What is team coaching, and why do you need it?
Team coaching, particularly for leadership teams, is becoming more popular. But what is it, and why is it good for us? Firstly - team coaching does not include camp fires, singing ‘Kumbaya’, high ropes courses or catching each other as you fall backwards to prove trust. Once upon a time maybe - but these days we understand a lot more about the social psychology of team, and how to create it in a way that is accessible for even it’s most hardened critics.
Beyond team building
Team coaching is more than just helping a group of people work better together. It’s a dynamic, ongoing process that strengthens how a team thinks, feels, and performs together. Unlike traditional team-building activities or one-off workshops, team coaching focuses on long-term behavioural shifts, stronger collective mindsets, and a shared sense of purpose. It’s about transforming a group of individuals into a high-performing, aligned unit.
The psychology behind it
Team coaching draws on powerful psychological frameworks to enhance how teams function. Social identity theory shows that people behave differently when they feel deeply connected to their group and its purpose. When teams share a strong sense of identity, they collaborate more effectively and show greater commitment to collective goals. Team coaching also taps into the value of diverse thinking. By leveraging the team’s collective experience, you unlock a range of perspectives and problem solving styles that fuel innovation and support stronger decision making. When members approach challenges from different angles, they’re more likely to uncover blind spots, challenge assumptions, reduce risk, and generate creative solutions. Systems thinking also plays a key role - viewing the team as a dynamic system shaped by patterns, norms, and relationships. Team coaching helps surface and reshape these dynamics to drive better outcomes.
Why teams struggle without it
Even skilled, well-meaning teams can fall into unhelpful patterns: communication breakdowns, conflict avoidance, unclear roles or a lack of strategic focus. These problems may not be dramatic but they’re persistent and draining. Left unchecked, they can lead to your leadership team stagnating, becoming frustrated, disengaging, and underperforming. And if the leadership team aren’t working together… neither are the teams below. Team coaching surfaces these issues and gives teams the mindset and tools to address them constructively and sustainably.
The benefits for your team and your leadership
Team coaching unlocks better collaboration, clearer decision-making, improved resilience under pressure and stronger results. But perhaps most powerfully, it shifts the culture of ownership and reduces risk. Team members start taking genuine responsibility for performance and outcomes. For leaders this means less micromanaging and more trust. You create the conditions for your team to thrive even when you’re not in the room.
When to consider team coaching
If your team is stuck, storming, siloed or just not performing quite as well as you’d like, team coaching could be the missing lever. To be very clear - it’s not a quick fix. This isn’t a ‘one and done’. Team coaching is a strategic investment in long-term, collective growth. Team coaching can help you unlock the full potential of your team as a whole, not just individual leaders who happen to work together. And when your team truly works as one, it can have immeasurable impacts on the organisation as a whole.
*Many leaders find that team coaching works best after they've had some space to explore and define their own leadership vision through one-on-one coaching.
If you’d like to better understand the potential of team coaching for your team, contact us for an obligation free discussion and priorities and potential pathways to better performance.
