Explore every episode of the podcast The Coaching Crowd® Podcast with Jo Wheatley & Zoe Hawkins
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When Coaching Becomes Another Demand | 09 Nov 2026 | 00:19:08 | |
What happens when the coaching we intend to be supportive becomes another pressure our client has to manage? "What would you like to focus on today?" It is a familiar opening question in coaching, and one we might ask with every intention of putting our client in control. Yet that question can involve much more than we realise: identifying priorities, weighing up possibilities, making a decision and wondering whether the answer will meet our expectations. In this episode, we explore when coaching becomes another demand, and what this means for neurodivergent inclusive coaching. Our conversation invites us to look beyond our intentions and become more curious about how our clients experience the space we create. We begin by exploring demand sensitivity and how everyday coaching questions can carry an unexpected sense of pressure. An invitation to reflect might feel like an expectation to have an answer. A conversation about actions might become a fear of disappointing the coach. Returning to an unfinished goal might bring a sense of failure into the room before the client has had an opportunity to explain their experience. As we talk, we reflect on how much a client's capacity can change from one day to another. Someone arriving after a difficult morning may experience a question very differently from someone who has had time to settle. This brings emotional regulation, co-regulation and cognitive load into our thinking about accessible coaching. We explore what it might mean to begin with a welcome and allow someone time to arrive. We consider how giving permission to pause, leaving a decision open or inviting an experiment can create more room for exploration. We also acknowledge the complexity: offering more choices can sometimes increase overwhelm, and even a gentle check-in can feel like another demand. One of our strongest reflections is that reducing demands does not mean reducing ambition. Creating greater autonomy and a sense of safety may help a client find more capacity for meaningful exploration and action. We also distinguish everyday demand sensitivity from the more complex experiences discussed in relation to a PDA profile, and reflect on the importance of specialist learning and recognising the limits of our practice. Throughout the conversation, we return to the assumptions we can make about resistance, commitment and progress. A client's spoken agreement may sit alongside tension or discomfort that has not yet been expressed. Our role is to stay curious about that experience. This episode is an invitation to notice where our coaching adds pressure, where we can create more space, and when the most helpful intervention may be to stop asking for something.
Timestamps: - 00:00 Welcome and why coaching can feel demanding - 00:46 Understanding demand sensitivity - 02:19 The hidden pressure in everyday coaching questions - 04:18 How stress and emotional regulation affect capacity - 05:14 Allowing clients time to arrive and settle - 06:19 Why more choice is not always helpful - 07:15 The demands behind a familiar opening question - 08:20 Noticing and responding to the individual client - 10:18 Reducing demands while maintaining ambition - 11:17 Cognitive load and gentler coaching language - 13:16 Demand sensitivity, PDA and specialist practice - 15:28 Spoken commitments and bodily responses - 17:08 Rethinking resistance and our assumptions - 18:06 Neurodivergent inclusive coaching training - 18:36 Combined training offer and information session
Key Lessons Learned: - Support is defined by the client's experience. Our intention to help does not automatically mean that a question or intervention feels supportive. - Open questions can carry hidden demands. Prioritising, deciding, processing emotions and finding words can all add to a client's cognitive load. - Capacity changes. Stress and the demands of everyday life can influence what a client is able to engage with during a particular session. - More choice can increase overwhelm. Offering alternatives needs to be responsive to the individual rather than treated as a universal solution. - Reducing pressure can support meaningful progress. Making space for autonomy does not require us to lower our aspirations for the coaching. - Experiments can feel more accessible than commitments. An invitation to explore or notice something may create more room for the client to choose their next step. - Resistance deserves curiosity. We need to explore what is happening rather than assume that reluctance reflects a limiting belief or lack of motivation. - Verbal agreement does not tell the whole story. Where accessible to the client, exploring bodily responses may reveal discomfort that their words have not expressed. - Specialist needs require appropriate learning. Awareness of demand sensitivity is valuable, while working with more complex profiles may require further training and support.
Keywords Used: When coaching becomes another demand, demand sensitivity, neurodivergent inclusive coaching, coaching questions, emotional regulation, co-regulation, cognitive load, accessible coaching, autonomy, PDA profile, resistance in coaching, coaching commitments, Links & Resources: - November training offer and information session - https://www.igcompany.com/November26 | |||
| Am I Adding Value as a Coach? | 02 Nov 2026 | 00:21:21 | |
What if the pressure to prove our value as a coach is getting in the way of the space our client needs? In this episode, we explore a question that comes up frequently in coaching supervision: "Am I adding value as a coach?" Whether we are beginning our coaching journey or have years of experience, that question can bring uncertainty, self-doubt and a strong desire to know we are doing meaningful work. We begin by looking beneath the question itself. Are we wondering whether our client is making progress, whether we chose the right intervention, or whether we are good enough? Wanting to do our work well is natural. But when our attention shifts towards securing reassurance, we can lose connection with the person in front of us. Together, we reflect on who gets to decide what valuable coaching looks like. As coaches, we might look for a breakthrough, a decision or a clear action. Our client might value something quieter: uninterrupted thinking time, the chance to say something aloud for the first time, or a question that leaves them seeing their situation differently. Coaching effectiveness is not always visible within the session. One story brings this uncertainty into focus. Early in our coaching experience, a client finished an engagement describing the conversations as interesting but struggling to identify what they had gained. The experience left a sense of disappointment and questions about whether enough had been done. Around ten years later, that client made contact and described the coaching as the single biggest influence on a significant life change. The impact had developed beyond the time we shared. We also explore why greater experience does not necessarily remove coaching self-doubt. Previous client transformations, recommendations and a growing toolkit can create pressure to deliver something equally significant every time. Non-directive coaching asks us to notice that pressure and remain responsive to the client's agenda. There are practical ways to stay connected with client learning. Regular coaching check-ins can help clients recognise what is emerging, rather than leaving all reflection until the final moments. We discuss how to use these questions in service of the client, alongside noticing our own urge to strive, taking a breath and returning to coaching presence. Our conversation also considers people pleasing, pride in our work, relationship dynamics and the feelings that can surface when we begin charging for coaching. We finish with a different question: are we creating the conditions in which something valuable can happen? That shift invites us to trust the coaching process, recognise the client's contribution and bring our uncertainties into supervision. Timestamps:· 00:00 Welcome and introduction · 00:06 Am I adding value as a coach? · 00:51 Taking the question into supervision · 01:45 Using check-ins to support client learning · 03:06 Who decides what counts as value? · 04:29 When coaching value is not immediately visible · 05:25 Why experienced coaches can question their impact · 08:07 Introducing tools for the client's benefit · 09:20 A client story: discovering the impact ten years later · 11:42 What would change if you had nothing to prove? · 12:32 Exploring approval, pride and people pleasing · 15:09 Returning to presence when striving appears · 15:48 Exploring relationship and systemic dynamics · 16:53 Creating the conditions for value · 17:47 How clients contribute to the value of coaching · 18:57 Session length, expectations and trusting the time available · 20:08 Charging for coaching and feelings of worthiness · 21:08 Supervision, coach training and further development Key Lessons Learned:· Value can emerge after the coaching ends. A client may need time to process an experience before recognising its influence. · A breakthrough is one possible outcome. Thinking space, being heard and exploring uncertainty can also be valuable. · Check-ins should support the client's learning. Asking what is emerging helps clients recognise their own discoveries. · Experience can bring additional pressure. Recommendations and previous successes can increase our expectations of what each session should achieve. · Our toolkit needs to serve the client's agenda. Before introducing an activity, we can consider whether the client needs it or whether we are seeking reassurance. · Self-awareness helps us return to presence. Noticing an urge to prove ourselves gives us an opportunity to pause, breathe and reconnect with the client. · Value is co-created. The client's goals, engagement and willingness to explore shape what becomes possible. · Supervision offers space to examine the question. We can explore how approval, professional pride, money and relationship dynamics influence our practice. Keywords:Am I adding value as a coach, coaching supervision, coaching effectiveness, coaching self-doubt, non-directive coaching, client learning, coaching check-ins, coaching presence, client transformations, trust the coaching process, charging for coaching, people pleasing, The Coaching Crowd Podcast, Links & Resources:· Website: igcompany.com | |||
| How to Witness in Coaching | 26 Oct 2026 | 00:21:07 | |
What can happen when a coach resists the urge to fix, reassure or move the conversation along, and stays fully present with the client instead? In this episode, we explore witnessing in coaching: the practice of being with a client as they encounter an emotion, insight or change, without needing to direct what happens next. We explain how witnessing is related to deep listening, but distinct from it. Listening communicates, "I hear you"; witnessing communicates, "I'm here with you while you encounter this part of yourself." We discuss the moments when witnessing can matter most: a client's emotion rising as they speak, a realisation they have never voiced before, or a new perspective that is only beginning to take shape. These moments can involve grief or fear, but also relief, freedom and excitement. The coach's silence and presence can give the client room to let the experience settle and find its own meaning. We reflect on how quickly a coach's wish to be useful can turn into action, questions or solutions, and how stepping back can help the client stay with their own learning. We also explore the difference between witnessing and validation, and how the two can sometimes follow each other in a coaching conversation. Witnessing can help clients feel safe enough to bring more of themselves into the room, including the uncertainty that comes with a changing identity. Whether someone is becoming a new leader, adjusting to a different family role or moving on from a business, the coach can offer space to explore who they are becoming without defining it for them. We reflect on the care and courage this asks of both coach and client, and why presence can be a powerful coaching skill in its own right. Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Witnessing in coaching, coaching skills, coaching presence, deep listening in coaching, emotional coaching, coaching conversations, client centred coaching, coach training, continuing professional development for coaches, Links & Resources:
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| Types of Coaching Questions | 19 Oct 2026 | 00:19:21 | |
What could change in a coaching conversation if we asked a different opening question? We often fall into familiar habits when a coaching session begins. In this episode, we explore how the first question can shape a client's focus, the direction of the conversation and how present they feel. We share a range of coaching questions designed to help clients notice what matters to them, rather than relying on the same opener every time. Some questions help a client sort through competing priorities. Others invite them to notice what feels most alive, what they might need to leave outside the room, or where they could make progress. We also explore questions that make room for uncertainty, unresolved issues and the parts of a person that may not yet have had a voice. As we discuss each one, we reflect on how a question might land differently depending on the client and what they bring to the session. We found ourselves returning to the importance of curiosity, choice and partnership. Questions about courage and possibility can open up new ways of thinking, while asking what the coach should be mindful of can strengthen the coaching alliance. We also discuss the power of a small word like "yet" to ease pressure and invite a sense of possibility. These questions are invitations, not a checklist. We talk about using them thoughtfully, in the context of the client's goals and the work already underway. Our hope is that coaches and people developing coaching skills will find a question that helps them listen differently, create space for reflection and support meaningful progress. Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Coaching questions, types of coaching questions, powerful coaching questions, coaching conversation, coaching session, coaching skills, coaching clients, coaching alliance, coaching practice, coach training, Links & Resources
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| Overcoming Coaching Panic | 12 Oct 2026 | 00:24:36 | |
Have you ever felt your mind go blank in a coaching session and wondered what you are supposed to do next? We explore the moments coaches can experience as panic: a client arrives with an unexpected goal, shares something difficult, asks what we would do, or sits in silence while we search for the perfect question. We reflect on how these moments can show up as anxiety, uncertainty, shock or feeling lost, for new and experienced coaches alike. We discuss how panic can be information rather than a problem to eliminate. When we rush to fill silence, reach for a model, give advice or steer the conversation towards a solution, we may be trying to manage our own discomfort instead of staying alongside the client. We consider how to recognise whose panic might be present, notice what is happening in the body and mind, and question the expectations we place on ourselves. Coaching does not require us to have an instant answer, and the client remains responsible for their own progress. We share practical ways to work with a blank mind or a stalled conversation, including asking what feels important, what the client is noticing, or what might happen if we did not try to solve the issue yet. We also explore how coaching supervision and reflective practice can help us understand recurring patterns beneath our panic. The conversation returns to a central idea: the coach's presence, curiosity and capacity to sit with uncertainty can be more valuable than having another tool to use. Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Coaching panic, coaching anxiety, emotions coaching, coaching supervision, reflective practice for coaches, coaching skills, client autonomy, managing uncertainty in coaching.
