🧠 The 8 Coaching Styles Every Leader Should Know (And When to Use Them)

As coaching becomes an essential leadership skill, the days of one-size-fits-all approaches are long gone. Today’s leaders are navigating increasingly complex, human-centered challenges—where adaptability, emotional intelligence, and communication matter just as much as technical skill. Whether you're a professional coach, an L&D leader, or a people manager looking to grow your influence, knowing how to coach is just as important as knowing what to coach.

Understanding different coaching styles—and when to use them—allows you to meet people where they are, guide them through growth with greater empathy and precision, and deliver results that align with both personal and organizational goals. Each style offers a distinct path to insight and action, and the best coaches know how to flex between them depending on the situation.

Here’s a breakdown of seven powerful coaching styles, how they work, and when to put each into action.

Directive Coaching is an action-oriented style where the coach takes on more of a guiding or advising role, offering clear direction, proven strategies, and structured support. It’s particularly effective in situations that call for skill-building, onboarding, or performance improvement—especially when the coachee is new to their role or navigating unfamiliar territory. This style provides clarity and momentum by breaking down complex tasks into manageable steps and offering hands-on tools to build competence and confidence.

Scenario: Imagine a newly promoted team lead who is struggling to delegate effectively. They’ve come from an individual contributor role and aren’t sure how to shift into a leadership mindset. As the coach, you step in with a directive approach—walking them through specific delegation frameworks, offering examples of effective communication techniques, and role-playing difficult conversations. This hands-on support helps them quickly develop the foundational skills needed to lead their team successfully.

Non-Directive Coaching is a reflective, insight-driven approach where the coach creates space for the coachee to uncover their own solutions. Rather than offering advice or direction, the coach uses powerful questions, active listening, and silence as tools to encourage deeper self-awareness. This style is especially effective for experienced professionals, high-potential leaders, or individuals facing nuanced, personal challenges. It empowers clients to think critically, own their growth, and build lasting confidence in their decision-making.

Scenario: A seasoned department manager is feeling stuck and unsure whether to pursue a leadership development opportunity. Instead of giving advice, you take a non-directive approach—asking questions like, “What would success look like for you in this role?” or “What’s holding you back from saying yes?” Through the conversation, the manager begins to identify their own fears and motivations, leading to greater clarity—and ultimately, a confident decision to move forward on their own terms.

Transformational Coaching focuses on deep, lasting change at the level of mindset, values, and identity. It’s designed to help individuals shift not just what they do—but how they see themselves and the world around them. This style often involves exploring limiting beliefs, personal narratives, and long-held assumptions that may be holding someone back. It’s especially powerful during moments of transition, purpose-seeking, or when a leader is ready to evolve beyond tactical problem-solving into purpose-driven growth.

Scenario: A high-performing executive is feeling disconnected from their role despite continued outward success. They’ve hit a plateau and are questioning whether their current path aligns with who they are becoming. You use transformational coaching to explore the deeper “why” behind their career goals, their sense of meaning, and their definition of leadership. Through this work, they begin to realign their actions with their values—leading to renewed energy, clarity of direction, and more authentic leadership. Performance Coaching is results-oriented and structured around helping individuals set goals, improve skills, and achieve measurable outcomes. The coach serves as an accountability partner—supporting the coachee in breaking down objectives into actionable steps, tracking progress, and adjusting as needed. This style is ideal for driving focus, execution, and continuous improvement, especially in high-pressure or KPI-driven environments. It’s practical, forward-looking, and perfect for individuals who are ready to level up.

Scenario: A mid-level manager has been identified as a high-potential leader but is struggling to hit quarterly performance targets. You begin a performance coaching relationship by clarifying their goals, identifying key blockers, and co-creating a strategy for time management and team delegation. You meet biweekly to assess progress, troubleshoot challenges, and celebrate wins. With consistent support and accountability, the manager not only meets their KPIs but also develops stronger habits and leadership confidence.

Cognitive Behavioral Coaching (CBC) is grounded in the principles of cognitive behavioral psychology and focuses on helping individuals identify and shift unhelpful thought patterns that may be impacting their behavior and performance. This coaching style is especially effective when the root of a challenge lies in mindset, self-doubt, or emotional triggers—rather than a lack of skill or knowledge. CBC involves structured techniques like reframing, belief-challenging, and mindset mapping, and it’s particularly useful for high-achievers who may be held back by imposter syndrome, fear of failure, or perfectionism.

Scenario: A highly capable team lead consistently hesitates to speak up in leadership meetings, despite being well-prepared and knowledgeable. Through a CBC approach, you explore the underlying belief: “If I speak up and get something wrong, I’ll lose credibility.” Together, you challenge the accuracy and usefulness of that thought, replacing it with a more balanced belief: “Sharing my perspective adds value, even if it’s not perfect.” Over time, the team lead becomes more confident and visible, contributing regularly and stepping into greater influence.

