A Coaching Approach to Performance

One of my favourite pieces of work is running Leader as Coach programmes. Helping leaders shift their style to a coaching approach can genuinely transform teams and organisations.

And yet, there’s a question I hear time and time again:

“A coaching approach is good if you have willing members of staff, but what about when you need to have difficult conversations around performance or conduct?”

It’s a fair challenge.

In a group yesterday, we explored exactly that.

We started not with tools or models, but with what often sits underneath these conversations, fear. Fear of saying the wrong thing, of getting the reaction wrong, of making things worse rather than better.

Simply naming that fear was important. Because when it stays unspoken, it tends to drive behaviours like, avoidance, over-softening, or going in too hard.

From there, we began to reframe.

These conversations are not something to get through or survive. They are an opportunity:

• To find out what’s really going on.

• To help a colleague move forward.

• To improve something in the team.

At its core, it’s just a conversation.

That shift alone can start to loosen the grip of fear.

From there, we moved into clarity. What’s the feedback we need to give? A coaching approach requires honesty and clarity.

We practised simple, strong openers:

“I’ve noticed…”

“The expectation is…”

“Currently I’m seeing…”

“This matters because…”

For example:

“The expectation in this role is that reports are submitted on time. Currently I’m seeing delays, and that’s impacting the wider team.”

Clear. Specific. Honest.

And then — the shift.

Instead of moving straight into telling or fixing, we explored how to stay in curiosity by  inviting the other person into a coaching conversation.

“What’s your perspective on this?”

“What’s getting in the way right now?”

“What are your options?”

“What support do you need to make this change?”

“What’s your next step?”

This is where the conversation becomes more than feedback. It becomes a shared exploration.

What emerges from these conversations is greater ownership, more insight, and solutions that are far more likely to stick,  because they’ve come from the individual, not been imposed on them.

And this is the balance that sits at the heart of a Leader as Coach approach.

Leaders can be clear about role expectations.

They can give honest, direct feedback when those expectations aren’t being met.

And they can still take a coaching approach.

It’s the combination that makes the difference.

The leader remains accountable for the performance of the team or service. But through a coaching approach, responsibility for personal performance and change stays where it belongs — with the individual.

That’s what builds capability, not dependency.

And it’s why creating space for leaders to practise these conversations really matters. Because in the reality of busy, fast-paced environments, most don’t have the time to stop and think this through. Without that space, it’s easy to default to autopilot.