Links & Resources
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| To Use Coaching Models or Not | 05 Oct 2026 | 00:18:35 | |
When does a coaching model help us stay present with a client, and when does it start to get in the way? In this episode, we explore the relationship between coaching models, confidence and the conversations our clients need. Drawing on our experiences as coaches and coach educators, we discuss why coaching frameworks can be so reassuring when we are starting out. Clients rarely arrive with a neatly packaged goal. Their thoughts, emotions and competing priorities can take us in several directions, and models such as GROW, CLEAR and OSCAR can help us find a useful focus. We reflect on the importance of understanding why we ask a question, rather than concentrating only on which question comes next. We also share how structure continues to support our coaching practice as we gain experience. A framework held in the background can help us notice a missing goal, an unexplored emotion or a conversation that has lost its direction. Sometimes, explaining a structured activity and asking whether it would be helpful gives the client a clearer sense of what we are offering. We reflect on how this transparency can build trust and reduce cognitive load for both people. Referring to notes can be part of thoughtful, effective coaching, and we do not need to perform expertise by pretending that support is unnecessary. The tension emerges when completing the model becomes more important than responding to the person. We explore what happens when a client discovers something significant, such as recognising that their career has been shaped by a desire to please a parent. Moving immediately to options or actions could miss their need to pause and understand that discovery. This brings us back to the wider coaching skills that make a difference: listening, silence, intuition, ethics, safeguarding and contracting. For us, coaching mastery involves developing the judgement to stay with a structure, adapt it or step away, according to the client and the moment. We finish by reflecting on how coach development moves from learning models to choosing, adapting and integrating their principles into our own coaching style. Our IKEA furniture metaphor reminds us that skipping the learning process is not the same as mastering it. We also explore why models are never neutral: every framework directs attention towards particular aspects of a client's experience. Whether we are using emotions coaching tools or another approach, we hold responsibility for what we introduce. This conversation invites us to become more deliberate about how we use structure, while remaining curious and responsive to the person in front of us. Timestamps: · 00:00 Welcome and the coaching models question · 01:14 Why frameworks help new coaches · 02:57 GROW, CLEAR and OSCAR · 04:31 Using models to refocus a conversation · 05:29 Offering structured activities to clients · 06:50 Transparency, trust and cognitive load · 07:45 Learning and integrating a model · 09:50 Helpful structure and knowing when to step away · 11:18 Responding to significant discoveries · 13:19 Coaching skills beyond models · 14:31 The journey towards coaching mastery · 15:58 The IKEA furniture metaphor · 18:03 Why coaching models are not neutral · 19:44 Exploring further coach training Key Lessons Learned: · Understand the purpose behind the question. A model becomes more useful when we understand what its questions invite the client to explore. · Structure can serve the client as well as the coach. Explaining an activity and checking whether it would help can create clarity, trust and a sense of direction. · Using notes does not undermine credibility. How we introduce a framework matters more than whether we remember every step. · A discovery may need space before action. The next question in a model may be less useful than pausing with what the client has recognised. · Models are one part of effective coaching. Listening, silence, intuition, ethics, safeguarding and contracting all shape the conversation. · Mastery includes choice. Developing as a coach means learning when to follow a framework, adapt it or work more emergently. · Every model directs attention. We need to consider what our chosen approach brings into focus and what it may leave unexplored. · Learn before letting go. Practising and understanding a model gives us a stronger foundation for integrating its principles into our own style. Keywords: Coaching models, coaching frameworks, GROW, CLEAR, OSCAR, coaching practice, effective coaching, coaching skills, coaching mastery, coach development, coaching style, emotions coaching, cognitive load, coach training, The Coaching Crowd, Links & Resources | |||
| Finding Your Purpose Through Coaching | 28 Sep 2026 | 00:21:28 | |
What if finding your purpose is less about discovering one perfect career and more about understanding what makes you feel alive? People often come to coaching at a crossroads. From the outside, life may look successful: a career is progressing, responsibilities are being met, and there is no obvious reason to change course. Yet there can be a persistent feeling that something is missing. In this episode, we explore why that feeling deserves attention and how coaching can help us make sense of it. Our own experiences gave us two ways to look at purpose. For Jo, coaching became deeply connected to the contribution she wanted to make. For Zoe, coaching is an expression of a broader purpose: being part of a journey that helps someone feel more fulfilled. That distinction matters. If purpose can take more than one form, we do not have to put pressure on ourselves to find the single job that will make everything fall into place. We talk about the clues that can help when the answer is unclear. When do we feel most like ourselves? What kind of contribution matters to us? Who do we most enjoy working with, and where in their journey do we want to help? Zoe reflects on exploring other people-focused careers before finding that coaching offered the kind of conversations and relationships she was looking for. We also reflect on how our needs change through different stages of life. Work that once felt fulfilling may no longer fit around family, freedom or the person we are becoming. That does not make the years we spent doing it a mistake. Those experiences can help us recognise our strengths, values and priorities more clearly. For some people, coach training leads to a new career. For others, it changes how they lead, volunteer, parent or relate to the people around them. Finding meaningful work does not mean finding work that is always easy. Building our coaching business brought uncertainty alongside the conversations and contribution we loved. Perhaps a more useful question than "What would make me happy all the time?" is "What matters enough to me that I am willing to work through the difficult parts?" If you are considering a career change, exploring coach training or wondering what purpose means for you, we hope this conversation gives you space to notice what already matters. You may find that coaching is your next step, or that it helps you see another path more clearly. Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Finding your purpose, purpose through coaching, coach training, career change, meaningful work, career crossroads, becoming a coach, coaching skills, personal fulfilment,
Links & Resources | |||
| Why Every Coach needs Supervision | 21 Sep 2026 | 00:19:33 | |
Who supports the coach when a client conversation stays with them long after the session has ended? In this episode, we explore why every coach needs supervision and why it is far more than a professional requirement. Every coaching conversation brings together different histories, identities, beliefs and emotional experiences. As coaches, we carry our own stories into the room too. Supervision gives us a confidential reflective space to explore what may be influencing our work, particularly when a client interaction leaves us feeling stuck, uncertain or unable to stop thinking about the conversation. We also reflect on the isolation that can exist within coaching. Confidentiality means that few people witness our client conversations, making it easy to carry questions or concerns alone. Coaching supervision provides a professional support structure where we can think clearly, protect our wellbeing and continue to serve our clients effectively. It helps us recognise patterns, explore blind spots and close some of the mental tabs that might otherwise remain open. At the heart of the episode are the three purposes of supervision: normative, formative and restorative. Normative supervision supports safe and ethical practice, helping us navigate complex situations without expecting someone else to make the decision for us. Formative supervision develops our confidence, flexibility and reflective practice beyond our initial training. Restorative supervision helps us process the emotional demands of coaching, separate our experiences from those of our clients and resist the urge to rescue, fix or take responsibility for their outcomes. Ultimately, supervision helps us become less reactive, more patient and more comfortable with uncertainty. It can strengthen our ethical awareness, deepen our reflective practice and give us greater courage to challenge, experiment and trust the coaching process. Supervision is not surveillance or a judgement on our capability. It is an essential professional space that supports the wellbeing of the coach, protects the quality of the work and helps us become the thoughtful, ethical and responsive coaches our clients deserve. Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned: Supervision is a core professional support structure, not a judgement on whether a coach is capable. Strong reactions, recurring thoughts and feelings of being stuck can be useful signals that deserve reflective attention. Normative supervision helps coaches navigate ethical complexity, safeguarding, confidentiality and conflicts of interest without expecting a supervisor to provide a simple answer. Formative supervision supports continuing professional development, helping coaches move from reliance on models towards a more fluent and flexible coaching approach. Reflective practice strengthens every other coaching skill by helping us notice what is happening within the coach, the client, the relationship and the wider system. Restorative supervision helps prevent helping fatigue by giving coaches somewhere to process the emotional weight of client work. The desire to help can become an urge to fix, rescue or take responsibility for a client's outcomes. Supervision helps us recognise and release that pattern. Well-supported coaches are often less reactive, more patient, more courageous and more comfortable with uncertainty. Looking after ourselves as coaches directly supports client safety, the quality of the coaching relationship and the sustainability of our practice. Keywords: coaching supervision; why coaches need supervision; coach supervisor; reflective practice for coaches; ethical coaching practice; coach wellbeing; coaching CPD; normative formative restorative supervision; professional coaching development; coaching ethics; accredited coach supervision; helping fatigue in coaching; supervision training for coaches, Links and Resources International Group for Coaching, Supervision Training: https://igcompany.com/supervisiontraining EMCC Global: https://emccglobal.org/ Association for Coaching: https://www.associationforcoaching.com/ International Coaching Federation: https://coachingfederation.org/ Global Code of Ethics: https://www.globalcodeofethics.org/ | |||
| Differences Between Coaching and Coaching Supervision | 14 Sep 2026 | 00:23:32 | |
What changes when the person sitting in front of you is not a coachee, but another coach? In this episode, we explore the difference between coaching and coaching supervision. Although the two practices share many skills, the purpose, focus and dynamics of each relationship are distinct. Coaching usually supports a client to move towards a goal or desired outcome, while coaching supervision turns the attention towards the coach and the quality of their practice. As supervisors, we create a reflective space in which coaches can examine how they are working, what may be influencing them and what could help them practise more effectively, ethically and sustainably. Supervision can therefore feel more exploratory than coaching, allowing us to remain curious about what is emerging rather than moving immediately towards a solution. We discuss how supervision can help coaches look beneath the questions they initially bring. A request for reassurance about whether a session was handled correctly might become an exploration of why that reassurance is needed. Through reflection, the coach can develop greater self-awareness, strengthen their professional judgement and find confidence from within. We also explore the expanded field of coaching supervision. Coaches bring their own identity, history and professional context, alongside the influence of their clients and the wider systems surrounding them. The supervisor's observations and responses also become part of the work. Holding this complexity requires an awareness of relationships, professional ethics, safeguarding, competence and the sustainability of coaching practice. Although coaching and supervision remain distinct, learning to become a coaching supervisor can deepen how we coach. It develops our ability to notice patterns, relational dynamics and what may be communicated beyond words. For experienced coaches, supervision offers an opportunity to develop their practice, support other coaches and contribute to the future of the coaching profession. Timestamps: 00:00 The difference between coaching and supervision Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: difference between coaching and coaching supervision, coaching supervision, what is coaching supervision, coaching versus supervision, coaching supervisor, coaching supervision training, reflective coaching practice, ethical coaching practice, professional development for coaches, coach supervision, group coaching supervision, coaching ethics, Diploma in Coaching Supervision, becoming a coaching supervisor, sustainable coaching practice, Links and Resources:
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| New Coaching Supervision Opportunity | 07 Sep 2026 | 00:15:31 | |
Who supports the coach when they are holding complexity, navigating ethical questions and helping other people create meaningful change? In this episode, we explore a significant development for the coaching profession: the introduction of the International Coaching Federation's Coaching Supervisor Specialization, known as the CSS. Coaching can ask a great deal of us. We hold complex client experiences, make ethical decisions and remain present through uncertainty. Coaching supervision creates a confidential and reflective space where coaches can examine their work, protect their wellbeing and continue developing their professional practice. Until now, the ICF has placed greater emphasis on mentor coaching, which focuses primarily on coaching skills and the ICF Core Competencies. Coaching supervision has been more firmly established within organisations such as the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and the Association for Coaching. The new ICF Coaching Supervisor Specialization signals a major shift, bringing supervision closer to the centre of ethical coaching practice and establishing clearer global standards. We discuss how supervision differs from mentor coaching and why both can play an important role in coach development. Supervision reaches beyond technical competence. It provides space to explore ethical challenges, client relationships, emotional responses, professional boundaries and the coach's own wellbeing. For us, this is one of the most important aspects of the announcement. Coaches continually give their attention and energy to others, and supervision can help make that work sustainable. The CSS also creates a valuable opportunity for experienced coaches who are considering becoming coaching supervisors. ICF requirements include holding a PCC or MCC credential, completing at least 41 hours of coaching supervision training, with at least 50% delivered synchronously, and undertaking education aligned with the ICF Coaching Supervision Competencies. The forthcoming ICF Coaching Supervisor Registry is also expected to give qualified supervisors greater visibility while helping coaches identify people who meet recognised professional standards. We reflect on what this development means for the wider coaching industry. When professional bodies move towards a shared understanding of supervision, they send a clearer message about ethical practice, reflective learning and professional accountability. The CSS is not simply another badge. It represents a growing recognition that good coaches need structured support too. Finally, we share the story behind our Diploma in Coaching Supervision. The programme grew from our own desire to deepen our practice, challenge ourselves and explore the next expression of who we wanted to become as coaches. It is designed for experienced practitioners who want to develop the skills, maturity and confidence required to supervise other coaches while continuing their own personal and professional evolution. Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Coaching supervision, coaching supervisor training, ICF Coaching Supervisor Specialization, ICF CSS, coaching supervision course, Coaching Supervision Diploma, become a coaching supervisor, professional coach development, reflective coaching practice, ethical coaching practice, coaching supervisor accreditation, ICF coaching supervision competencies, mentor coaching versus supervision, coaching supervision for coaches, coach wellbeing, advanced coaching skills. Links and Resources | |||
| How to Become A Master Accredited Coach | 31 Aug 2026 | 00:21:33 | |
What does becoming a master-level coach actually involve, and is the gap between where you are today and coaching mastery as large as it can sometimes feel? In this episode, we explore the journey towards master-level coaching and why accreditation is about far more than accumulating coaching hours. Whether you are an experienced coach considering your next accreditation or at the beginning of your coaching journey, understanding the pathway early can help you make intentional decisions about your professional development. We explore three important areas that contribute to coaching mastery: professional maturity, reflective practice and contribution to the profession. Contribution can take many forms, including volunteering with professional bodies, sharing learning, publishing, research, supervision, participating in professional groups or creating resources that help other coaches. The important distinction is that genuine contribution extends beyond promoting our individual coaching businesses and demonstrates an ongoing commitment to strengthening the wider profession. Professional maturity is also about far more than time served. Different accrediting bodies have different requirements around experience, coaching hours and training, but mastery also involves developing a distinctive professional identity, learning to work with complexity, navigating ethical dilemmas and integrating our learning so that we are no longer dependent on individual coaching models. Our CPD choices gradually tell the story of who we are becoming as coaches and the areas in which we are choosing to deepen our practice. Finally, we look at reflective practice and the value of building strong habits long before an accreditation application is due. Coaching logs, reflective diaries, supervision and peer reflection all help us understand how our practice is evolving. We also encourage coaches who aspire to mastery to spend time with master-level practitioners. The differences between coaching levels can be subtle yet significant, and the journey becomes far less intimidating when we see mastery not as an unreachable destination, but as the cumulative result of thoughtful development, reflection, experience and contribution over time. Timestamps 00:09 What does master-level coaching mean? Key Lessons Learned
Accreditation Note The episode discusses examples of requirements from professional coaching bodies, including the EMCC and ICF, as they were understood at the time of recording. Accreditation pathways and requirements can change, so coaches should check the current criteria directly with their chosen professional body before planning or submitting an application. SEO Keywords master-level coach, coaching mastery, master coach accreditation, coaching accreditation, professional coach development, reflective practice, coaching supervision, coach CPD, EMCC accreditation, ICF accreditation, coaching professional development, advanced coach training Links & Resources In Good Company: igcompany.com Coaching Supervision Training: www.igcompany.com/supervisiontraining Professional organisations discussed: EMCC: European Mentoring and Coaching Council | |||
| How To Unlock Your Coaching Potential | 24 Aug 2026 | 00:20:15 | |