Systems Coaching focuses on the relationships, patterns, and dynamics within teams, departments, or entire organizations. Instead of coaching one individual in isolation, this approach explores how people function within the larger system—and how that system either supports or hinders performance, engagement, and collaboration. It draws heavily from systems thinking, organizational psychology, and group dynamics, and is ideal when the challenges involve communication breakdowns, siloed thinking, or cultural misalignment.

Scenario: A cross-functional leadership team is struggling to align on priorities during a major organizational shift. Meetings are tense, decisions stall, and trust is eroding. You step in with a systems coaching approach—mapping team dynamics, observing how power and communication flow, and facilitating sessions where team members reflect on how their behaviors impact the whole. Through guided exercises and feedback loops, the group begins to shift from blame to shared responsibility—leading to improved collaboration, clearer decision-making, and a healthier team culture.

Solution-Focused Coaching emphasizes forward momentum by helping individuals identify what’s working, visualize their ideal outcome, and take small, meaningful steps toward it. Rather than analyzing the root of the problem in depth, this style focuses on solutions, strengths, and short-term wins. It’s especially helpful when someone feels stuck, overwhelmed, or caught in a cycle of overthinking. The coach’s role is to shift the conversation from “what’s wrong” to “what’s possible”—often using techniques like scaling questions, future-state visualization, and goal setting.

Scenario: A project manager is feeling overwhelmed after a major reorg and isn’t sure where to start with their new responsibilities. Instead of diving into all the reasons they feel stuck, you ask, “What would progress look like by the end of this week?” and “On a scale from 1 to 10, how confident are you in getting there?” Through this simple, focused conversation, they realize they already have a few tools and relationships they can leverage. They leave the session with a clear next step and renewed energy.

🔄 ADKAR-Based Coaching Model

Adapted from the Prosci ADKAR Model for one-on-one or team coaching

The ADKAR model—developed by Jeffrey Hiatt and used in Prosci’s change management methodology—stands for:

• Awareness of the need for change

• Desire to participate and support the change

• Knowledge of how to change

• Ability to implement the change

• Reinforcement to sustain the change
  

Each element can serve as a stage or lens in a coaching conversation, especially when helping someone adopt a new behavior, mindset, or role.

🧠 How to Use ADKAR in Coaching

🔹 1. Awareness – "What’s changing and why?"

Coaching focus: Understanding the context and surfacing resistance

Coaching Questions:

• What do you know about this change?

• How do you feel about it?

• What concerns are coming up for you?

🔹 2. Desire – "Do I want to engage with this change?"

Coaching focus: Motivation, values, and emotional buy-in

Coaching Questions:

• What would make this change feel worthwhile for you?

• How does this align with your personal or professional goals?

• What’s getting in the way of your desire to move forward?

🔹 3. Knowledge – "Do I know what to do?"

Coaching focus: Skill building, process awareness, resources

Coaching Questions:

• What knowledge or tools do you need to be successful here?

• What would help you feel more confident in this area?

• Where could you go to learn more?

🔹 4. Ability – "Can I do it?"

Coaching focus: Practice, behavior change, environment support

Coaching Questions:

• What’s helping or hindering your ability to take action?

• How have you done something similar in the past?

• What support systems do you need?

🔹 5. Reinforcement – "What will help this stick?"

Coaching focus: Recognition, habits, feedback loops

Coaching Questions:

• How will you celebrate or acknowledge progress?

• What routines can you build to reinforce this?

• Who can help hold you accountable?

💬 Example Use Case:

You're coaching a new leader who’s struggling to adjust to a change in team structure and leadership expectations. You guide them through the ADKAR lens:

• They understand the org shift (Awareness)

• But they’re unsure if they want the new level of responsibility (Desire)

• They also lack clarity on the new expectations (Knowledge)

• With coaching, they build confidence and structure their week to support new habits (Ability)

• You help them establish a peer check-in and journaling habit to reinforce the shift (Reinforcement)

🧩 Bonus: Why It Works

ADKAR-based coaching blends emotional intelligence, behavior science, and performance psychology into one holistic approach—making it ideal for leaders, teams, and even personal transformation.

🛠️ Coming Soon: Free Downloadable Coaching Templates

I’ll be releasing a set of customizable coaching templates—one for each of these styles. These free resources will include:

• Key questions to ask

• Session frameworks

• Real-world use cases

• Tips on combining styles for flexibility
  

✨ Stay tuned or subscribe to get the full toolkit when it drops!