what happens. Ask for feedback. Be willing to be uncomfortable because that's where growth happens.
Leadership coaching isn't magic. It's focused work with someone who can help you see yourself clearly and develop the skills that will make you more effective. If you're willing to do that work, the impact on you, your team, and your organization can be significant.
Have you worked with a leadership coach? What was your experience? What leadership skills are you working on developing? Share your thoughts in the comments.
As always, carry social kindness with you everywhere you go. The world needs you and your positive mindset!
Connect With Me
If you want to consult on training or coaching for your team, please reach out.
269-621-5282
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