What if the biggest limitation on your coaching potential is not the number of models you know, but the parts of yourself you have yet to explore? In this episode, we talk about what it really means to unlock your potential as a coach, leader or manager. Developing coaching skills certainly involves learning and experience, but we explore why deeper growth often starts with an internal commitment to remain curious, continually develop and understand ourselves more fully. We discuss the idea that our coaching ceiling can become our own psychological ceiling. When a client brings something that activates discomfort in us, perhaps emotions, confidence, imposter syndrome, difficult feedback or conflict, we may unconsciously steer the conversation towards territory that feels safer. Developing ourselves therefore expands the range and depth of conversations we are able to hold. Understanding ourselves becomes an important part of being more fully available to somebody else. We also explore attention, presence and courage. Coaching potential does not necessarily come from finding increasingly clever questions. The quality of our attention, our silence, body language, breathing and presence can influence what becomes possible in the coaching space. Growth also asks us to move towards discomfort, whether that means seeking supervision, working with our own coach, exploring something that has activated us or stretching ourselves beyond our existing comfort zone. Perhaps most importantly, we reflect on ego and the coaching relationship. Our clients do not need to leave impressed by us. We would rather see them become impressed by themselves and what they discover they are capable of. Coaching excellence exists within the relationship between coach and client, and our potential expands when we become less concerned with proving our value and more interested in what becomes possible when we are genuinely present, reflective and curious together. Timestamps 00:07 What does it mean to unlock your coaching potential? Key Lessons Learned
SEO Keywords unlock coaching potential, coaching potential, coach development, coaching skills, coaching presence, reflective practice, coaching supervision, professional coaching, coaching mastery, self-awareness in coaching, leadership coaching, coach training Links & Resources In Good Company: www.igcompany.com Nancy Kline is referenced during the discussion in relation to listening and attention. | |||
| Coach the Person not the Problem | 17 Aug 2026 | 00:22:28 | |
What if the problem your client brings to coaching is not actually the thing that needs coaching? In this episode, we explore what it really means to coach the person rather than becoming absorbed by the presenting issue. A client might arrive wanting help with time management, delegation, boundaries or another practical challenge, but if the solution were purely about strategies and actions, there is a good chance they would already have found one. This is where our curiosity as coaches needs to go deeper. We explore the difference between transactional and transformational coaching, looking beyond the symptom towards the beliefs, values, identity, attitudes and patterns that may be shaping the client's experience. Using delegation as an example, we consider how a practical problem might actually be connected to fear of failure, responsibility, confidence, relationships at work or even a deeper misalignment between somebody's values and the life or career they are pursuing. We also reflect on why coaches can become pulled towards solving problems. When a conversation feels stuck, offering ideas or moving rapidly towards actions can create an immediate sense of progress for both coach and client. Yet sustainable coaching is about developing the client's own resourcefulness rather than creating a cycle where they return with another problem to be fixed. There is still a place for actions and accountability, but they can become far more powerful once the person has developed greater insight into what is happening underneath the problem. Ultimately, person-centred coaching is not about helping somebody create a life without challenges. It is about helping them develop a different relationship with themselves and the challenges they encounter. For us as coaches, that means noticing the internal pull towards solving and replacing the question, "How can I solve this with them?" with greater curiosity about who the client is, what they are learning and who they are becoming through the experience. Timestamps 00:07 Coaching the person, not the problem Key Lessons Learned
SEO Keywords coach the person not the problem, person-centred coaching, transformational coaching, transactional coaching, coaching skills, coaching techniques, coaching clients, professional coaching, coaching questions, client resourcefulness, coaching development, coach training Links & Resources My Coaching Course: www.mycoachingcourse.com | |||
| Coaching and Client Results | 10 Aug 2026 | 00:20:20 | |
What happens when a client does not achieve the results they expected from coaching, and how much responsibility should the coach carry? Clients invest time, money, trust and emotional energy into coaching because they want something to change. Yet there is an important contradiction at the heart of coaching: clients seek results, but coaches cannot guarantee them. In this episode, we explore where responsibility for coaching outcomes really sits. As coaches, we are responsible for the quality of the coaching process, the relationship we create and the skills we bring. The client remains responsible for their choices, actions and engagement with that process. We discuss why client readiness, willingness and capacity matter, and how chemistry conversations can help us establish whether a coaching relationship is the right match. We also explore the importance of defining a realistic coaching goal, particularly when the outcome depends on decisions made by other people, such as receiving a promotion or securing a new role. During our conversation, we reflect on what can happen when a coach becomes overly attached to the client's progress. We may begin working harder than the client, offering advice, trying to rescue them or steering the conversation towards the outcome we want for them. This can diminish our curiosity, weaken the coaching relationship and contribute to coach burnout. Client results are not always immediate or easy to measure. Sometimes the most meaningful outcomes are internal: trusting yourself again, stepping away from people pleasing or recognising that a role no longer aligns with your values. These changes may not have been part of the original goal, but they can still represent significant progress. Ultimately, effective coaching is a partnership. We cannot control the client's results, but we can create the conditions in which meaningful change becomes possible. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to coaching and client results Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Coaching and client results, coaching outcomes, Client progress in coaching, Coaching goals, Coaching relationship, Coach responsibility, Client responsibility, Coaching supervision, Ethical coaching practice, Coach burnout, Effective coaching, Coach training, Client readiness, Coaching accountability, Professional coaching skills, Links and Resources: Coaching course information: mycoachingcourse.com | |||
| Ten Questions to Open Coaching Conversations | 03 Aug 2026 | 00:21:35 | |
What becomes possible when the first question in a coaching session helps a client arrive more fully? The way we open a coaching conversation matters because it can shape where a client places their attention, how present they become and what they feel able to explore. Yet it is easy to fall into familiar habits and rely on the same dependable opener without considering whether it is right for the person sitting in front of us. In this episode, we explore a collection of powerful coaching questions designed to create greater focus, depth and possibility. Some help clients sort through competing priorities, while others connect them with what feels most alive, what they need to leave outside the room or where courage might take the conversation. We also consider how a coach can listen beyond the words, noticing shifts in energy, emotion, hesitation and body language. We discuss questions that support progress when a client feels overwhelmed, as well as those that make space for uncertainty, unfinished business or challenges they have been trying to resolve alone. Questions such as "What part of you most needs a voice today?" and "What have we not explored yet together?" can help clients reconnect with overlooked parts of themselves and open areas they may now feel ready to discuss. We also explore how to strengthen the coaching alliance by asking what the client needs from us in that moment, whether that is challenge, compassion, silence or help slowing down. These questions are not intended to be used mechanically. Our hope is that this episode helps you expand your coaching toolbox, move beyond habitual openers and choose questions that reflect the client, the purpose of the session and how they are arriving that day. Coaching Questions Explored:
Timestamps: 00:01 Why the opening question matters Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching conversations, coaching questions, opening coaching questions, powerful coaching questions, coaching session questions, coaching skills, coaching toolbox, coaching presence, coaching alliance, psychological safety in coaching, coach and client relationship, professional coach training, client self-awareness, coaching session openers, how to start a coaching conversation, Links and Resources: | |||
| Coaching as a Retirement Strategy | 27 Jul 2026 | 00:18:52 | |
What if retirement was not the end of your working life, but the beginning of a more meaningful way to contribute? Retirement planning often focuses on pensions, savings and when we can afford to stop working, but it also raises important questions about purpose, identity, connection and how we want to use the experience we have built throughout our careers. In this episode, we explore coaching as a retirement strategy and how it can create a gradual, purposeful transition into the next chapter of life. Many experienced leaders and professionals are not ready to stop contributing. Instead, they want greater flexibility, autonomy and the opportunity to use their knowledge in work that feels personally meaningful. Coaching can provide a bridge between full-time employment and retirement, but it takes time to build. Completing a rigorous coaching qualification, developing confidence, gaining experience and creating a trusted network can take several years. Starting early allows people to shape a retirement that feels exciting and sustainable, while creating the option of additional income through flexible, low-cost work. Coaching can also form part of a wider portfolio that includes mentoring, consultancy, board advisory work, facilitation, training or volunteering. It offers a way to continue helping others grow, remain connected to a professional community and contribute on your own terms. Ultimately, coaching as a retirement strategy is about creating more choice, purpose and possibility for the future. Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and episode introduction Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching as a retirement strategy, retirement planning, purposeful retirement, coaching qualification, becoming a coach, retirement career options, portfolio retirement, portfolio career, executive coaching, career transition, coaching business, flexible retirement income, meaningful work after retirement, professional coaching accreditation, retirement wellbeing, coaching after a leadership career, planning for retirement, second career after retirement, Links and Resources:
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| How Quickly can I Train as a Coach? | 20 Jul 2026 | 00:20:24 | |
How quickly can you train as a coach without compromising the quality, depth and credibility of your learning? It is one of the questions we are asked most often by people considering coach training. On the surface, it sounds like a practical question about dates and deadlines. Underneath it, there is often a much bigger story. Many people have been thinking about becoming a coach for several years. They have researched courses, imagined a different career and questioned whether coaching could become part of their future. By the time they finally decide to take action, they are ready to begin immediately. We understand that feeling. Zoe reflects on how she can spend a long time thinking through a decision, yet once she has made it, she wants everything to happen straight away. Jo shares a different perspective. When she trained as a coach, she wanted a rigorous and challenging programme that gave her enough time to absorb the experience and grow through it. In this episode, we explore the different routes available for becoming a qualified coach and explain how long each coaching qualification can take. For someone seeking foundational coaching skills, an ILM Level 3 Certificate in Coaching can potentially be completed in as little as three months. It provides a recognised coaching qualification and can be a strong route for people who want to introduce coaching into an existing role, develop their communication skills or explore coaching before committing to a deeper programme. The Level 3 route can also work well for professionals who already support people in another capacity. This could include counsellors, teachers, nurses, physiotherapists, driving instructors or practitioners working in wellbeing and personal development. They may already have considerable experience working with people and want to add a structured coaching approach to their existing skills. For those wanting to become an independent coach and support clients through more complex personal or professional change, an ILM Level 5 or Level 7 coaching qualification may be more appropriate. These programmes offer a deeper, highly experiential coach training experience. Learners are coached regularly, practise their coaching skills throughout the programme and work with a larger number of practice clients. The training explores areas such as mindset, identity, beliefs, values, emotions and sustainable behavioural change. The fastest completion time for the Level 5 programme has been around nine months, while the Level 7 programme has been completed in approximately twelve months. More commonly, learners complete Level 5 in around twelve to eighteen months and Level 7 in approximately sixteen months to two years. The length of coach training depends on several factors. The format of the programme matters, as weekly evening sessions will create a different timeline from intensive full-day training. The availability of practice clients also plays a part, along with how many coaching relationships a learner feels able to manage alongside work, family and other commitments. There is flexibility within the process. Learners generally have up to three years to complete their qualification, and additional support may be available when unexpected life events affect their progress. The aim is not to force every learner through the same timeline, but to provide a pathway that allows them to complete their coaching qualification in a sustainable way. We also discuss an important misconception: you do not necessarily need to wait until every assignment has been completed before beginning to develop your coaching business. While learners are building their coaching hours, they can start exploring their message, audience, services, branding and pricing. Practice clients may ask to continue working together or recommend the coach to someone else. With the right insurance, ethical boundaries and transparency about where they are in their training, learners may begin taking paid clients during their qualification. The real question is therefore not only, "How quickly can I train as a coach?" It is also: What type of coaching do I want to offer? How deeply do I want to develop my skills? What learning environment will help me thrive? How can I begin creating my future while I am still training? Speed matters, particularly when you feel ready for change. However, choosing the fastest coaching course is not always the best strategic decision. The right programme should reflect the type of coach you want to become and the clients you hope to support. One of the most interesting things we see is that people often begin their training eager to qualify quickly. Once they are immersed in the programme, meeting other coaches and experiencing their own personal development, many of them no longer want to rush. Coach training can become far more than a professional qualification. It can reshape how you listen, communicate, lead, think and relate to the people around you. You can begin training as a coach as soon as you make the decision and enrol. The length of the journey will depend on the route you choose, but the learning and transformation can begin from day one. Timestamps 00:00 How quickly can you qualify as a coach? 00:54 Balancing speed, credibility and depth 02:13 Why people delay the decision and then want to move quickly 03:36 The ILM Level 3 coaching qualification 05:41 Practice clients, supervision and flexible learning 08:04 The deeper experience of Level 5 and Level 7 training 08:52 Typical completion times for each qualification 11:14 Building coaching hours around work and family 11:48 Extensions, unexpected life events and learner support 13:02 Building a coaching business while training 15:26 Why shortening the timeline should not reduce quality 15:37 How coach training begins from the moment you enrol 17:51 Personal transformation during coach training 19:22 Choosing the right coaching qualification for your goals Key Lessons Learned
Keywords: how quickly can I train as a coach, how long does it take to become a coach, coach training, coaching qualification, become a qualified coach, coaching certification UK, accredited coaching course, ILM Level 3 coaching, ILM Level 5 coaching, ILM Level 7 coaching, transformational coaching, professional coach training, start a coaching business, coaching practice clients, online coaching qualification, | |||
| How is Executive Coaching Different? | 13 Jul 2026 | 00:26:14 | |
What changes when the person being coached is responsible not only for their own performance, but also for the direction, culture and future of an entire organisation? Executive coaching uses the same core coaching competencies as other forms of coaching, but the context is often more complex. Senior leaders may be navigating organisational change, board relationships, stakeholder pressures and strategic decisions while also experiencing uncertainty, reduced confidence or questions about their future. This is why executive coaching often becomes a whole-person experience. Senior leaders have few places where they can speak honestly without being expected to already have the answers. Coaching offers a confidential space to slow down, reflect and explore how leadership responsibilities are affecting identity, wellbeing, relationships and sense of purpose. It can also involve a three-way relationship between the coach, the client and the sponsoring organisation, requiring clear agreements around confidentiality, objectives and outcomes. Executive clients are often highly capable action takers, so coaching is not always about creating another action plan. Progress may come through challenging assumptions, separating facts from interpretations and identifying the patterns shaping how a leader thinks, communicates and responds under pressure. The coach may move between coaching, mentoring and acting as a thought partner, while continuing to support the client's own thinking and decision-making. In this episode, we also explore ambiguity, burnout, organisational systems and the knowledge that can support coaches working at this level, including leadership psychology, group dynamics, power and authority. We discuss how the ILM Level 7 qualification can prepare coaches to work not only with chief executives and board directors, but also with senior leaders responsible for significant teams, budgets and organisational outcomes. Executive coaching may take place at the highest levels of an organisation, but at its heart it remains deeply human. Timestamps: 00:01 Welcome and episode introduction Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: executive coaching, executive coach, leadership coaching, senior leadership coaching, executive coaching qualifications, ILM Level 7 coaching, coaching senior leaders, organisational coaching, leadership development, executive presence, systems thinking in coaching, three-way coaching contract, coaching in organisations, leadership identity, coaching organisational change, executive wellbeing, coaching and burnout, coaching skills for leaders, transformational coaching, coaching qualifications, Links and Resources: Find the right coaching course quiz: www.mycoachingcourse.com Book a call about the ILM coaching courses: www.igcompany.com/ILMCall | |||
| How to Coach Boundaries | 06 Jul 2026 | 00:25:33 | |
