Coach the coach training is a program that turns managers, trainers and L&D professionals into effective coaches who can also develop other coaches. It covers structured coaching conversations, deep listening, powerful questions, feedback and accountability. Bodhih runs it as a 2-day workshop or four 3-hour virtual sessions, followed by 1-2-1 coaching and micro-sessions over 90 days.
- Delivered in person at your location or as live virtual sessions
- Designed with the ADDIE model and evaluated for behaviour change
- Offered by Bodhih since 2008 to 2,000+ organisations across 7 regions
Where and how: coach the coach training as an in-person workshop in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata; as a live online course; or delivered overseas in Dubai, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Last reviewed by Siddharthan VGJ, Founder · Bodhih Training, Bengaluru
Coach the Coach : Developing Effective Coaching Leaders
Coaching has become a powerful tool for personal and professional growth, enabling individuals to unlock their potential and achieve exceptional results. But to create a coaching culture within organizations and maximize the impact of coaching, it’s crucial to focus not only on coaching the individuals being coached but also on coaching the coaches themselves. This practice, commonly known as “Coach the Coach,” involves developing the coaching skills and capabilities of leaders, managers, and supervisors who serve as coaches within the organization. By investing in coach the coach initiatives, organizations can create a ripple effect of positive change, enhancing leadership effectiveness, fostering a coaching mindset, and driving organizational success.
Why Coach the Coach?
1. Enhancing Leadership Effectiveness:
Coaching skills are essential for effective leadership. By providing coach the coach training, organizations enable their leaders to adopt a coaching approach when interacting with their teams. Leaders equipped with coaching skills can empower their employees, foster collaboration, and inspire high performance. They develop the ability to ask powerful questions, actively listen, and provide constructive feedback, thereby creating a supportive environment that encourages growth and development.
2. Building a Coaching Culture:
Coach the coach initiatives help in cultivating a coaching culture within the organization. When leaders embody coaching principles, it sets a powerful example for others to follow. As coaches, leaders encourage their team members to become self-directed learners, problem-solvers, and goal-setters. A coaching culture promotes continuous improvement, open communication, and a focus on learning and development at all levels of the organization.
3. Strengthening Coaching Skills:
Coaching is a skill that requires practice and ongoing development. Coach the coach programs provide leaders with the opportunity to refine their coaching skills, learn new techniques, and receive feedback on their coaching approach. Through training and mentorship, leaders deepen their understanding of effective coaching methodologies and gain insights into their strengths and areas for improvement. This enables them to coach their teams more effectively and support their professional growth.
4. Driving Employee Engagement and Performance:
Leaders who are skilled coaches create an environment that enhances employee engagement and performance. By actively listening, asking powerful questions, and providing constructive feedback, leaders foster trust and build stronger relationships with their team members. This leads to increased employee satisfaction, motivation, and commitment. Coaches also help employees set clear goals, develop action plans, and overcome obstacles, driving individual and team performance.
5. Succession Planning and Talent Development:
Coach the coach initiatives play a critical role in succession planning and talent development within organizations. By developing coaching leaders, organizations can identify and nurture high-potential employees for future leadership roles. Coaches who have undergone coach the coach training can guide and mentor emerging leaders, providing valuable support and guidance. This ensures a smooth transition and continuity of leadership within the organization.
Implementing Coach the Coach Initiatives:
1. Comprehensive Training Programs:
Organizations can design comprehensive coach the coach training programs that cover essential coaching skills, methodologies, and best practices. These programs should include both theoretical knowledge and practical application through role plays, case studies, and real-world scenarios.
2. Ongoing Mentorship and Support:
To reinforce the learning from the training programs, organizations can provide ongoing mentorship and support to coaching leaders. Experienced coaches or external coaching experts can serve as mentors, guiding leaders in their coaching practice, providing feedback, and helping them navigate challenges and opportunities.
3. Continuous Improvement and Development:
Coach the coach initiatives should promote a culture of continuous improvement. Organizations can encourage coaching leaders to participate in further development opportunities such as advanced coaching certifications, workshops, and conferences. Regular feedback and performance evaluations can also help identify areas for growth and development.
4. Creating Communities of Practice:
Establishing communities of practice allows coaching leaders to come together, share experiences, and learn from one another. These communities can facilitate knowledge exchange, provide a platform for discussing coaching challenges, and offer peer support and accountability.
In conclusion, coach the coach initiatives are essential for organizations that want to build a coaching culture, enhance leadership effectiveness, and drive employee engagement and performance. By investing in the development of coaching leaders, organizations create a positive and transformative impact on individuals, teams, and the overall organizational success. Through comprehensive training, ongoing support, and a commitment to continuous improvement, organizations can unlock the full potential of their coaching leaders and cultivate a coaching mindset that permeates throughout the entire organization.
