In the cacophony of advice on leadership, one truth stands out: Great leaders aren’t born, they’re coached. Leadership coaching isn’t just about correcting mistakes or handing out pep talks—it’s about unlocking potential and transforming leaders. Drawing from the timeless principles of Sir John Whitmore’s Coaching for Performance and Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit, we explore how to build a coaching framework that scales leadership excellence.

Start with the Why: Coaching as Leadership

Leaders, especially in the corporate arena, often confuse being busy with being effective. Coaching, however, flips the script. Instead of drowning your team in directives, coaching asks you to pull insights and solutions out of them. According to Whitmore, this begins with the GROW model: Goal, Reality, Options, and Will.

• Goal: What does success look like for the individual and the team? A leader-coach aligns personal and organizational goals to create a shared vision.
• Reality: What’s happening now? Surface the obstacles, but don’t solve them just yet.
• Options: What could be done? This is where you let your team members brainstorm, fail fast, and iterate.
• Will: What will you do? Coaching isn’t passive—it demands commitment.

Now pair this with Stanier’s game-changing mantra: “Say less, ask more.” The best coaching conversations are less about giving advice and more about posing the right questions. Questions like:

• “What’s the real challenge here for you?”
• “What do you want?”
• “If you say yes to this, what are you saying no to?”

When you combine these two frameworks, you build a culture of accountability and self-discovery that fosters leadership in everyone around you.

More Questions, Fewer Answers

If you think asking questions is soft leadership, think again. Great questions do the heavy lifting of leadership by:

• Clarifying Priorities: Asking “What’s the one thing that would make the biggest difference?” forces focus.
• Building Ownership: Questions like “What’s your plan for moving forward?” empower the coachee to take charge.
• Encouraging Growth: Questions that probe self-awareness, such as “What did you learn from this experience?” drive development.

Stanier’s advice is deceptively simple: Instead of rushing to solve problems, let your questions create a space for your team to think, process, and act.

From Transactional to Transformational

Whitmore highlights a critical distinction: transactional leadership focuses on tasks, while transformational leadership focuses on people. Coaching bridges the gap. Here’s how:

• Transactional: “What are the metrics for this project?”
• Transformational: “What skills can you develop through this project?”

When you prioritize long-term growth over short-term wins, you create an environment where people aren’t just meeting goals—they’re redefining them.

Execution: Building Your Coaching Framework

Want to embed coaching into your leadership DNA? Start with these steps:

• Set Intentional Conversations: Schedule regular 1:1 coaching sessions with your team—not just for performance reviews but to explore goals, challenges, and growth opportunities.
• Ask, Don’t Tell: Make it your default mode. When tempted to solve, pause and ask a question instead.
• Focus on the Future: Don’t get bogged down in past mistakes. Use the GROW model to steer conversations toward solutions.
• Measure Progress: Coaching isn’t just touchy-feely. Define clear metrics for both personal development and business outcomes.

The ROI of Coaching Leadership

Let’s get tactical: Why does coaching matter for your bottom line? Companies with strong coaching cultures report 27% higher revenue per employee and 46% better retention rates. But the real ROI? Empowered teams. Leaders who coach create emerging leaders, not followers. That’s how you scale yourself—and your business.

Final Thought: Coaching as the Ultimate Leadership Skill

Stanier challenges us to “stay curious longer.” Whitmore reminds us that coaching is about unlocking potential. Together, these principles demand that we, as leaders, evolve beyond being taskmasters or micromanagers. Leadership coaching isn’t about fixing—it’s about growing. It’s less about you and more about your team. And, let’s face it, it’s harder than it sounds. But then again, nothing worth doing is easy.