What happens when a coaching client does not realise that the frustration, resentment or overwhelm they are carrying is actually pointing towards a boundary that has been crossed? In this episode of The Coaching Crowd Podcast, we explore how to coach boundaries in a way that feels practical, ethical and deeply human. Boundaries can sound simple on the surface, but in coaching conversations they often reveal something much more complex. They connect to values, relationships, communication, emotions, beliefs, burnout, people pleasing and the way clients understand their own needs. We begin by reflecting on what boundaries really are. We describe them as the guidelines that help other people understand how to be in relationship with us. They communicate what we are comfortable with, what we are not comfortable with, how we want to be treated and what matters to us. Yet many of us rarely define our boundaries clearly, even for ourselves. Throughout the conversation, we explore why boundaries show up so often in coaching. A client may come to a session saying their manager keeps giving them unrealistic deadlines, or that a friend, partner or family member is asking too much of them. They may not use the word boundaries at all. Instead, they may talk about feeling angry, resentful, exhausted, overwhelmed or close to burnout. As coaches, these emotional cues can help us gently notice where a boundary may have been crossed. We also discuss the different types of boundaries that may be relevant in coaching. These include communication boundaries, emotional boundaries, time boundaries, physical boundaries, energetic boundaries and professional boundaries. Breaking boundaries down in this way can help clients move away from a broad, abstract concept and begin to understand what is actually happening in their day to day lives. A central theme in this episode is the idea of a boundary audit. What boundaries does the client know they have? Which boundaries have they never consciously established? Who knows about those boundaries? So much conflict and confusion can arise because boundaries are assumed rather than communicated. We may expect others to behave as we would, only to feel hurt or frustrated when they do not. We also explore the reality that setting a boundary can create change in a relationship. If a client has always been available after work, always said yes, or always taken responsibility for other people's needs, then communicating a new boundary may come with a cost or consequence. Coaching can provide the safe space needed to explore those consequences, prepare for them and understand what support the client may need. Another important part of the conversation is the difference between boundaries and control. A boundary is something we set for ourselves. It clarifies what we will allow, what we will not allow and what action we may take if that boundary is crossed. Control, on the other hand, is about trying to dictate what another person must do. Helping clients understand this distinction can be powerful, especially when they are navigating complex relationships or workplace expectations. We also talk about permeable boundaries. Some boundaries are firm, while others may be more flexible depending on the situation. For example, a client may have a boundary around not working in the evening, but occasionally choose to respond to something because it feels right in that moment. This can be useful, but it can also create confusion or drift. Coaching can help clients explore whether they are acting from choice, pressure, fear or habit. Towards the end of the episode, we share coaching questions that can support boundary exploration. Questions such as "What boundary are you currently avoiding?", "What are you protecting?" and "What would be the hardest boundary for you to enforce?" can help clients connect with what they need. We also explore the use of metaphor and visual thinking, helping clients imagine boundaries as walls, screens, dotted lines, protective bubbles or something entirely personal to them. This episode is a reminder that coaching boundaries is rarely about giving clients a script for saying no. It is about helping them understand their values, recognise their emotional signals, explore their beliefs, process the discomfort and build the confidence to uphold what matters to them. Healthy boundaries create clarity, safety and more sustainable relationships, both personally and professionally. Timestamps 00:00 | Introduction to coaching boundaries Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: How to coach boundaries, Coaching boundaries, Boundary coaching, Healthy boundaries, Emotional boundaries, Professional boundaries, Communication boundaries, Time boundaries, People pleasing and boundaries, Coaching questions for boundaries, Values and boundaries, Boundaries versus, control, Emotions coaching, Coaching clients with overwhelm, Coaching burnout, Coaching emotional wellbeing, Links and Resources: Emotions Coaching Practitioner Training: https://igcompany.com/emotions-coaching | |||
| How To Find Coaching Clients | 29 Jun 2026 | 00:18:22 | |
What if finding coaching clients is not the biggest barrier to becoming a coach, but one of the most powerful parts of the learning process? In this episode of the podcast, we explore one of the most common questions we hear from people who are training to become coaches, thinking about starting a coaching qualification, or wondering how they will complete their coaching practice hours: where do I find coaching clients? We know this question can bring up a lot of anxiety. Before someone begins a coaching qualification, it can feel as though finding clients will be the hardest part. There may be worries about asking people, not knowing where to look, feeling visible online, or wondering whether anyone will actually want coaching from someone still in training. Yet, in our experience, this fear rarely becomes the reality. Throughout the episode, we talk through the practical numbers first. For a Level 3 coaching certificate, you may need two clients. For a Level 5 coaching diploma, you may need around six clients. For a Level 7 senior and executive coaching qualification, you may need around eight clients. When we put it like that, the process begins to feel much more manageable. It is not about finding dozens of people. It is about finding the right people, creating a strong enough pool, and being prepared for the fact that some clients may not complete all their sessions. We also reflect on how powerful your existing network can be. Your cohort, friends, colleagues, workplace, LinkedIn connections, Facebook groups, local community groups, professional networks and voluntary organisations can all become potential places to find coaching clients. The key is not to hide your coaching journey. It is to share it from the beginning, allow people to follow your development, and then clearly invite the right people to come forward when you are ready to begin coaching. A big part of the conversation is about confidence and specificity. If you are looking for coaching clients, it helps to explain who you want to support and what kind of coaching opportunity you are offering. For example, if you are training at senior or executive level, you might want to coach leaders who are new in role, navigating change, or developing confidence in leadership. When people can see themselves in your invitation, they are much more likely to reach out. We also speak about the value of using your workplace, not only as a source of clients but as a way of bringing coaching skills back into your organisation. Even if you are funding your own coaching qualification, your employer may still benefit from your development. Coaching is a leadership skill, and offering coaching across different teams can create a genuine win for both you and the organisation. The episode also opens up the idea that coaching clients can be found in places that matter to you personally. Local charities, hospices, GP surgeries, animal shelters, community groups, business networks and professional associations may all include people who would deeply value the opportunity to experience coaching. This is where finding clients becomes more than a qualification requirement. It becomes part of stepping into the identity of being a coach. What we came back to again and again is that finding coaching clients is about being visible, asking clearly, asking more than once, and being willing to move beyond your comfort zone. There are opportunities for coaching everywhere. The task is to notice them, speak about what you are offering, and trust that people are often far more open to coaching than you might expect. For anyone training to become a coach, this episode is a grounded reminder that you are not on your own. You have networks, cohorts, communities and resources around you. Finding clients does not need to be the reason you hold back from coaching training. It can become one of the first real steps into practising, learning and becoming the coach you are developing into. Timestamps 00:00: Introduction to finding coaching clients 00:58: How many coaching clients do you need? 02:00: Why you may need extra clients 02:30: Using your coaching cohort 03:00: Sharing your coaching journey 04:15: Using LinkedIn and your wider network 05:34: Being specific about who you want to coach 06:56: Asking for help and posting more than once 07:54: Finding clients through The Coaching Crowd Facebook group 09:11: Finding coaching clients at work 11:36: Creating variety in your coaching portfolio 12:14: Local groups and business communities 14:48: Coaching in causes and communities you care about 17:00: Coaching peers and previous learners 18:18: Final reflections and coaching course quiz Key Lessons Learned
Links & Resources
Keywords how to find coaching clients, finding coaching clients, coaching clients, trainee coach, coaching qualification, coaching practice hours, coaching diploma, coaching certificate, Level 5 coaching diploma, Level 7 coaching qualification, pro bono coaching, coaching training, become a coach, coaching cohort, LinkedIn for coaches, coaching clients on LinkedIn, coaching business, coaching practice, executive coaching, leadership coaching, coach matching, coaching course, | |||
| 5 Reasons To Train In Group and Team Coaching | 22 Jun 2026 | 00:18:30 | |
What becomes possible for us as coaches when we move beyond the privacy of one to one conversations and begin working with the energy, complexity, and potential of groups and teams? In this episode of The Coaching Crowd podcast, we explored why so many coaches are choosing to train in group and team coaching, and why this area of coaching practice feels increasingly relevant in today's professional landscape. We wanted to bring this conversation to the podcast because coaching is no longer limited to one to one development conversations. More organisations, leaders, teams, and individuals are seeking collective development experiences. They want spaces where people can learn together, reflect together, challenge one another, and feel part of something more connected. That matters because so many people are experiencing disconnection, pressure, and exhaustion. Group coaching and team coaching can create powerful spaces where people feel seen, heard, and supported by others who may be facing similar questions or challenges. In a professional context, this also gives coaches the opportunity to work more systemically, supporting culture, communication, leadership development, and organisational change at scale. During the conversation, we reflected on the size of the opportunity for coaches. Group and team coaching are not new, but more coaches are now asking how they can broaden their work, move into organisations, support teams, run development programmes, and offer more than individual coaching sessions. For coaches who have mainly worked one to one, this shift can feel exciting, but also intimidating. We spoke about how group dynamics and team dynamics are far more complex than individual coaching. When you move into a one to many setting, there are more relationships, expectations, emotions, roles, and patterns in the room. This means coaches need more than confidence. They need structure, skill, presence, and an understanding of the psychodynamics that can emerge when people come together. One of the key reflections from this episode was that training in group and team coaching can benefit you even when you are not yet sure whether you want to specialise in this area. It develops your systemic thinking. It helps you see your one to one coaching clients as part of wider systems, including families, teams, organisations, communities, and cultures. That naturally expands the quality of the questions you ask and the way you support clients to understand themselves. We also explored how training in this area can open doors. Many coaches begin with one to one coaching in an organisation and then get asked whether they can support a team, design a programme, facilitate a workshop, or help with a leadership development initiative. Those moments can be exciting, but they can also create doubt. Having training behind you can give you the confidence, credibility, and practical tools to say yes to those opportunities. Another important theme was the need for coaches to think strategically about their business. Group and team coaching can help create more scalable offers, more variety, and more routes into organisational contracts. It can sit alongside one to one coaching, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and wider organisational development work. We also reflected on the human nature of this work. Modern coaching is not only about performance. It is relational, emotionally intelligent, and systemic. In a world where artificial intelligence is changing how people work, human relationships are becoming even more important. Knowledge may be increasingly available, but connection, trust, culture, and shared understanding still require human presence. That is why group and team coaching feels so valuable. It supports people to understand how they relate, communicate, collaborate, and make progress together. It also gives coaches the chance to engage with the living, breathing reality of organisational culture and human behaviour. In the episode, we also shared more about our Group and Team Coaching programme, including the five phases that sit at the heart of the course: Grounding and Gathering, where we explore how to set the work up for success and orientate people into the coaching experience. Roles and Responsibilities, where we consider the role of the coach and the roles that people naturally take up in groups and teams. Options and Opportunity, where we explore coaching methodologies, practical activities, and ways to work creatively with groups and teams. Union and Understanding, where we look at group dynamics and the complexity of human behaviour in collective spaces. Presence and Progress, where we focus on closure, endings, progress, sustainability, and how groups and teams recognise and carry forward change. We also discussed the mindset of a group and team coach, because this is emotional work. How we resource ourselves, what we believe about groups, and how we manage our own presence will shape the quality of the work we offer. This episode is for coaches who are curious about expanding their practice, leaders and HR professionals who already work with groups and teams, and anyone who wants to build more confidence in facilitating meaningful collective development. Ultimately, group and team coaching is not an either or choice. It can sit beautifully alongside one to one coaching. It can widen your impact, strengthen your coaching practice, create new business opportunities, and help you work with the rich complexity of people, culture, and systems. Timestamps: 00:00: Welcome to The Coaching Crowd podcast Key Lessons Learned: • Group and team coaching allows coaches to create impact beyond one to one conversations by working with collective learning, shared reflection, and systemic change. • Training in group and team coaching can strengthen your one to one coaching because it helps you see clients within the wider systems they belong to. • Group dynamics and team dynamics are more complex than individual coaching, so coaches need specific skills, structure, and confidence to work well in these spaces. • Organisations are increasingly investing in collective development because workplace culture, relationships, communication, and leadership are changing rapidly. • Group and team coaching can open doors to organisational contracts, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and more scalable coaching offers. • Effective onboarding is crucial because how a group or team enters the coaching experience shapes the safety, clarity, and outcomes of the work. • Human presence, emotional intelligence, and relational skill remain essential in group and team coaching, especially as AI continues to reshape how people work. • Group and team coaching can bring more variety, energy, and strategic growth into a coaching business. • The work is not only for qualified one to one coaches. It can also support leaders, HR professionals, learning and development practitioners, and organisational development specialists. • Group and team coaching is not a replacement for one to one coaching. It can sit alongside it as a powerful extension of your coaching practice. Keywords: group coaching, team coaching, group and team coaching, coaching training, coach training, coaching CPD, one to one coaching, coaching skills, systemic coaching, organisational coaching, leadership development, team development, group dynamics, team dynamics, ,coaching practice, coaching business, coaching programme, emotional intelligence in coaching, workplace coaching, coaching for organisations, Links & Resources Group and Team Coaching course: https://igcompany.com/group | |||
| When to Stop Mentoring and Start Coaching | 15 Jun 2026 | 00:14:54 | |
Have you ever found yourself giving great advice, only to realise the person in front of you still cannot move forward? In this episode of the podcast, we explored one of the questions many leaders, managers, mentors and people-focused professionals face: when is it time to stop mentoring and start coaching? We began by reflecting on the close relationship between coaching and mentoring. They are often treated as separate roles, but in reality, they can sit on a continuum. Mentoring is often about sharing experience, guidance, wisdom and practical advice. Coaching, on the other hand, helps someone explore what is getting in the way of their growth, decision making, confidence and long-term development. As we talked this through, we recognised how easily managers and mentors can fall into the pattern of answering every question, solving every problem and becoming the person everyone turns to for direction. That can feel useful at first. It can even feel rewarding. But over time, it may lead to dependency, firefighting and frustration. If every conversation ends with advice, the mentee may never build the confidence to find their own answers. A key theme in this episode is the difference between helping someone know what to do and helping them understand how to do it in a way that feels possible for them. Someone may know the next step, but still feel blocked by fear, imposter syndrome, uncertainty, beliefs, emotions or organisational pressures. That is often the point where coaching becomes powerful. We also reflected on the limits of labels. The question may not be whether we are a coach or a mentor. The better question may be: what does this person need from us in this moment? Sometimes they need knowledge. Sometimes they need challenge. Sometimes they need emotional space. Sometimes they need a thinking partner who can help them work beneath the surface. For mentors, line managers and leaders, this episode highlights the importance of recognising repeating patterns. If a mentee keeps returning with the same concern, the same confidence issue or the same barrier, more advice may not be the answer. Coaching skills can help uncover the deeper obstacle and support sustainable growth. We also explored the emotional experience of the mentor. If we begin to feel frustrated, tired or unable to help, that may be a sign that we have reached the edge of what mentoring alone can offer. Rather than blaming the mentee, we can see this as an invitation to expand our own skills and capacity. One of the most important reflections from this conversation is that coaching can help mentees move beyond reliance on the mentor. Great mentoring should equip people for life beyond the relationship. Coaching supports that by helping people build self-trust, self-awareness and the ability to make decisions for themselves. We also talked about how this can show up in organisations. A new employee, or someone stepping into a new role, may benefit from a mentoring approach at first. They may need guidance, structure, advice and practical support. But as they grow in confidence and competence, the relationship may need to evolve. That is where recontracting becomes important. We can have honest conversations about what support is needed now, what has changed and whether the relationship should become more developmental. Ultimately, this episode is about working with people in a way that truly serves their growth. Mentoring has huge value. Coaching has huge value. The real skill is knowing when to offer guidance, when to step back and when to create the space for someone to discover their own way forward. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and episode introduction Key Lessons Learned
Keywords: coaching and mentoring, mentoring versus coaching, coaching skills for mentors, leadership development, coaching for managers, mentoring relationships, imposter syndrome coaching, workplace coaching, professional development, coaching training, executive coaching, team development, self-awareness in leadership, confidence coaching, Links and Resources
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| How To Coach Skeptical Clients | 08 Jun 2026 | 00:16:47 | |
