Leaders like to take action when things are not going as well as they would like. Being seen to be getting a grip of a problem is better than being seen as doing nothing. Right now, many UK businesses, especially outside of the capital, are cutting costs and restructuring. However, there is another potential option. When faced with an insurmountable challenge or amount of change, how do you direct yourself and your team through it? How do you do things differently and focus on the right things? Where is the support, energy and constant nudging in the right direction? Today, we talk about coaching for business performance before restructuring.
Coaching in business
Coaching in business is a structured, developmental partnership that assists with self-reflection and self-awareness, refinement of leadership style, improved communication and support in navigating complex and ambiguous problems. In other words, a coach partners with a client in a deep, collaborative and though-provoking way to guide them towards maximising professional career potential. In simple terms, it helps a professional to better understand themselves, enhance their skills, learn from experiences and make better decisions.
There are various approaches and levels of coaching. Some are certified coaches who conduct 360-degree assessments and use formal frameworks. Some run personalised leadership and career strategy sessions. Others are peers, or previously worked in a similar role to you, or subject matter experts offering project-based leadership coaching linked to your real-world business and professional challenges. Most will follow a format of structured conversations to enhance awareness and focus on the behaviours that support achievement of organisational goals.
Coaching for performance
In general, coaches are not directive – instead focusing on a collaborative reflection for personal insight and improvement. Performance through greater effectiveness is often the goal of the structured sessions, bearing in mind career aspirations and personal challenges. Since the focus of an analysis of leadership styles and behaviours is effectiveness, we can thus say that coaches assist performance. Even if the owner, founder, CEO or MD has benefitted from coaching, the rest of the Board, leadership or management team may not. Given the complexity of some organisations and situations faced, decision-making under pressure, coupled with ambiguity and personal risk, can lead to sub-optimal outcomes.
Coaching should be seen as a leadership development tool, which is crucial for career transitions and paradigm shifts. It is a journey of self-discovery that strengthens leadership capability. Therefore, if you are the kind of leader who looks around the table at peers or direct reports that need to ‘step up’, leadership coaching is a tool that you can leverage. In the UK, the business coaching market is one of the fastest-growing areas in professional services – particularly in small-medium enterprises. Furthermore, nearly 9 out of 10 coaching clients report improved work-life balance within 6 months. There are also substantial improvements in EQ scores, confidence levels and employee retention. So, is there a link between coaching and business performance?
Coaching for business performance
Recent studies have found that performance measurement and performance management practices improved through coaching. These cover the following:
- Defining objectives;
- Planning to achieve objectives;
- Internal communication;
- Role definition;
- Delegation;
- Teamwork;
- Feedback;
- Valuing potential;
- Career development.
Garengo & Betto[i] posit that for SMEs, coaching favours a balanced development of…organisational control…between technical and social control, thus improving business performance. These factors led to revenue growth, margin efficiency, reduced churn and measurable ROI.
Some intangible benefits include improving decision-making speed, reducing execution drag, reducing conflict, increasing engagement and increasing leadership capacity. Therefore, some refer to business coaching as a ‘performance lever’ instead of a development tool.
Which people need coaching?
In truth, it boils down to whoever is responsible for delivering the organisation’s goals. That could encompass the entire leadership team or divisional/departmental leaders. The level at which coaches enter and partner with the organisation depends on what kind of performance shift the organisation envisages. Ultimately, coaching can act on either individual performance or collective performance.
Executive coaching focuses on improving the effectiveness, behaviours and decision-making of a single senior role. This influences business performance indirectly via clarity, delegation, communication and also the ability to set and orchestrate goals. It is usually executed through one-on-one dialogue and reflection.
Team coaching focuses on how a team functions as a system to make decisions, deliver work and execute strategy. This supports collaboration, team communication, shared goals, joint decisions and collective accountability. It also helps with conflict, builds relationships and increases trust via increased psychological safety. Typically, it is executed via group sessions and observation of real interactions across a team.
Conclusion
We have seen here that business coaches deliver benefits via behavioural and cognitive development for leaders. It also improves collective performance and cohesion for teams. In summary, coaching improves decision-making, clarity, communication, goal-setting, strategy execution and delivery. So, if you are looking at restructuring or at ‘big bets’ to transform your organisational performance, maybe coaching as a performance lever is the answer.
Think Beyond coaching business performance
We get asked to support and enable businesses in a multitude of different ways. Sometimes, it is a specific project to troubleshoot a pain point. Sometimes, it is a transformation project. Other times it is to deliver training or provide assurance over planned performance. More recently, we are receiving requests to provide executive coaching to senior leaders. Our founder and principal consultant, Mercè, delights in supporting clients with personal and professional development.
So, what are you waiting for? Reach out to us online for an informal discussion. Alternatively, you can contact Mercè directly via LinkedIn to book an appointment.
Finally, why not check out a related blog on CEOs and restructuring or training skills into management.
[i] The improvement of business performance through coaching interventions: an empirical investigation in SMEs (Garengo & Betto, 2025) published in ScienceDirect 27th March 2026.