Courage in Coaching

In a class on masterful coaching, I was recently asked about “bravery” or “courage” in masterful coaching. I was a bit surprised about the question – I don’t experience myself as very courageous and especially not in coaching sessions. As we reflected, some interesting ideas emerged. Coaching courage is not about the theatrics (image: Zorro with his cape or Jack Sparrow on the mast of his ship) but more about taking risks in the conversation or daring to be real.

Coaching at the level of masterful coaching frequently takes place in environments where stakes are high. Clients tend to be people in higher positions whose identities may be invested in particular narratives. For example, a senior leader might enter the space with a coherent explanation of what is going wrong in their team. The story is usually persuasive and often supported by organizational data, sponsor expectations, and long-standing habits of interpretation. The temptation for a coach is to work skilfully within that frame and help the client optimize their existing perspective without inviting the client to an enlarged view of the situation and their possible agency.

At the level of masterful coaching, the coach accepts the way the client is seeing their world without excluding other possibilities. They may ask future oriented questions starting with “suppose”: “Suppose everything was working the way you would like, how would you notice? What would become possible for you? What would the team see you do different?”.

Such interventions carry relational risk. The client may experience the reflection as challenging or destabilizing. The coach may feel the familiar pull toward safety, especially when the client holds positional power or strong opinions. Courage in this context means staying present with one’s own discomfort while remaining genuinely curious about the client’s learning.

There is also courage in holding space for emotion and what is happening in the moment. When emotion rises in a session, the coach may feel pressure to move quickly toward resolution or relief. Mastery involves trusting the client’s capacity to sit with what is happening for them and trusting the coaching relationship to hold intensity without premature closure. Remaining with a client’s anger, shame, or confusion requires internal steadiness and confidence in the process.

Ethical courage is another way courage shows up in coaching. Organizational sponsors sometimes are too interested in making sure that their money was spent wisely and enquire about details of the coaching process. The coach needs to respect confidentiality boundaries and decline such requests which can be a difficult conversation to have.

Over time, coaching with courage becomes second nature to us coaches and we stop perceiving ourselves as “courageous” even when we are. Courage is present in the steadiness with which a coach holds space for difficult insights and it is enacted in the quiet decision to prioritize developmental depth over superficial harmony.

Masterful coaching, as I understand and practice it, asks for relational courage again and again. It asks the coach to remain awake to power, to language, and to the ethical field of practice. It invites us to act in ways that support genuine transformation even when those actions feel vulnerable. In that sense, courage is part of the ongoing discipline of practicing at the highest level.

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