In this episode of the podcast, we explore how to coach skeptical clients with curiosity rather than defensiveness. Skepticism can show up when clients have been sent to coaching by an organisation, have had disappointing experiences before, feel unsure about the process, or do not fully understand how coaching could help them. We reflect on why skepticism should not be treated as resistance to overcome, but as useful information. By asking thoughtful questions, contracting clearly, and keeping the client in choice, coaches can create a safer adult-to-adult relationship where concerns can be named openly. The episode also explores the ethical side of coaching reluctant clients. Sometimes coaching may not be the right fit or the right time, and forcing value can do more harm than good. The key message is to stay curious, welcome the skepticism, and use it as a doorway into honest, meaningful coaching conversations. a willingness to receive feedback so that every client can feel properly seen, heard and supported. Links & Resources
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| Three Ways to Know if You're Really Ready to Coach Neurodivergent Clients | 01 Jun 2026 | 00:16:34 | |
In this episode of the podcast, we explore what it really means to be ready to coach neurodivergent clients. We reflect on the importance of building an inclusive coaching space that does not rely only on textbook knowledge of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia or other neurodivergent conditions, but also listens deeply to lived experience. We discuss how easily coaches can make assumptions about clients when viewing behaviour through a neurotypical lens. A client who gives short answers may not be disengaged, and a client who moves quickly between ideas may not be unfocused. Inclusive coaching asks us to stay curious, adapt our approach, and recognise that every neurodivergent client's needs, strengths and experiences will be different. The episode also highlights the importance of recognising our own bias, whether we are neurotypical or neurodivergent ourselves. Being ready to coach neurodivergent clients is not about knowing everything. It is about ongoing learning, humility, psychological safety, thoughtful contracting, and a willingness to receive feedback so that every client can feel properly seen, heard and supported. Links & Resources
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| Using Tech To Grow Your Coaching Business | 27 May 2026 | 00:20:55 | |
This episode explores how the technology you choose can shape the coaching business you build. We discuss how coaches can move beyond selling time by the hour and use tech more strategically to create a scalable, professional, and sustainable business. We focus on Kajabi, the platform we have used since 2019 to support our website, courses, community, marketing, email list, client journeys, and business growth. Rather than stitching together multiple tools, Kajabi has helped us create a smoother, more premium experience. We also share an honest view: no platform is perfect, and there can be overwhelm or cheaper alternatives. But for coaches wanting to grow their online presence, create digital products, build community, and market more effectively, the right platform can become a major strategic advantage. Links & Resources
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| 3 Ways To Expand Your Coaching Business Through Coaching Supervision Training | 27 May 2026 | 00:18:25 | |
This episode explores how coaching supervision can become the next stage of growth for an experienced coach. Rather than seeing supervision as a requirement, we looked at how it can expand a coaching business by adding depth, credibility, variety, and a more sustainable income stream. We discussed how supervision creates a ripple effect by supporting coaches, their clients, teams, and organisations. It also helps coaches explore the deeper dynamics beneath coaching conversations, including relationships, systems, patterns, and professional identity. The episode focused on three ways to grow through supervision: one-to-one supervision for trusted long-term relationships, group supervision for scalability and shared learning, and organisational supervision for supporting internal coaching pools. For experienced coaches, supervision training can be a powerful way to deepen their work and expand their impact. Links & Resources
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| The Coaching Advantage | 27 May 2026 | 00:18:02 | |
This episode explores a powerful question at the heart of coaching: what if its real advantage is not simply what you do, but who you become? Coaching is often misunderstood as a skill, tool, or professional add-on, but this conversation revealed something much deeper. Coaching changes how you think, relate, lead, and live. In leadership, it has become essential, especially in a world shaped by uncertainty, complexity, and constant change. It helps leaders build trust, communicate with emotional awareness, inspire others, and navigate complexity with greater clarity. We also explored how coaching develops the ability to hold multiple perspectives. It builds mental agility, allowing you to step into someone else's world, understand their view, and then return to your own with clarity. That flexibility transforms relationships by creating collaboration instead of conflict and connection instead of resistance. Coaching also strengthens resilience, helping you move through challenge more quickly by reframing, adapting, and responding with intention. It gives access to a steadier internal resource and strengthens your sense of identity, values, and how you want to show up in the world. The conversation also highlighted the relational advantage of coaching. It changes how you listen, respond, parent, lead, and connect with others. It encourages a shift from judgement to curiosity, acceptance, and understanding, reducing the mental load of constantly evaluating others and bringing the focus back to personal growth and choice. At the same time, greater awareness can bring greater complexity, as seeing multiple perspectives can sometimes feel overwhelming. Ultimately, coaching gives you options: the ability to choose where to place your attention, how to respond, and how to live with greater intention. Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| Why Personal Brand Matters For Coaches | 04 May 2026 | 00:26:22 | |
If people don't know you exist, how can they ever choose to work with you? This episode felt like a necessary conversation. One that many coaches avoid, delay, or quietly struggle with. We explored why personal brand matters for coaches, and more importantly, what it really means beyond the noise of marketing jargon. Because for many, the idea of "personal branding" feels uncomfortable. It can feel like self-promotion, like performance, or like stepping into a space that doesn't quite fit with the values of coaching. And yet, the reality is simple. If people don't know you exist, they cannot work with you. What we reflected on in this episode is that personal brand is not something you create. It is something you reveal. It is how people experience you. When someone chooses a coach, they are not only choosing a skillset. They are choosing a person. They are asking:
And personal brand is the bridge that helps answer those questions. We shared openly how, in the early days, we didn't think about personal brand at all. We believed that being a coach was enough. That our work would speak for itself. But over time, we learned something critical. Clarity creates trust. Consistency builds credibility. Visibility creates opportunity. And personal brand sits at the centre of all three. What became clear as we talked was that authenticity is the foundation of everything. We never sat down and decided what our brand would be. We didn't curate a persona or engineer an identity. What you hear on this podcast is who we are in real life. The depth, the curiosity, the challenge, the care. It runs through everything we do. That consistency allows people to understand what it feels like to work with us before they ever step into a room. And that is where personal brand becomes powerful. We also spoke about the discomfort that comes with visibility. There is a moment every coach faces where sharing your voice feels exposing. Where putting your thoughts out into the world feels permanent. Where fear shows up. And yet, growth sits on the other side of that. Personal branding is not about feeling comfortable. It is about being willing to be seen anyway. Over time, it becomes easier. Your voice becomes clearer. Your confidence builds. And what once felt like exposure starts to feel like expression. Another important shift we explored is this: You already have a personal brand. Whether you are intentional about it or not, people are forming perceptions based on how they experience you. The choice is whether you actively shape that experience or leave it to chance. And when you begin to take ownership of it, something changes. You start to see what makes you distinct. For us, investing in our brand marked a turning point. It was not only about how others saw us. It was about how we saw ourselves. It moved us from hoping things would work, to deciding that we believed in what we were building. And that shift created momentum. This episode is a reminder that personal brand is not about becoming someone else. It is about standing more fully in who you already are.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Personal brand for coaches, Why personal branding matters in coaching, Coaching business growth, Coach visibility and marketing, Authentic personal branding, Coaching identity and brand, How to attract coaching clients, Coaching marketing strategies, Building trust as a coach, Coaching business development,
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| How Coaching Supervision Training Changes You As A Coach | 26 Apr 2026 | 00:18:50 | |
What happens when you slow down enough to truly see yourself as a coach? This episode felt like one of those conversations where we didn't set out with a script, yet uncovered something far more meaningful along the way. We opened up about how coaching supervision training changed us, not only as practitioners, but as people. What stood out immediately was how difficult it is to articulate the impact. The changes are subtle, yet undeniably profound. As we reflected on our experiences, one theme kept surfacing: slowing down. Not only slowing down how we speak, but how we think, how we show up, and how we hold space. Through supervision training, we both experienced a shift away from doing more, towards creating more space. And within that space, something powerful happens. Insight deepens. Awareness expands. Coaching becomes less about performance and more about presence. We also explored the discomfort that comes with this level of growth. There were moments of resistance, emotional reactions, and even questioning everything we thought we knew about coaching. At times, it felt like a stripping back of identity. Not only refining our coaching practice, but re-evaluating who we are within it. And yet, this is where the real transformation happens. Through deep reflection, supervision training helped us:
One of the most powerful shifts was around identity. Moving from "how do I coach?" to "who am I as a coach?" That shift changes everything. We also spoke about how supervision introduces you to a completely different level of awareness. From ethical sensitivity and power dynamics, to the relational field between coach and client. You begin to notice what is happening beneath the surface. Not only what is said, but what is felt, what is unsaid, and what is emerging in the space between. For us, coaching supervision training elevated our practice into something deeper. More intuitive. More reflective. More human. It also normalised something many coaches quietly struggle with: imposter syndrome. Rather than eliminating it, supervision helps you understand it, sit with it, and move through it. Over time, that discomfort becomes a signal for growth rather than something to avoid. And perhaps one of the most unexpected outcomes was how much it expanded our curiosity. From somatic awareness to energetics, to exploring intuition within coaching, supervision training opened doors we hadn't even realised were there. This episode is not only a reflection on our journey, but also an invitation. If you are a coach who values depth, reflection, and growth, then coaching supervision training might not only change your practice, it might change you.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Coaching supervision training, Coaching supervision benefits, How to become a better coach, Reflective coaching practice, Coaching identity development, Coaching supervision course, Professional coach development, Imposter syndrome in coaching, Advanced coaching skills, Coaching supervision diploma
Links & Resources: Supervision Training: https://www.igcompany.com/supervisiontraining IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| Is Neutrality Toxic in Coaching? | 20 Apr 2026 | 00:21:32 | |
Is staying neutral as a coach always the right thing to do, or can it quietly cause more harm than good? In this episode, we found ourselves deep in reflection while developing our coaching supervision training, questioning something many coaches are taught early on: neutrality. It is often positioned as a gold standard in coaching, yet as we explored it more deeply, we realised the reality is far more nuanced. We began by unpacking what neutrality actually means in coaching. For us, it has always been about creating a clean space where clients can explore their own thoughts, beliefs, and decisions without influence. We are trained to avoid imposing our views, resisting the urge to label ideas as good or bad. That foundation remains important. Yet as we talked, it became clear that neutrality is not always straightforward or even helpful. Through our conversation, we explored the tension between being non-judgmental and being responsible. We reflected on moments in our own coaching where staying completely neutral could have led to avoidance. Avoidance of challenge. Avoidance of difficult conversations. Avoidance of responsibility. One example we discussed was working with leaders whose behaviours may unintentionally create toxic dynamics. In those moments, remaining passive can allow harmful patterns to continue unchecked. Instead, we explored how curiosity, thoughtful questioning, and sometimes stepping slightly beyond neutrality can help clients see the true impact of their actions. We also reflected on the role of rapport and contracting. The depth of challenge we bring as coaches often depends on the relationship we have built and the expectations we have set. Some clients want to be stretched. Others need space first. There is no one-size approach, and this is where coaching becomes more art than formula. A key theme that emerged for us was the idea of responsible neutrality. Neutrality that is not detached from ethics or awareness. Neutrality that does not ignore systemic issues such as power, culture, or discrimination. Because choosing not to challenge can unintentionally reinforce harmful systems. We also shared moments where stepping slightly outside neutrality created powerful breakthroughs. Whether it was expressing surprise, offering an observation, or gently pushing a client to stretch further, these small shifts can create significant impact when grounded in trust and intention. Ultimately, this episode is not about rejecting neutrality. It is about evolving beyond a rigid interpretation of it. Coaching is not a rule book. It is a practice that requires awareness, reflection, and continuous learning. We left this conversation recognising that great coaching sits in the tension between discipline and intuition, between structure and flexibility, and between neutrality and courageous challenge. And perhaps the real question is not whether neutrality is toxic, but whether we are using it consciously.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Neutrality in coaching, Coaching ethics, Coaching supervision, Leadership coaching, Coaching skills, Non-judgmental coaching, Coaching challenges, Professional coaching development, Systemic coaching, Coaching conversations,
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com
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| The Energetics of Coaching | 12 Apr 2026 | 00:19:45 | |
What if the most powerful tool you bring to coaching isn't your questions, but your energy? In this episode, we open up a conversation that sits at the intersection of awareness, presence, and depth in coaching practice. We explore something that is often felt but rarely named: the energetics of coaching. As we recorded this conversation, we found ourselves reflecting on how often energy operates in the background of our work, shaping outcomes without us consciously engaging with it. Coaching is not only about techniques or frameworks. It is about the unseen exchange that happens between coach and client in every moment. We explore what it means to accept that we each carry an energetic field, and how that field both influences and is influenced by the people we work with. From the moment we enter a coaching space, whether virtual or in person, there is a meeting of energy. That meeting can either be intentional and supportive, or unconscious and potentially disruptive. During our discussion, we reflected on how awareness of energy is not always natural for everyone. Some people instinctively feel it, while others are less connected to it. Yet as coaches, developing this awareness becomes a critical part of our effectiveness and sustainability. We explored how preparing for a coaching session goes beyond reviewing notes or setting an intention. It involves checking in with your own energy, understanding what you are carrying, and creating clarity around what belongs to you and what does not. This becomes essential when navigating moments such as frustration, where the key question is whether that experience is yours or something emerging from the client's world. One of the most powerful insights in this conversation was how energy can be used as data within a coaching session. When we notice shifts in our own internal state, we can bring curiosity rather than judgement. This opens up a deeper level of coaching, where clients feel seen and understood in ways that go beyond words. We also touched on practices such as somatic awareness and the exploration of energy within the body. Questions like where a feeling is experienced physically can unlock new insights and create space for meaningful breakthroughs. For some clients, this may extend into concepts such as chakras or energy centres, offering alternative ways to understand blocks and patterns. As the conversation unfolded, we found ourselves reflecting on the importance of energetic boundaries. Without them, it becomes easy to absorb and carry what is not ours, leading to feelings of heaviness or depletion. This is where self-awareness and self-care intersect with coaching mastery. Supporting clients effectively requires us to also restore and manage our own energy. We also explored the idea that coaching is both a science and an art. While there are models and methodologies that guide us, the energetics of coaching sit firmly within the art. It is the nuance, the presence, and the subtle shifts that create transformative experiences for clients. This episode is an invitation to expand your perspective. Whether you already resonate with the concept of energy or are approaching it with curiosity, there is an opportunity here to deepen your practice and explore a new dimension of coaching.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Energetics of coaching, Coaching presence, Emotional intelligence in coaching, Somatic coaching, Coaching self-awareness, Coaching energy management, Coaching techniques for deeper conversations, Coach burnout and self-care, Coaching skills development, Energy in coaching relationships,
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| Re-accreditation Checklist for Coaches | 06 Apr 2026 | 00:21:57 | |
Re-accreditation Checklist: At the start of this episode, we laid out everything you need to have in place for a smooth, stress-free re-accreditation process. Here's the full checklist to guide you:
Have you ever felt that quiet pressure when an accreditation deadline starts creeping closer, knowing you might not have everything in place? In this episode, we unpack what re-accreditation really involves and why it often catches coaches off guard. We move beyond the surface-level requirements and into the reality of maintaining professional coaching standards over time. As we talk through this, we found ourselves reflecting on how easy it is to assume accreditation is a one-time milestone. In reality, it is an ongoing commitment to growth, ethics, and professional integrity. Re-accreditation is not simply about ticking boxes. It is about demonstrating that you are actively developing, learning, and showing up responsibly for your clients. We explore the practical side of re-accreditation, including CPD requirements, coaching logs, supervision, and the financial investment involved. One of the biggest insights that stood out for me is how important it is to understand what actually counts as valid CPD, especially when different bodies like the International Coach Federation, European Mentoring and Coaching Council, and Association for Coaching all have different expectations. There is also a deeper layer to this conversation. Re-accreditation invites reflection. It creates a moment to pause and ask: who have I become as a coach since I started? What have I learned? Where am I heading next? We also talk about the reality that many coaches leave things too late. Trying to pull together dozens of CPD hours or reconstruct coaching logs at the last minute creates unnecessary stress. A more strategic, forward-thinking approach transforms re-accreditation into something far more valuable. It becomes a structured pathway for continuous professional development. What we felt strongly during this conversation is that re-accreditation should not feel like a burden. When approached intentionally, it becomes a powerful tool for growth, clarity, and confidence in your coaching practice.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned
