To mark International Coaching Week, a number of Capco colleagues shared their reflections on coaching including the benefits and the important role that coaching plays at Capco.
I’ve lost count of how many coaching sessions I’ve had over the years, both as a coach and a protégé. Some were thoughtful and energizing, the kind that stick with you. Others were not quite as memorable. Many were scheduled, rescheduled, and eventually forgotten, buried under shifting deadlines and last-minute deck edits. And yet, when I think about the moments that have shaped my career the most, they rarely happened in performance reviews or project retros—they happened in coaching conversations.
That’s the thing about coaching. It’s often quiet; it rarely shows up in dashboards or executive summaries. But when done well, it’s a force multiplier. It helps people find clarity in chaos, grow into roles they didn’t think they were ready for, and see a bigger version of themselves than the one they’ve grown used to. And the magic isn’t in the formality of it—it’s in the intention behind it.
Coaching Core Principles
These five principles guide my coaching approach—as a coach, a protégé, and a team member:
- Trust the Intent. Approach feedback and coaching conversations with the belief that they are rooted in a desire to support growth—even if the delivery isn’t perfect. This doesn’t mean accepting all feedback blindly, but grounding your response in the assumption of good intent helps shift conversations toward productivity and learning, rather than defensiveness.
- Shared Purpose, Individual Ownership. Coaches and protégés may have different vantage points, but they’re working toward the same goal: growth. A coach’s role is to reflect possibilities (the mirror) and expand perspective (the window), while the protégé owns the relationship and drives their own progress. Coaching works best when both parties operate with mutual intention and clarity.
- Focus on What You Can Control. Coaching should empower action, not fuel anxiety. Energy is best spent on what can be influenced—your choices, your preparation, your response—not the variables outside your reach. This mindset shift, centered on locus of control, helps move conversations from frustration to forward motion.
- Psychological Safety Enables Growth. Honest reflection requires safety. Whether a protégé is ready to unpack a challenge or just needs to vent, the coach’s job is to create a space where both are welcome. Vulnerability looks different for everyone, but without trust, growth stalls. Coaches model empathy and set the tone for openness by meeting protégés where they are.
- Reflection Leads to Action. Looking back is only valuable if it informs what happens next. Coaching is a space to make meaning out of past experiences and apply those insights to future decisions. Coaches help protégés reflect intentionally by asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, and helping them define their own next step.
What Protégés Gain from Showing Up with Intention
The protégé owns the coaching relationship. That’s not just a nice idea—it’s a cornerstone of effective coaching. When protégés take the lead in their sessions, show up with a question or goal, and communicate what they need, coaching becomes a tool for agency and advancement.
Applying the principle of Shared Purpose, Individual Ownership, a protégé who takes initiative doesn’t just get better advice—they get better outcomes. And when protégés also embrace Focus on What You Can Control, they learn to distinguish between noise and signal. They stop spinning on the things they can't influence and start making moves where they can.
None of this requires perfection. It requires presence. Intention. A willingness to reflect. Whether the ask is clarity on a project, feedback on a presentation, or space to unpack a tricky situation, the first step is choosing to participate. To engage. To show up.
What Coaches Can Do to Create Impact
Being a coach means being present and intentional. It means listening with empathy and challenging with care. When coaches embody Trust the Intent, they create space for honest feedback—not because everything said will land perfectly, but because the goal is mutual growth.
Coaches also play a critical role in modeling Reflection Leads to Action. Coaches don't need to fix every problem, but should ask the questions that help a protégé find their next step: What would you do differently next time? What are you taking away from this experience?
Above all, coaches create Psychological Safety. And that doesn't always mean diving deep emotionally. Sometimes, it just means making it clear that the session is a judgment-free space to think out loud. To process. To feel stuck. To dream big.
A good coach doesn't push growth on someone. They invite it, hold space for it, and walk alongside it.
What Coaches Gain in Return
Coaching isn’t a one-way street. The most effective coaches are often the ones who grow alongside their protégés.
As we ask others to reflect, we reflect on ourselves. As we listen for the possibility in someone else’s career, we often rediscover it in our own. By embracing Shared Purpose, we learn more about leadership, collaboration, and the diversity of paths people can take.
Coaching also strengthens core consulting skills: curiosity, communication, prioritization. And most of all, it provides a sense of purpose. We get to help someone take the long view of their career—and then take the first step toward it.
When It Works (and When It Doesn’t)
Great coaching isn’t about chemistry. It’s about intention. When both coach and protégé enter the relationship with clarity, respect, and ownership, progress follows.
When it doesn’t work, it’s often because one or both parties didn’t intentionally engage. Coaching sessions became status updates. The feedback felt generic. The space didn’t feel safe.
The good news? We can course correct. We can recommit to the principles above and start again. Coaching is a practice, not a performance. And we get better the more we do it—together.
A Closing Thought: Coaching as a Shared Practice
As we mark the end of International Coaching Week, let’s treat coaching as an opportunity rather than an obligation. Let’s use it to reflect, to listen, to grow—intentionally.
For protégés: Take the lead. Speak up. Focus on what you can control. Trust that your coach is there to help.
For coaches: Hold the mirror. Open the window. Listen with presence. Reflect with purpose.
And for all of us: Keep showing up. The conversations that matter are often the ones we don’t rush. Let’s keep making space for them.