Can Your Managers Also Be Good Coaches?
The real management question is not whether managers should โcoach,โ but what the organisation is actually asking them to do. This article is useful because it exposes a common operating-model flaw: companies load managers with performance, delivery and people responsibilities, then assume coaching will happen in the gaps. For CIOs and transformation leaders, that creates an accountability problem. If coaching is treated as an extra skill instead of a defined management expectation, it becomes inconsistent, unmeasured and easy to dismiss when delivery pressure rises.
The trade-off is capacity versus aspiration. Asking managers to be more coach-like can improve engagement and decision quality, but only if their workload is adjusted. Otherwise, โcoach-likeโ becomes another slogan layered onto already overloaded roles. The practical implication is that leadership teams should decide where coaching is mandatory, where it is optional, and where a more directive style is appropriate. That clarity matters most in change programmes, where managers are often expected to translate strategy into action while simultaneously supporting morale and adoption.
This also has implications for capability building and governance. Coaching quality will not improve through encouragement alone; it needs role design, training, reinforcement and support from the next managerial layer. The key next questions are: What behaviours are expected from managers in this organisation? Which of those are measured? Who is accountable for building the time and coaching skills required? And how will leaders know whether improved coaching is actually helping retention, engagement and execution rather than merely sounding desirable?
If youโre a manager today, you are likely expected to โcoachโ your employees. Thatโs a good thing: Forrester analysis shows that employees who feel like they have a coaching manager are eight times more likely to be highly engaged compared to their peers with managers who donโt take a coaching approach. Coaching is also linked to higher individual performance and confidence, along with organizational benefits. As a trained coach, Iโve experienced both sides of those benefits.
So all coaching must be good, then, right? Hold on. As I explain in my recent Forrester report, Managers Canโt Be Coaches, But They Need To Be More Coach-Like (client-only access), there are two important things you should know:
- Coaching is commonly used to describe many behaviors, few of which are actual coaching. Many managers describe coaching as telling someone what to do, giving feedback, or teaching them how to do something (none of those are coaching). The misunderstanding of coaching stymies managers before they even start.
- Managers and their direct reports are not clearly set up for successful coaching outcomes. Research shows that a line-manager relationship dampens the impact on coaching outcomes. Why? The answer is obvious: Even when all other conditions are perfect โ you have a high-quality, trusting relationship, and there is readiness and willingness to be coached โ the power dynamic between a manager and their direct report inhibits the vulnerability that opens the door to the benefits of coaching.
What is a manager to do? They can maximize the drivers of coaching outcomes โ readiness to be coached and the quality of the coaching relationship โ by incorporating coaching skills into their management style. These include:
- Providing a safe, judgment-free space for their employee to test out new ideas, which would build trust and support the habit of critical thinking and problem-solving over constantly seeking direction and answers.
- Asking questions more than telling, which would help managers get to the root of objections and challenges faster.
- Asking permission before giving feedback, providing redirection or advice, which fosters more respect and trust and ensures the employeeโs ability to listen and absorb what the manager wants to say.
- Approaching a situation with curiosity (โI wonder whatโs happening hereโ) rather than judgment (โsomething is wrongโ), which would prevent the mistake of jumping to conclusions or making incorrect assumptions.
Adding coach-like expectations to the workload of managers already stretched to their limits without providing additional support wonโt help. For managers to be more coach-like, they need:
- Time.โฏCoaching interactions and developing a trusting relationship take time. Leaders need to manage capacity and expectations appropriately.
- Training.โฏMaximizing the key drivers for effective workplace coaching doesnโt come naturally to most managers, even if they want to be better managers. They need specific training and reinforcement to counteract habits such as jumping to offer suggestions, advice, judgment, criticism, and feedback.
- Support.โฏManagers are direct reports, too. They have their own hopes, fears, and career aspirations, and they look to their managers for advocacy and support. Leaders who manage these managers must provide them with the same support, empowerment, and coach-like management that they expect them to deliver to their teams.
Starting with these principles and key enabling steps, you can help your managers set realistic targets for increasing the coach-like behaviors of which they are capable and from which their teams will benefit.
In my full report, Forrester clients can learn more details on how to provide managers with what they need to augment their coach-like behavior without overburdening themselves or veering off into noncoaching behaviors that will thwart them. If you want to know more, schedule an inquiry call or guidance session with me, and I can walk you through your next steps to a more coach-like outcome for your managers and teams.
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