Keywords: coaching re-accreditation, CPD for coaches, coach accreditation requirements, ICF re-accreditation, EMCC accreditation renewal, coaching supervision requirements, professional coaching development, coaching log requirements, mentor coaching, continuous professional development coaching,
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| Trauma Informed Coaching | 30 Mar 2026 | 00:26:51 | |
What if the way someone shows up today is shaped by something they don't even fully understand yet? In this episode, we explored a topic that is gaining real traction in the coaching space and beyond: trauma-informed coaching. We sat down to unpack what this actually means in practice, not from a theoretical standpoint, but from the lived reality of working with people. Because the truth is, whether you are a coach, leader, or simply someone supporting others, you are already in the presence of trauma more often than you realise. We reflected on how trauma is not defined by the event itself, but by the impact it leaves behind. Two people can experience the same situation and carry entirely different imprints from it. That insight alone shifts how we approach conversations, relationships, and growth. Throughout the conversation, we explored how trauma can show up in coaching. Sometimes it is obvious through emotional responses, avoidance, or disconnection. Other times it is subtle, sitting beneath behaviours like self-criticism or hesitation. What stood out most for us is that coaching often surfaces self-awareness, and with that, past experiences can naturally come into view. We shared our own reflections on moments where unexpected responses emerged, reminding us that trauma is not always something we consciously recognise. It can live in the body, revealing itself in ways that catch us off guard. A key theme in this episode is responsibility. As coaches, we are not there to process trauma. Our role is to create a space of safety, choice, and autonomy. That means recognising when a client is present and reflective, versus when they may be re-experiencing something overwhelming. In those moments, our focus shifts to regulation, grounding, and support. We also challenged the idea that there is a clear-cut boundary in coaching between what is acceptable and what is not. The reality is more nuanced. It comes down to self-awareness, competence, and understanding where your role begins and ends. This episode is not about turning coaches into therapists. It is about raising awareness, deepening compassion, and equipping you to hold space in a way that is ethical, grounded, and human. Whether you are a coach, a leader, or someone navigating your own growth, this conversation invites you to consider how trauma awareness shapes the way you show up for yourself and others.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: trauma informed coaching, what is trauma informed coaching, trauma awareness in coaching, coaching and trauma, emotional safety in coaching, somatic coaching techniques, coaching boundaries and trauma, trauma response in coaching, coaching vs therapy, ethical coaching practice, nervous system in coaching, trauma informed leadership,
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| How to Coach Values | 23 Mar 2026 | 00:21:54 | |
Are you making decisions that truly align with what matters most to you, or are you operating on autopilot without realising it? In this episode, we explore one of the most powerful yet often overlooked elements of coaching and personal development: values. As coaches, we have seen time and time again how uncovering values can transform the way people think, feel, and act. This conversation goes beyond theory and into the lived experience of what happens when someone finally understands what is driving their decisions. We reflect on how values operate like internal guidance systems, quietly influencing behaviour, priorities, and emotional responses. Many people move through life without consciously recognising their values, yet they feel the consequences when those values are either fulfilled or ignored. Through coaching, we create space for people to bring these unconscious drivers into awareness, allowing them to make more intentional and aligned choices. During this conversation, we unpack what values really are and why they are essential in effective coaching. We explore how values are not simply words, but deeply personal meanings shaped by life experiences. Two people may share the same value, such as freedom or connection, yet interpret and live it in completely different ways. That distinction is where real coaching insight begins. We also reflect on the emotional impact of discovering values. There is often a moment where everything clicks into place, where confusion turns into clarity. It is not uncommon for people to feel a physical response when they uncover a core value, as though they have found a missing piece of themselves. This is where coaching becomes transformational rather than transactional. A key theme we explore is the link between values and decision making. Many people feel stuck or conflicted without understanding why. Through a values lens, that tension becomes clearer. For example, a desire for creativity may be in conflict with a need for security. Rather than forcing change, coaching allows individuals to honour both values and find a way forward that feels aligned. We also discuss how values influence motivation, particularly the difference between moving towards something meaningful versus moving away from something uncomfortable. This distinction can have a significant impact on energy, resilience, and long term sustainability. Throughout the episode, we share practical ways to begin exploring values in coaching conversations, from simple reflective questions to deeper exploration of meaning and behaviour. We also touch on how values are shaped through early life experiences and how they can evolve or come into awareness at different stages of life. Ultimately, this episode is about helping people reconnect with what truly matters. When values are understood and honoured, decision making becomes clearer, confidence grows, and people are able to live and lead with greater purpose and intention.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching values, values in coaching, personal values coaching, decision making coaching, coaching for personal growth, understanding values, values and behaviour, coaching techniques, mindset coaching, emotional intelligence coaching, leadership coaching values, overcoming internal conflict, motivation and values
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| 8 Ways to Coach Neurodivergent Clients | 16 Mar 2026 | 00:27:00 | |
What if the reason your client is stuck is not a lack of motivation or clarity, but the way their executive functioning is wired? In this episode, we explore eight powerful lenses that can completely transform the way you coach neurodivergent clients and, in truth, the way you coach all clients. Executive functioning sits at the heart of how we plan, start, organise, regulate emotions, manage impulses and adapt to change. When we understand it, coaching becomes more inclusive, more compassionate and far more effective. We begin with a simple but important reframe. Executive functioning is not only relevant for clients who identify as neurodivergent. Many people remain undiagnosed, and every human being has a unique profile of strengths and challenges across these functions. When we bring this awareness into our practice, we move away from labelling behaviours as procrastination, lack of focus or resistance and instead start working with the real barrier. As we walk through each of the eight areas, we share how easily traditional coaching approaches can unintentionally create shame. Asking a client how to get motivated when the real challenge is task initiation creates a completely different experience from recognising what is actually happening in their brain. That moment of being seen and understood often unlocks progress faster than any strategy. We talk about organisation and the importance of helping clients design systems that work with their brain rather than forcing themselves into methods that were never built for them. We explore planning and prioritisation through the lens of demand avoidance and spontaneity, recognising that for some clients the plan itself is the obstacle. Working memory brings a powerful reflection on coaching style. Keeping questions simple, using visual anchors and contracting around how to hold the thread of the conversation makes coaching more accessible and more effective. Self monitoring and emotional regulation reveal the deep emotional impact of executive functioning challenges. Many clients carry a lifetime of self criticism without realising that what they are experiencing is a difference in processing rather than a personal failure. Coaching becomes a space for self acceptance as much as progress. Impulse control and flexible thinking invite us to move beyond deficit based models. Impulsivity can be a source of energy, creativity and connection. Rigidity often signals a need for safety. Our role is not to fix these traits but to help clients use their strengths and create support structures that allow them to thrive. Throughout this conversation, what stands out is that neurodivergent inclusive coaching is not about having the answers. It is about having the lens. When we understand executive functioning, we accelerate trust, deepen our coaching relationships and enable clients to achieve their goals in ways that are aligned with who they truly are. This is coaching that replaces judgement with curiosity, removes shame and gives clients practical levers for change. It is inclusive, ethical and deeply human.
Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to coaching neurodivergent clients through executive functioning
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching neurodivergent clients, executive functioning in coaching, ADHD coaching strategies
Links & Resources: Neurodivergent Inclusive Coaching programme: https://www.igcompany.com/nd | |||
| How to Coach the Nervous System | 09 Mar 2026 | 00:23:17 | |
What if the reason your client cannot access clarity, action or decision making has nothing to do with their mindset and everything to do with their nervous system? In this episode, we explore a dimension of coaching that sits beneath the questions, the goals and the models. Every coaching conversation is not only a meeting of minds. It is a meeting of two nervous systems. When a client arrives in a state of urgency, overwhelm or shutdown, the most powerful coaching move is often not another question. It is the creation of safety. We reflect on moments in our own coaching and supervision where dysregulation was present and how quickly everything shifted when the focus moved from performance to regulation. A single breath. A slowing of pace. A gentle acknowledgement of what was happening in the body. These are the moments that allow a client to return to themselves and re access their thinking, their resourcefulness and their learning. What becomes clear is that dysregulation does not only appear in the big life events. It can show up in the everyday pressure of a full diary, the urgency before a holiday, a difficult conversation that happened that morning or the weight of time and responsibility. Without the ability to recognise and work with these states, a coaching session can remain on the surface, even when the client is highly capable and committed. We talk about co regulation and the role of the coach as a steady nervous system anchor. When we are grounded, calm and present, we invite our clients back into their own window of tolerance. From this place, curiosity returns. Reflection becomes possible. Decision making becomes clearer. Action becomes meaningful. We also explore the different ways dysregulation can present. It may look like anxiety, restlessness and pressure. It may look like fogginess, disconnection and a lack of motivation that could easily be mislabelled as resistance. With awareness, we stop pushing for progress and instead resource the client so that progress becomes possible. This work sits firmly within the role of a coach. If a dysregulated nervous system is the obstacle to a client's goal, then supporting regulation is part of working in the gap between where they are and where they want to be. It is ethical, it is powerful and it is deeply human. We also turn the lens towards ourselves as coaches. Our own nervous system is part of the coaching relationship. Noticing when we become activated, understanding our triggers and knowing how to return to regulation is essential if we are to hold safe, effective spaces for our clients. Ultimately, this episode is about presence. It is about recognising that transformation does not happen when a client is in survival mode. It happens when they feel safe enough to think, feel and choose. And sometimes the most valuable coaching session is the one where the goal is not achieved, but the client leaves regulated, resourced and reconnected to themselves.
Timestamps: 00:00 Coaching as a meeting of two nervous systems
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching the nervous system, nervous system regulation in coaching, trauma informed coaching skills, window of tolerance coaching, co regulation in coaching sessions, neurodivergent inclusive coaching, somatic coaching awareness, how to help clients feel safe in coaching, executive functioning and coaching, advanced coaching presence,
Links & Resources: Neurodivergent Inclusive Coaching programme: https://www.igcompany.com/nd | |||
| Why Train as an Emotions Coach Practitioner | 02 Mar 2026 | 00:20:28 | |
What becomes possible in your coaching when you are no longer afraid of emotions, but fully equipped to work with them? In this episode, we open the door to a programme that so many coaches feel drawn to, yet often hesitate to step into. We wanted to explore not only what the Emotions Coaching Practitioner training is, but why it has such a profound impact on the way we coach, the way we experience our work and the way our clients transform. The most powerful coaching conversations have always been the ones where emotions are present. They are the moments where change happens in real time. There is no long list of actions to take away and force into an already busy life. Instead, the shift happens in the session. Clients see themselves differently. They experience their challenges differently. Something that once felt fixed dissolves because it has finally been seen and understood. We talk about how this depth of work amplifies every part of your coaching practice. Your confidence grows because you know how to hold the space when life happens for your clients. Senior leaders navigating grief, diagnosis, burnout, fertility struggles or overwhelming pressure do not need to be turned away or redirected. They need a coach who can stay present, ethical and grounded while still working towards their goals. That is the mastery this training develops. There is also a personal dimension that cannot be separated from the professional. As you expand your own emotional capacity, your ability to co regulate, remain present and work within the coaching competencies becomes stronger. You are no longer second guessing whether something is too much. You are equipped, supported and deeply resourced. We share how this training gives coaches the courage to finally step into the niche they feel called towards. So many people carry lived experience of menopause, neurodivergence, burnout, divorce, grief or major life transitions and feel a strong pull to support others in those spaces. Yet they dilute their message because they are unsure how to hold the emotional depth. This programme removes that barrier. It gives you the tools, the ethical framework and the community to go all in on the work that matters most to you. What continues to move us is the feedback from our alumni. They describe the programme as life changing, as the missing piece of coaching, as a direct route to deeper client transformation. They talk about the immediate difference in their sessions, the new services they create, the group programmes they design and the impact they bring into organisations through workshops and wellbeing initiatives. We also reflect on the future of the coaching profession. In a world where AI can replicate structured coaching models, what will always remain uniquely human is presence, emotional depth and the ability to sit with another person in their most real moments. This is mastery level coaching. It is how you future proof your practice and raise the standard of the industry. At its heart, this programme is about belonging to something bigger. It is about being part of a movement that brings emotional work into coaching in a way that is ethical, rigorous, practical and deeply human. And it is about creating a space for yourself as a coach where your own growth, resilience and authenticity are continually supported.
Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Emotions Coaching Practitioner
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: emotions coaching practitioner, emotional intelligence coaching training, mastery level coaching skills, coaching with emotions, trauma informed coaching CPD, niche coaching confidence, future proof your coaching business, advanced coaching certification UK, coaching presence and co regulation, transformational coaching methods,
Links & Resources: Emotions Coaching Practitioner programme: https://www.igcompany.com/emotions-coaching | |||
| Coaching Jobs | 23 Feb 2026 | 00:16:48 | |
What if building a career in coaching did not require you to run your own business at all? In this episode, we open up a conversation that we realise we have not explored nearly enough. We often talk about creating a coaching business or becoming a coaching leader, yet there is a growing and exciting landscape of coaching jobs inside organisations that deserves real attention. This discussion was sparked by the noticeable rise in coaching roles appearing across LinkedIn and within our own community. As we began to explore them more closely, we reflect on our own experience of returning to an in-house role where coaching formed the heart of my work. It brought together everything we loved about developing people, with the stability of a regular income and without the constant need to generate clients. That combination created a deep sense of alignment and ease. We share the wide range of ways coaching now shows up in organisations. Some roles are fully dedicated internal coach positions. Others sit within learning and development, people development, leadership, apprenticeships or culture transformation. In many cases, coaching becomes the differentiating skill that allows someone to move from one profession into another and close the experience gap that once felt like a barrier. What becomes clear in this conversation is that there is no single pathway. For some people, the idea of running a business and stepping into a CEO identity is energising. For others, it is not where their passion lies. There is equal value in a role where you are paid to do the work you love every day, making a tangible difference to individuals and teams, without needing to manage marketing, sales and operations. We also reflect on the increasing recognition within organisations that coaching improves performance, supports wellbeing and helps retain talented people. As executive coaching has proven its impact, companies are now asking how to create that same level of support at scale. This is where internal coaching capability and coaching cultures are being built, and it is opening doors to roles that simply did not exist a decade ago. One of the most important themes running through this episode is possibility. Coaching training is not only about becoming a coach in private practice. It is a powerful, transferable professional development that allows you to reshape your current role, step into a new one or design a portfolio career that blends stability with independence. We also talk about timeframes, because the journey is often far more achievable than people imagine. Within a year to eighteen months, it is entirely possible to gain a qualification, apply your existing experience and position yourself as the ideal candidate for roles that previously felt out of reach. At its core, this episode is about contribution. It is about being paid to make a meaningful difference, to work with people in a way that feels purposeful, and to build a career that reflects how you truly want to spend your time.
Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to coaching jobs in organisations
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching jobs in organisations, internal coach roles UK, learning and development coaching careers
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| How Coaching Changes Relationships | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:21:01 | |
What if the real transformation from coaching is not the career, but the way every relationship in your life begins to evolve? In this episode, we explore a conversation that began with a simple observation about how difficult it can feel to form meaningful friendships in adulthood and unfolded into something far more profound. As we reflected on our own journeys and the experiences of the coaches we train, it became clear that coaching is not only a professional pathway. It is a catalyst for deeper connection, richer communication and a more intentional relationship with ourselves and others. We share how learning to coach invites a level of self-awareness that reshapes what we look for in friendships, partnerships and working relationships. For us, this has meant moving towards more soulful, values-led connections. Relationships become less about proximity or history and more about alignment, growth and authenticity. That shift can feel expansive and, at times, confronting, particularly when boundaries become clearer and we recognise what no longer fits. We talk openly about how coaching can strengthen marriages and long-term partnerships, not because the relationship is the focus of the coaching, but because personal insight changes the way we communicate, express needs and listen. When one person grows, the relationship is invited to grow too. Sometimes that leads to renewal and deeper intimacy. Sometimes it leads to difficult but necessary change. There is also a powerful ripple effect. When one person invests in their development, it often inspires others to pursue their own path, whether through coaching, therapy or long-held ambitions. This is self-leadership in action. Going first creates permission for others to follow in their own way. We reflect on the subtle transformations that coaching brings to everyday life. The relationship with work can shift from endurance to joy. The way we lead teams becomes more empowering and less about control. Parenting becomes more conscious. Even our relationship with time, health, possessions and rest can change as our values become clearer. One of the most meaningful themes in this conversation is the evolving relationship with ourselves. Coaching reveals the hidden beliefs and internal patterns that quietly shape our decisions. As those come into awareness, we begin to live more by design and less by default. With that comes greater self-trust, a stronger connection to the future version of ourselves and the courage to take steps that once felt out of reach. This episode is an honest reflection on growth. Coaching does not remove life's complexity, but it gives us the capacity to navigate it with intention, compassion and clarity. And in doing so, every relationship we have begins to change shape.
Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to how coaching changes relationships
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching and relationships, how coaching changes your life, coach training personal transformation
Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com | |||
| How to Coach Nervous Clients | 09 Feb 2026 | 00:18:05 | |
What happens in the coaching space when the body tightens, the breath shortens, and the words become careful because something meaningful is at stake? In this episode of the podcast, we explored what it truly means to coach nervous clients and why nervousness is far more than a surface emotion. From our perspective, nervousness is both physiological and psychological, a temporary state that signals uncertainty, risk, and often the presence of something deeply important to the client. We reflected on how nervousness can show up even in highly capable, articulate, and senior leaders. It may appear as guarded language, rehearsed responses, or subtle somatic cues such as shallow breathing or tension in the shoulders. As coaches, we often sense it before it is ever named. We spoke about how nervousness can magnify automatic behaviours, pushing clients into protection strategies such as intellectualising, closing down emotionally, or striving to perform rather than authentically explore. During our conversation, we noticed how easily a coach's own nervous system can become activated in response. When this happens, there is a risk of rushing, over reassuring, or moving too quickly into goals and action. We reflected on the importance of co regulation, slowing the pace, and allowing the client to arrive fully into the session before asking for depth, vulnerability, or clarity of outcomes. We also shared personal experiences of nervousness within coaching and supervision, recognising how being seen in a new way can create an edge that feels exposing. This led us to discuss how ethical emotional coaching is not about fixing nervousness, but about staying with it, being curious about it, and allowing it to be explored as meaningful information rather than something to remove. A key theme was the power of working somatically and relationally. Grounding, noticing breath, tone of voice, and subtle shifts in the body can create safety and support nervous system regulation. We spoke about gently naming what we observe, such as changes in pace or posture, and using this as an invitation to awareness rather than an interpretation. Finally, we explored nervousness as a coaching topic in its own right. Whether a client is facing a difficult stakeholder, a career transition, or a significant conversation, nervousness can be an entry point into deeper beliefs, values, and identity. By coaching the emotion rather than bypassing it, clients can access a wider emotional range, including steadiness, empowerment, and confidence alongside their nerves. Timestamps: 00:31 Understanding what nervousness looks like in coaching Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching nervous clients, emotional coaching, nervous system regulation, co regulation in coaching, somatic coaching, confidence coaching, psychological safety, coaching emotions, leadership coaching, executive coaching
Links and Resources: Emotions Coaching Practitioner Training: www.igcompany.com/emotionscoaching | |||
| Redundancy Proofing Through Coach Training | 02 Feb 2026 | 00:22:29 | |
What if redundancy was not the end of your career story, but the moment you finally stepped into the work you were meant to do? In this episode, we explore what it truly means to redundancy proof your career in a world where roles are disappearing, industries are reshaping, and AI is accelerating change at a pace many people never expected. We reflect on how redundancy is rarely only about the loss of a job. It touches identity, confidence, security, and the deep question of who we are when our professional label is removed. We talk openly about how coaching training develops skills that cannot be automated. Deep listening, emotional intelligence, self regulation, perspective taking, strategic thinking, and the ability to navigate complexity. These are the human capabilities that organisations need more than ever and that individuals need in order to remain adaptable, resilient, and employable across multiple career transitions. We share how redundancy often creates a crossroads moment. Sometimes it arrives as a shock. Sometimes it arrives as the nudge we secretly needed to leave a role that no longer fitted. Either way, it invites reflection. Who am I beyond my job title. What do I want my work to stand for. What am I being called towards next. From personal experience, we reflect on how coach training acts as both an insurance policy and a catalyst. It builds metacognition, the ability to notice how you think as well as what you think. It supports emotional regulation during uncertainty. It strengthens decision making and helps people move from fear driven reactions into intentional, values led choices. We also explore how professional accredited coaching qualifications signal ethical maturity and leadership capability in a changing employment market. Whether you want to become a coach, lead through change, work at board level, build a portfolio career, or future proof yourself against redundancy, the psychological shift that comes through coaching training changes how you experience work, identity, and possibility. Ultimately, we reflect on how redundancy does not have to be something that happens to you. With the right mindset and skills, it can become something you co create with. A doorway rather than a dead end. A transition rather than a termination. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and why redundancy is now a widespread reality Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: Redundancy proofing, coach training, future proof your career, career resilience, emotional intelligence at work, leadership development, career transition support, redundancy coaching, professional coaching qualification, adaptability in the workplace, career change mindset, executive coaching skills. Links and Resources | |||
| How to Coach the Topics Clients Bring | 26 Jan 2026 | 00:16:40 | |
What happens when a client walks into a session with an issue you did not prepare for, and you have to trust your presence rather than your plan? In this episode of the Podcast, we to explore one of the most real and sometimes unsettling parts of being a coach: not knowing what a client is going to bring, yet being fully responsible for creating a space that can hold it. We reflected on how often coaches ask questions like, how do I coach confidence, fear, conflict, burnout, overwhelm, or decision making. Beneath those questions is usually something deeper. A desire to feel competent. A wish to feel resourced. A fear of being caught out when a client arrives with something emotionally charged, complex, or unfamiliar. What struck us during the conversation is how much of coaching is about unlearning the need for control. In most areas of life, we walk into conversations with a sense of the agenda. Coaching is different. The agenda emerges. The topic may be named, but the real work often sits underneath in emotion, belief, identity, or uncertainty. We talked about how coach training gives us core skills that apply to any topic, yet many coaches still crave practical anchors. Questions, frames, observations, and ways of working that help them feel steady when a client says, I feel overwhelmed, I am stuck in fear, I cannot decide, or I have lost confidence. That is where topic based learning and community become powerful, not as scripts to follow, but as ways to deepen awareness and broaden choice. We shared how, as coaches, we can sometimes narrow in too quickly on the words a client uses, or unconsciously overlay our own relationship with that topic. When a client brings fear, uncertainty, or burnout, it can trigger our own stories and associations. Building familiarity with common coaching themes helps us stay grounded, curious, and spacious rather than reactive or overly cognitive. We also explored the fine balance between holding space and offering structure. There are moments when a client genuinely wants to hear what might be possible. A menu of approaches. A sense of what others have found useful. Knowing when to lean in with suggestions and when to stay with emergence is part of the art of coaching, and it develops with experience, supervision, and reflective practice. One of the deepest reflections for us is that clients rarely bring what they actually need to work on. They bring what they can currently see. The coaching happens in the gap between the stated goal and the hidden pattern, emotion, or belief that is getting in the way. When we deepen our understanding of themes like uncertainty, self trust, overwhelm, decision making, and emotional regulation, we become better at noticing what is present but unspoken. This episode is also an invitation to coaches who want to accelerate their confidence and capability. Through our how to series and accredited CPD, we are creating spaces to explore topics such as beliefs, burnout, confidence, conflict, fear, overwhelm, procrastination, certainty, metaphors, and constellations. Not to provide formulas, but to build presence, perception, and practical range so that whatever walks into the room, you can meet it with calm, clarity, and skill. Coaching is not about mastering topics. It is about mastering yourself in the presence of whatever topic arrives.
Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and why coaches ask how do I coach specific topics
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: How to coach confidence, coaching uncertainty, emotional coaching, coaching overwhelm, coaching fear, coaching decision making, coach development, coaching presence, coaching supervision, coaching CPD, leadership coaching, self trust in coaching
Links and Resources: | |||
| Your Done For You 2026 CPD With In Good Company | 19 Jan 2026 | 00:16:00 | |
Are you looking for CPD that actually fits into real life while still deepening your confidence and capability as a coach? As we recorded this episode, we found ourselves reflecting on the growing gap between what coaches need from professional development and what most CPD programmes actually deliver. We know how busy life is. We know how difficult it can be to commit to long programmes with heavy time demands. And we also know how frustrating it feels to learn theory without truly knowing how to apply it in real coaching conversations. This episode is our response to that reality. We introduce our Done for You 2026 CPD programme, the How To Series, a bite size, practical and accredited professional development journey designed specifically around the topics coaches face every day. Each session is rooted in a popular Coaching Crowd podcast episode and translated into a facilitated, interactive learning experience that bridges the gap between insight and action. Across the conversation, we talk openly about why this series matters to us. We share how the idea was born from listening closely to our community and noticing which podcast episodes consistently resonate, such as coaching confidence, fear, burnout, overwhelm and uncertainty. These are not abstract topics. They are live issues showing up in coaching rooms week after week. Each 'How To' session is a two and a half hour live workshop that includes a focused teaching summary, a practical coaching activity, live demonstrations, peer practice, feedback, and reflective discussion. We wanted to create CPD that feels immediately useful, supports skill integration, and builds real coaching confidence. This is learning you can take straight into your next client session. We also reflect on accessibility. This series is designed for qualified coaches, leaders, managers and those using coaching skills in their work. It is accredited, offering CCEs, while remaining financially accessible and flexible. Coaches can attend individual sessions or commit to the full year and have their 2026 CPD fully mapped out in advance. Throughout the episode, we talk about community, experimentation and our desire to create a shared learning space where coaches can connect, practise, ask real questions and grow together. This is about more than content. It is about confidence, capability and belonging within the coaching profession.
Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and why this episode matters
Key Lessons Learned:
Links and Resources:
Keywords: Coaching CPD 2026, accredited coaching CPD, bite size coaching training, coaching professional development, coaching skills development, coaching confidence training, coaching burnout CPD, live coaching workshops, coach accreditation CCEs, The Coaching Crowd podcast | |||
| Is 2026 the Year you Train as a Coach? | 12 Jan 2026 | 00:21:14 | |
What if the thought of training as a coach has been sitting with you for years for a reason you have not yet fully acknowledged? As the new year begins, we slow the conversation down and ask a bigger question than whether coach training is a good idea. We explore whether 2026 is the year you finally make a clear decision either to step forward or to consciously let the idea go. In this episode, we reflect on why coach training often stays on people's mental to do lists for far longer than expected. For many, it is not about gaining a qualification. It is about meaning, connection, identity, and the desire to do work that feels more aligned with personal values. We talk openly about the emotional and practical drivers behind the decision to train as a coach, including career pivots, leadership development, self-awareness, and the longing for deeper conversations at work and in life. We also address what can quietly hold people back. Waiting to feel ready. Decision paralysis when comparing training providers. The pressure to have a fully formed plan before taking the first step. We share why readiness is rarely something you feel before you act and how clarity often follows commitment rather than precedes it. Drawing on our own experiences, we reflect on how coach training develops far more than coaching skills. It builds emotional intelligence, confidence, boundaries, ethical practice, and the ability to work with human complexity in a grounded and responsible way. We discuss what coach training really involves and why discomfort and growth are part of the process rather than signs you are doing it wrong. We also offer a balanced perspective on when coach training may not be the right choice. If you are seeking a quick financial fix, external validation, or if working with emotion actively drains you, this may not be the right investment at this stage of your life. Equally, we share why coaching continues to grow in relevance as human centred skills become more valuable in a world shaped by artificial intelligence and rapid change. Throughout the conversation, we come back to a simple decision framework. Does it make sense in your head? Does it feel meaningful in your heart? Is there space in your calendar to make it work? When those three align, 2026 may well be the year you move forward. This episode is an invitation to stop circling the same question and to make a conscious choice that frees up energy, whether that choice is to train as a coach or to redirect your focus elsewhere with confidence.