Two-Day Coach the Coach Training Plan with Follow-Up Coaching and Micro-Sessions
01Day 1Day 1+
Session 1: Introduction to Coach the Coach
– Overview of the importance of Coach the Coach
– Exploring the role of coaching leaders in driving organizational success
– Setting expectations for the training program
Session 2: Coaching Fundamentals
– Reviewing coaching principles, methodologies, and best practices
– Understanding the coaching process and its application in leadership roles
– Role plays: Practice coaching scenarios to reinforce coaching skills
Session 3: Active Listening and Powerful Questioning
– Developing active listening skills to deeply understand others
– Practicing powerful questioning techniques to stimulate reflection and insight
– Role plays: Coaching sessions focusing on active listening and powerful questioning
Session 4: Building Rapport and Trust
– Exploring the importance of building rapport and establishing trust in coaching relationships
– Techniques for creating a safe and supportive coaching environment
– Role plays: Coaching sessions emphasizing rapport building and trust establishment
02Day 2Day 2+
Session 1: Advanced Coaching Techniques
– Introducing advanced coaching techniques such as reframing, challenging limiting beliefs, and goal setting
– Practicing these techniques through role plays and case studies
– Coaching sessions with feedback and guidance on applying advanced techniques
Session 2: Feedback and Accountability
– Providing constructive feedback as a coach
– Techniques for delivering feedback effectively and fostering accountability
– Role plays: Coaching sessions with a focus on delivering feedback and driving accountability
Session 3: Micro-Sessions for Reinforcement
– Conducting micro-sessions, short coaching interactions focused on specific topics or challenges
– Practicing coaching skills in a time-constrained format
– Feedback and debrief on micro-sessions
Session 4: Follow-Up Coaching and Action Planning
– Individual follow-up coaching sessions with participants to address their specific coaching challenges and goals
– Creating personalized action plans for further development as coaching leaders
– Summarizing key learnings and next steps
Follow-Up Coaching and Micro-Sessions:
1-2-1 Coaching Sessions:
– Each participant receives individual follow-up coaching sessions with an experienced coach.
– These sessions provide personalized guidance, support, and feedback tailored to the participant’s coaching development goals.
– The coach helps the participant address specific challenges, reinforce learning, and refine their coaching skills.
Micro-Sessions for Reinforcement:
– Conduct regular micro-sessions, either in-person or virtually, following the initial training program.
– These sessions focus on reinforcing specific coaching skills or addressing common coaching challenges.
– Participants engage in short coaching interactions, applying their coaching skills within a condensed timeframe.
– Feedback and guidance are provided to reinforce learning and encourage ongoing improvement.
Overall, this two-day Coach the Coach training program, supplemented by follow-up coaching and micro-sessions, creates a comprehensive learning experience for coaching leaders. It provides an opportunity to learn and practice coaching skills, receives individualized coaching support, and reinforce learning through focused micro-sessions. By combining initial training, personalized coaching, and ongoing reinforcement, participants can develop and enhance their coaching abilities, driving positive change and fostering a coaching culture within the organization.
Sample training plan: 2-day hands-on design
This two-day program develops leaders and internal coaches who can coach others well and help their own managers coach. Almost all of it is live coaching practice on real issues. Participants listen at three levels, ask questions that shift thinking, build rapport and trust, reframe limiting beliefs, give feedback that drives accountability and run ten-minute micro-coaching sessions. Observers use a coaching skills checklist in every round, so each person receives feedback on their coaching as well as their ideas. Follow-up 1-2-1 coaching and micro-sessions embed the habit.
Participants can run a structured coaching conversation using deep listening, powerful questions and trust.
- 09:30–10:00The best help I ever gotEnergiser
- 10:00–10:45Coach, mentor, advise or directConcept burst
- 11:00–12:00A coaching conversation in four stepsDemo & practice
- 12:00–13:00Listening at three levelsSkill drill
- 13:45–14:45Questions that shift thinkingSkill drill
- 14:45–15:30Rapport and trustRole-play
- 15:45–16:45Coaching the coach, round oneFishbowl
- 16:45–17:30Day one reflectionReflection
Participants can use advanced techniques, give feedback and drive accountability, and coach other coaches through micro-sessions.
- 09:30–10:00Overnight coaching storiesEnergiser
- 10:00–11:00Reframing and limiting beliefsDemo & practice
- 11:15–12:15Goals that pullPeer coaching
- 12:15–13:00Feedback as a coachRole-play
- 13:45–14:30Accountability without taking overCase clinic
- 14:30–15:30Micro-coaching marathonSimulation
- 15:45–16:30Building a coaching cultureGroup challenge
- 16:30–17:30My 90-day coaching planAction planning
Every session’s activity, timings, outputs and materials, plus pre-work, a 90-day reinforcement plan and how impact is measured. Free, emailed to you instantly.
Recommended: 2 days in person (09:30–17:30), or 4 × 3-hour live virtual sessions, followed by 1-2-1 follow-up coaching and short micro-sessions over 90 days. A sample design: every Bodhih program is customised after a short needs analysis.
How long is coach the coach training?
The recommended design is two days in person, 09:30 to 17:30, or four live virtual sessions of three hours. It is followed by individual 1-2-1 coaching and short micro-sessions over 90 days, so leaders keep practising on real conversations with their teams.
What activities are included in coach the coach training?
Participants coach each other in trios on real issues, practise listening with reflection-only rounds, ask questions from a 20-question card, handle tough first sessions, reframe limiting beliefs, give feedback under pressure, join a fishbowl where the facilitator coaches the coach and run a timed micro-coaching marathon.
Frequently asked questions
What is coach the coach training?
Who is the Coach the Coach program for?
Trainers, L&D professionals, managers and subject-matter experts. Bodhih tailors the examples, case studies and depth to your industry, culture and team level.
How long is the Coach the Coach program?
Bodhih recommends 2 days in person (09:30–17:30), or 4 × 3-hour live virtual sessions, followed by 1-2-1 follow-up coaching and short micro-sessions over 90 days. The length can be shortened or extended after a needs analysis.
Can Coach the Coach be delivered online?
Yes. Coach the Coach can run in person at your location, as live virtual sessions for distributed or hybrid teams, or as a blended journey that adds self-paced learning on Bodhih.org between sessions.
How is the impact of Coach the Coach measured?
Success measures for Coach the Coach are agreed with you before design, as part of the ADDIE model. Bodhih can add pre- and post-program assessments on AssessAll and manager check-ins to track behaviour change.