The work of effective coaching within organizations involves unleashing the human spirit and expanding people’s capacity to stretch and grow beyond self-limiting boundaries.

Coaching should not start with goal setting and problem solving, but rather with exploring the underlying concepts or mental models that a person uses to make meaning.

What are the assumptions and beliefs that determine behavior? You can’t solve a problem before you know what the problem really is.

Before performance issues can be focused on, a masterful coach guides the exploration process, identifying openings where there may be blind spots.

He or she helps to clarify what really matters to the person being coached. Together, they look towards alignment of personal and organizational goals.

Only then can there be commitment to right action within the context of the organizational culture and business reality.

The most effective coaches help their clients see and choose what best serves both themselves as leaders and the organization.

It becomes evident that this exploration of assumptions and beliefs is difficult to do when the person coaching is a peer or a supervisor within the organization.

Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee in their book Primal Leadership (Harvard Business School Press 2002) bring up the point that despite the commonly held belief that every leader needs to be a good coach, they exhibit this style least often. In high-pressure times, leaders say they "don’t have the time" for coaching.

Although coaching focuses on personal development rather than on accomplishing tasks, this leadership style generally produces an outstandingly positive emotional response and better results.