Timestamps: 00:00 Why this question keeps returning year after year
Key Lessons Learned:
Links and Resources: https://www.mycoachingcourse.com
Keywords: coach training, train as a coach, coaching career, coaching skills, becoming a coach, leadership coaching, personal development, emotional intelligence, career change coaching, | |||
| Accelerate your Coach CPD in 2026 | 05 Jan 2026 | 00:20:31 | |
2026 CPD Accelerator: https://igcompany.com/CPD2026 What if the way you approach your CPD this year could fundamentally shape your confidence, energy, and impact as a coach? In this episode, we sat down to have an honest, grounded conversation about what continuous professional development really looks like for coaches in practice, not theory. As Master Accredited Coaches and founders of an accredited coach training provider, we reflected openly on our own CPD journeys, including the years of intense learning, the quieter phases focused on business growth, and the moments where CPD crept up on us through deadlines, reaccreditation reminders, or a deep need for stimulation and renewal. We explored why so many coaches fall into reactive CPD patterns, binge learning one year and neglecting it the next, and what happens when CPD becomes something you chase at the last minute rather than plan with intention. Throughout the conversation, we found ourseleves reflecting on how powerful it feels when CPD is aligned with who you are as a coach, the clients you serve, and the impact you want to have, rather than driven by fear, comparison, or industry pressure. We talked about compassion fatigue, confidence dips, and the quiet anxiety that can show up when CV requests or accreditation deadlines land unexpectedly. We also explored the joy of learning for learning's sake, the gift of community and connection that comes from cohort-based CPD, and the way one programme can open doors you did not even know existed. This episode is also about practicality. We discussed the importance of anchoring CPD into your diary, planning financially, and understanding your own learning preferences, whether that is bite-sized learning, intensive programmes, or facilitated cohorts. We share reflections on how CPD can reignite momentum for early-stage coaches, support experienced coaches returning after time away, and help those who trained years ago feel current, capable, and confident again in today's coaching landscape. As we step into 2026, this conversation is an invitation to pause, reflect, and choose your CPD with clarity and intention. We also introduced the CPD Accelerator, a short, focused experience designed to help you map out your CPD for the year ahead in a way that feels supportive, energising, and achievable.
Timestamps:
Key Lessons Learned:
Links & Resources:
Keywords: Coach CPD 2026, coaching continuous professional development, CPD planning for coaches, coach accreditation CPD, coaching confidence development, professional development for coaches, coaching CPD programmes, coach learning and development, | |||
| Behind the Scenes of 2025 | 29 Dec 2025 | 00:22:01 | |
What does a year of growth really look like when you step away from the highlight reel and tell the truth? As we reach the end of 2025, we wanted to pause and pull back the curtain on what this year has genuinely been like for us behind the scenes. This episode is an honest, reflective conversation about the reality of running a values led coaching business through a year of challenge, change, and deep learning. We talk openly about the tension between what people often see from the outside and what it has actually felt like to be inside the business. This year has asked a lot of us. There have been moments of momentum and celebration alongside periods of complexity, uncertainty, and sustained effort that few people ever witness. We reflect on how a trip to Dubai at the start of the year became a catalyst for significant shifts in our thinking. Stepping into a different environment gave us the space to see long standing business bottlenecks with fresh eyes. What had felt heavy and immovable suddenly became solvable. That experience reshaped how we approached systems, automation, and the role technology plays in supporting rather than draining a coaching business. We share what it took to bring our Neurodivergent Inclusive Coaching programme to life, both in its full facilitated form and later through the Essentials offering. These programmes hold enormous meaning for us, not only because of their impact on coaches and clients, but because of the care, collaboration, and emotional labour involved in creating them well. This year reminded us why programme creation is so demanding and why integrity in delivery matters deeply to us. Much of 2025 has been about strengthening the foundations of the business. We talk about the unglamorous but essential work of refining processes, documenting systems, onboarding team members, and rebuilding parts of the business from the ground up to support scale. This included changing payment systems, migrating our website from co.uk to com, securing trademarks, and rethinking how we structure qualifications and CPD. Alongside all of this, there has been personal growth. We reflect on stepping back into facilitation, reconnecting with learners, and the fulfilment that comes from being closer to the heart of the work. We also share how this year has prompted bigger questions about brand identity, marketing, and how we want to be known as a global coaching organisation. This episode is an invitation to reflect on your own year with honesty and compassion. Whether you are running a coaching business, leading in an organisation, or navigating change, we hope our reflections offer reassurance, perspective, and a reminder that progress is often quieter and messier than it appears.
Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and why we reflect at the end of each year
Key Lessons Learned:
Links and Resources: https://www.igcompany.com/ilmcall
Keywords: coaching business growth, behind the scenes coaching, neurodivergent inclusive coaching, coaching qualifications UK, coaching CPD programmes, emotional coaching practice, coaching business systems, coach training programmes, coaching leadership development, The Coaching Crowd podcast, | |||
| Eight or so Christmas Coaching Questions | 22 Dec 2025 | 00:08:14 | |
What might become possible if you gave yourself space to pause, reflect, and listen this Christmas? This episode feels like a quiet exhale at the end of a full year. As we sat together, we wanted to offer something gentle, playful, and meaningful. Something that could be shared around a Christmas table, or held privately in moments of stillness during the festive period. We recorded this episode with the intention of creating connection. Connection with ourselves, with the people we love, and with the parts of us that have carried a lot this year. Rather than small talk, we wanted to invite deeper conversation and reflection. The kind that nourishes rather than drains. Throughout the episode, we read out eight Christmas inspired coaching questions. Each one is designed to open up reflection around rest, gratitude, celebration, self awareness, and letting go. As we shared the questions, we noticed how they landed in our own bodies. Some felt soothing. Others felt stretching. A few made us pause because we did not immediately know the answer, which often tells us there is something important waiting there. We also held in mind that Christmas can be complex. Not everyone experiences it as joyful or full of people. These questions are offered with compassion, whether you are surrounded by family, working through the festive period, or spending time quietly on your own. Coaching questions can be powerful companions, especially when the rest of the world slows down. This episode is shorter by design. It is not about teaching or fixing. It is about offering reflective prompts you can return to, share, or sit with over the holiday season and beyond.
Coaching Questions and Reflections 1. What part of you deserves to rest and be replenished this holiday season? 2. If you could wrap up this year as a gift, what would be inside? 3. Whose light has helped guide you this year, and how might you thank them? 4. Imagine you are at Christmas next year. What are you celebrating, and why? 5. What truth about yourself have you quietly met this year, and how will you honour it going forwards? 6. If you could hear the quiet wisdom of your future self this Christmas, what would they thank you for doing now? 7. If you could gift somebody a belief or mindset shift this Christmas, what would that gift be? 8. If you could leave something under the tree or send something back this year, what would it be?
Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and setting the intention for Christmas reflection
Links and Resources: https://www.igcompany.com/ilmcall
Keywords: Christmas coaching questions, Reflective coaching, End of year reflection, Coaching for self-awareness, Emotional coaching, Personal growth reflection, Festive reflection questions, Coaching conversation starters, Mindful Christmas, Life coaching podcast, | |||
| Answering Questions from our Listeners | 15 Dec 2025 | 00:32:26 | |
What happens when coaches slow down, listen deeply, and answer the questions they are rarely asked out loud? This episode felt different from the outset. This week we sat down without scripts, without rehearsed answers, and without certainty about where the conversation would land. What we had instead was trust. Trust in the coaching process, trust in each other, and trust in the questions our listeners brought to us. We invited our listeners to share the coaching questions they find themselves holding, whether that is something they wrestle with in sessions, reflect on in supervision, or wonder about quietly in their own practice. What came back was a rich mix of practical dilemmas, reflective prompts, and deeply human concerns about confidence, emotional boundaries, challenge, and connection. As we read each question aloud, we answered in real time. That meant responding from lived experience rather than polished theory. At points we noticed ourselves pausing, reflecting, and even sitting with uncertainty. That felt important. Coaching does not always offer clean answers, and this episode honours that reality. We explored what it means to interrupt a client with care, how to think about failure when it does not feel like the real blocker, and what to do when a client triggers discomfort or resistance in us as coaches. We also talked honestly about homework in coaching, emotional load, negativity, and the blurred edges between coaching and everyday relationships with family. What stayed with us after recording, was a sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the honesty of our listeners, for the depth of the coaching profession, and for the privilege of being trusted with these kinds of questions. This episode is less about expertise and more about presence, reflection, and shared learning.
Listener Questions and Reflections How do you catch a client who talks incessantly and keeps going over old ground without feeling disrespectful We reflected on the power of contracting at the start of sessions and being intentional with opening questions. Clear focus, permission to interrupt, and shared agreement on how to work together can transform this dynamic. we were particularly struck by the invitation to explore our own beliefs about interruption and respect, and how supervision can help unpack what feels uncomfortable for us as coaches. What would you do if you could not fail This question opened a deeper exploration of fear, risk, and attachment to outcomes. Neither of us felt that failure itself was the real barrier. Instead, we reflected on decision-making, tolerance for uncertainty, and how detachment from outcomes can create freedom and momentum. What do you do if you do not like a client Rather than seeing this as a problem, we framed it as data. Strong reactions are information. They invite curiosity, supervision, and self-reflection. Often, the clients who challenge us the most offer the richest learning and some of our most impactful coaching. Is homework essential for progress in coaching Our shared view was clear. Homework is not essential and should never be imposed. Progress comes from what the client chooses to take forward. Suggestions can be offered with care and consent, but the relationship must remain adult to adult, not expert to student. How can coaches hold space without taking on emotional load This question led us into beliefs about emotions, responsibility, and energy. We talked about preparation, grounding practices, and trusting that clients are capable of holding their own emotional experience. Sustainable coaching starts with how we relate to emotions, including our own. Is coaching friends and family ever a challenge We shared honest reflections about boundaries, self-awareness, and knowing when to step out of the coaching role. Coaching training changes how we see the world, but discernment matters. Not every moment calls for a coaching response. How do you coach someone who always returns to negativity We emphasised the importance of contracting for challenge and being honest about usefulness. Coaching is not about forcing change. Sometimes the most ethical choice is to question whether the coaching relationship remains the right support. Are there clients who stay with you the most Rather than naming one individual, we spoke about groups of clients who shape us at different stages of our development. What stayed with us was the sense of privilege in being invited into someone's inner world and witnessing their growth over time. What keeps you awake at night This question brought humour, honesty, and insight. From ideas and inspiration to family life and physical rhythms, it was a reminder that coaches are human first, reflective second, and professional always.
Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and episode context
Keywords: coaching questions, coaching confidence, emotional coaching, holding space in coaching, coaching supervision, coach client relationship, coaching boundaries, coaching reflection, coaching challenges
Links and Resources: | |||
| What Stage of Coach Maturity are you at? | 08 Dec 2025 | 00:23:17 | |
Have you ever paused to consider where you truly are in your growth as a coach and what your current stage of development reveals about the way you show up for your clients? In this episode, we walk through the evolving arc of our professional identity and the way our presence deepens as we move from doing coaching to being a coach. It is a journey rich with curiosity, discomfort, insight, and ultimately, transformation. During the conversation, we unpack the three broad stages of coach maturity. We explore the ways we develop from novice coach to intuitive practitioner and eventually to a place where we work with the wider system that sits around each client. As we revisit these stages, we were reminded of the moments in our own journeys when we grappled with self-doubt, longed for structure, and later found liberation in silence, emergence, and reflective practice. We discuss what this pathway can look like in real life. Early on, the focus often sits on learning models like GROW or CLEAR, trying to get coaching "right", and wondering whether you are offering enough value. As maturity builds, the focus shifts toward deep relational awareness. Questions such as how we are being together begin to matter more than the specific tools we use. There is more acknowledgment of intuition, pattern spotting, boundaries, ethics, and the energy in the space between coach and client. As the journey progresses, the coaching relationship becomes a gateway into something broader. We delve into the systemic nature of coaching and what happens when we are able to sit in not knowing without fear. This phase is rich, existential, and deeply grounding. It calls for humility, self-awareness, regulated presence, and the ability to hold space for emergence. We reflect on how this stage can be both liberating and challenging. At times we have found it confronting, and at others we have found it to be the most expansive area of professional growth. Throughout this episode, the recurring theme for me is that coaching maturity is not time served. It is about what we integrate, how we reflect, and the courage we bring to our own development. Every phase offers value. Every phase has its purpose. And every coach will move through the continuum in their own way. Our hope is that this conversation sparks meaningful self-reflection and gives you a clearer sense of where you are today and where your next stretch might be.
Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and introduction to coaching maturity
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: coaching maturity, coach development, reflective practice, coaching presence, coaching intuition, systemic coaching, coaching evolution, coaching confidence, professional coaching skills, coaching competence
Links and Resources: | |||
| Training to be a Coach after Burnout | 01 Dec 2025 | 00:19:30 | |
Have you ever reached a point where burnout reshaped your sense of who you are and what you want next in life? In this episode, we explore the tender, transformative journey that so many people move through when they decide to train as a coach after experiencing burnout. This conversation matters because burnout rarely leaves life untouched. It rewires priorities, reframes identity, and forces us to acknowledge that our wellbeing is the most important asset we have. Throughout the discussion, we reflect on why individuals arrive at coach training following burnout and what they discover about themselves in the process. We talk about the shift from depletion to purpose, the desire to reconnect with meaning, and the way burnout creates fertile ground for growth once we begin to resource ourselves again. We acknowledge how disorientating burnout can be. It can feel frightening and destabilising, yet it can also illuminate our non-negotiables and reveal the parts of life that need to change. As we explore this, we share how coaching becomes a powerful pathway towards rebuilding confidence, rediscovering identity, and reconnecting with values. We dive into the emotional experience behind this choice. Many people arrive having encountered support through counselling, therapy, mentoring or coaching, realising that they want to help others in the same way they have been supported. Others arrive because their old world no longer fits who they have become. They do not return to their pre burnout life because it no longer feels like home. Coaching offers a forward focused space where they can shape what comes next. Throughout the episode, we reflect on the deep sense of safety and acceptance within the coaching community. We talk about how shame often accompanies burnout and how that shame is released when individuals step into an environment where life experience is valued rather than judged. We explore how coaching training becomes a healing process. Not always intentionally so, but in practice it reconnects people with the belief that they are enough. It helps them see themselves with compassion rather than criticism. It builds emotional honesty, self-awareness, and a renewed sense of possibility. We also reflect on how passion and purpose must be channelled with awareness. Burnout can occur in work that is deeply meaningful as well as work that is unfulfilling. Coaching training helps individuals see where their needs are not being met, where boundaries must shift, and how systemic pressures may be influencing their wellbeing. This episode is an invitation to anyone who has experienced burnout to consider how that experience might become a catalyst for growth. Coaching training can be the place where confidence is rebuilt, identity is reclaimed, and a new sense of purpose emerges.
Timestamps: 00.00 Welcome and introduction
Key Lessons Learned:
Keywords: training to be a coach, coaching after burnout, burnout recovery, coach training journey, emotional wellbeing, values led coaching, identity after burnout, confidence building, self-awareness coaching, healing through coaching
Links and Resources: | |||