Coaching in Companies is Misunderstood, and That’s Exactly the Problem
Updated: May 12
Strategic. Purpose-driven. People-centric. Cristina Guida La Licata is a trusted marketing and communications consultant, a certified brain profiler, trainer, and published author, helping brands, retailers, and individuals drive performance through human-centered culture, behavioral transformation, and aligned strategy.
“Coaching approach” has become one of those expressions that sounds good in meetings. It appears in leadership programs, HR strategies, and company values. Everyone seems to agree it’s important.
Yet, in most organizations I’ve seen, it’s either misunderstood, or completely missing where it actually matters.
What coaching is not (but often becomes)
In the business world, coaching is often reduced to:
a structured conversation once in a while
a set of questions learned in a training
a “soft skill” to use when there’s time
Sometimes it becomes even more subtle: a polite way of giving directions.
Leaders ask questions, but they already have the answer in mind. They “coach,” but only to guide people where they’ve already decided they should go. That’s not coaching. That’s control, just with better wording.
For me, a coaching approach is something much simpler, and much harder. It’s not a technique. It’s a position. It means:
being genuinely curious, not performative
being willing not to have the answer
trusting that the person in front of you is capable of thinking
It’s about creating a space where people can actually show up. Not just execute. Not just agree. But think, question, and take ownership. This requires something that many organizations underestimate: Time. Presence. Real listening.
The part no one wants to say
If we’re honest, the biggest blocker is not employees. It’s leadership. We can talk about engagement, accountability, performance, but the truth is simple: the fish rots from the head.
If leaders don’t embody a coaching approach, nothing below will change. You can train people, introduce models, and run workshops. But if the daily behavior at the top is still:
reactive
controlling
focused only on results
Then people will adapt to that. They always do.
What’s actually missing in daily work life
What’s missing is not more tools. It’s a different quality of interaction. In everyday moments:
meetings where people are actually heard
conversations that are not rushed to solutions
feedback that builds awareness, not just correction
silence that is allowed, not immediately filled
Because productivity doesn’t come from pressure alone. It comes from people who are engaged, clear, and able to think. That doesn’t happen in environments where everything is decided for them.
When a real coaching approach is present, something shifts. People stop waiting. They start contributing. They take ownership, not because they are told to, but because they feel responsible.
Paradoxically, this is what makes companies more productive. Not more control. More awareness.
This is where I feel my work truly begins. Not in introducing yet another model, framework, or methodology that looks good on paper and then slowly disappears in daily routines. But in something much more subtle, and much more impactful.
In shifting the way people actually relate to each other at work. Because that’s where everything happens. Not in slides, not in strategies, but in conversations. In how people listen, respond, interrupt, avoid, or engage.
What I bring is not answers. If anything, I bring friction, the kind that makes people pause for a second longer than usual. I help leaders slow down. Not to lose time, but to finally notice what’s really happening in front of them. To listen, not to reply, not to fix, but to understand. This is often uncomfortable. Because it challenges one of the strongest beliefs in leadership: that you need to have the answer, quickly and consistently.
I work exactly in that space. The space where not having the answer is not a weakness, but the beginning of better thinking. Where a leader resists the urge to jump in, and instead asks one more question. Where silence is not awkward, but necessary. Where reflection is not a luxury, but part of the work.
I create spaces where thinking is not rushed. Where people are not immediately evaluated, corrected, or redirected, but actually heard. When that happens, something shifts. People show up differently. They take ownership, not because they are told to, but because they are involved. Because they feel seen. Because their thinking matters.
The changes are rarely loud. They don’t look like big announcements or radical transformations. They look like a different quality of conversation. A leader who listens a bit longer. A team that starts speaking up. A pause that wasn’t there before. Small moments. But those are the moments where culture changes. Culture, ultimately, is what drives everything else.
A coaching approach, to me, is not about being nicer, softer, or more “people-oriented” in a superficial way. It’s about having the courage to stay in conversations that are less controllable. To give up the comfort of quick answers. To trust that people, if given the space, can think, decide, and grow.
This is why I believe the real shift has to start from the top. Because people don’t do what companies say. They do what leaders consistently show. Until leaders are willing to embody this, truly embody it, not just talk about it, no strategy, no process, no tool will ever be enough. But when they do, even slightly, everything else starts to move.
Read more from Cristina Guida La Licata
Cristina Guida La Licata, People-Focused Consultant, Trainer & Author
Cristina Guida La Licata is a published author, Six Seconds Certified Brain Profiler, trainer, and marketing and communications consultant. With years of experience in luxury and premium automotive and lifestyle sectors, she helps brands elevate performance by blending heritage, innovation, and emotional connection. Having held key roles at Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Lotus Cars, Abarth, and Jeep, Cristina specializes in marketing, communications, leadership, emotional intelligence, and exceptional client experiences. She empowers individuals and organizations to embrace change, lead authentically, and cultivate meaningful human connections, turning insights into impactful results.
