Shifting Focus to Coach-Like Leadership

As we celebrate International Coaching Week (May 2026), I’ve been reflecting deeply on where I want to place my energy and focus over the coming months.

For me, a major priority is coach-like leadership – helping leaders integrate high-quality coaching skills into everyday leadership practice, not simply training and supporting professional coaches.

I believe we need more leaders who know how to think developmentally about conversations. Leaders who can intentionally decide when to manage, when to mentor, and when a coaching approach will create far greater ownership, awareness, accountability, and growth.

This is not about turning leaders into full-time coaches. It is about helping leaders become more intentional, flexible, and skilful in how they approach conversations, meetings, performance evaluations, development discussions, and moments of challenge or uncertainty.

One of the biggest misconceptions I encounter is the idea that coaching is always the ‘best’ approach, because it’s not. Effective leadership requires the ability to move consciously between different leadership modalities depending on the situation, the person, the level of risk, and the desired outcome.

• Sometimes managing is absolutely the right approach.
• Sometimes mentoring is needed.
• Sometimes, neither is the most developmental option.

The real skill lies in knowing the difference.

Managing: Providing Direction and Accountability

Managing is primarily focused on performance, structure, delivery, consistency, and results.

In a management approach, the leader often defines both the what and the how. There is usually a stronger emphasis on efficiency, compliance, decision-making, oversight, and reducing ambiguity.

Managing becomes particularly important when:

• Deadlines are tight
• Risk is high
• Clear processes must be followed
• Safety or compliance matters
• The individual lacks knowledge or experience
• Immediate action is required

A manager may say:

• “Here’s what needs to happen.”

• “Follow this process.”

• “I need this completed by Friday.”

• “This is the priority.”

• “Let me clarify expectations.”

Managing is not ‘bad leadership’ because strong management skills are essential within organisations and communities. Problems arise when leaders rely on managing for every conversation, including those that require reflection, ownership, creativity, or independent thinking.

When overused, a purely managerial style can unintentionally create dependency, reduce initiative, and position the leader as the constant problem-solver.

Mentoring: Sharing Experience and Guidance

A mentoring approach draws more heavily on the leader’s own experience, expertise, insight, and wisdom. A mentor offers guidance, suggestions, examples, perspective, and often practical advice based on what they have learned themselves.

Mentoring can be hugely valuable when someone is:

• New to a role or profession
• Navigating unfamiliar territory
• Seeking guidance from someone more experienced
• Looking for perspective or professional wisdom
• Developing long-term capability

A mentor may say:

• “When I experienced something similar…”

• “Here’s what worked for me.”

• “You might want to consider…”

• “One thing I learned was…”

• “Let me share an approach that helped me.”

Mentoring can accelerate learning and build confidence; it can also prevent unnecessary mistakes and help people access valuable professional insight.

However, mentoring still tends to position the leader or mentor as the person with greater knowledge, experience, or answers. The flow of expertise largely moves in one direction.

Coach-Like Leadership: Developing Thinking, Awareness and Ownership

A coach-like leadership approach is fundamentally different.

Rather than primarily directing or advising, a leader creates the conditions for the other person to think more deeply, reflect more honestly, explore options, build self-awareness, and develop ownership of decisions and actions.

The focus shifts from:

• fixing  →  to facilitating thinking
• telling  →  to asking
• controlling  →  to empowering
• solving  →  to developing

A coach-like leader does not assume they must always provide the answer. Instead, they use curiosity, listening, reflection, and thoughtful questioning to support the thinking process of others.

This does not mean becoming passive or avoiding accountability, nor does it mean that leaders never share expertise or direction.    Think about these specific ICF Core Competencies:

• 7.09 – Invites the client to generate ideas about how they can move forward and what they are willing or able to do.
• 7.10 – Supports the client in reframing perspectives.
• 7.11 – Shares observations, knowledge, and feelings, without attachment, that have the potential to create new insights for the client. 

Coach-like leaders become more intentional about when to step into management, when to mentor, and when a coaching approach may create deeper learning and longer-term growth.

A coach-like leader may ask:

• “What are you noticing?”

• “What feels most important here?”

• “What options do you see?”

• “What assumptions might be influencing your thinking?”

• “What would moving forward look like?”

• “What support do you need from me?”

This approach is particularly valuable when:

• The individual is capable but needs clarity
• Ownership matters
• Innovation and creativity are important
• Confidence needs to grow
• Long-term capability is the goal
• The challenge is relational, strategic, or reflective rather than purely technical.

The Importance of Intentional Leadership Choice

One of the most important leadership capabilities is not simply learning coaching skills in isolation – it is learning to choose the most appropriate modality for the moment.

• Too much managing can create dependency.
• Too much mentoring can create over-reliance on expert advice.
• Poorly applied coaching can feel frustrating when clear direction is genuinely needed.

Skilful leaders learn to move fluidly between all three approaches.

This is why I believe coach-like leadership is becoming increasingly important across organisations, education, communities, and professional practice.  Skills such as active listening, curious questioning and holdig space are not only valuable for executive coaches, they are also valuable for: leaders and managers, people professionals, educators, mentors and supervisors, business owners, community leaders, parents and caregivers – in fact, anybody supporting the growth and development of others.

Available June 2026: Coach-Like Leadership Course on the Jigsaw Learning Hub

I’m excited that next month, a new ICF approved 10 CCE asynchronous Coach-Like Leadership course will launch in the Jigsaw Learning Hub.  This will also be rolled out to offer in-house live (in person or online) training for organisations world-wide.  

Designed for coaches, mentors, supervisors, people professionals, educators, managers, and anybody who leads – formally or informally – the course focuses on practical, real-world application of coaching skills within leadership contexts.

We explore:

• Coaching vs managing vs mentoring
• Active listening and presence
• Curious questioning
• Psychological safety and contracting
• Awareness of bias, power, and inclusion
• Building trust-based relationships
• Integrating coaching skills into everyday leadership conversations

Because perhaps one of the most valuable questions leaders can ask themselves is not:

“How do I fix this?”

But instead:

“How do I create the conditions for others to think, grow, and succeed?”

Interested in knowing more for your own development, or for your organisation?  Please reach out for more information.