Coach the Person, Not the Problem

In leadership and coaching, it’s tempting to jump in and fix problems. It feels efficient, helpful, and maybe even necessary. But the truth is, when we try to solve the issue in front of us, we often miss the bigger opportunity: supporting the growth of the person we’re coaching.

This is a lesson we’ve seen time and again in our coach training programs. Even when participants intend to coach, they often get pulled into the problem. They start brainstorming solutions. They analyze dynamics. They dig into what someone else should be doing. It's a slippery slope that feels like coaching, but it actually shifts the focus away from empowering the coachee and toward relying on the leader for answers.

That’s why we emphasize a powerful mindset shift:
Coach the person, not the problem. 

When leaders coach the person, they stay focused on what matters most—who the coachee is, how they think, what they value, and what they will do next. It’s not about fixing others or dissecting a project. It’s about helping the individual tap into their own insight, motivation, and agency.

A key part of that shift is moving the conversation away from external circumstances, and toward the internal beliefs, assumptions, and patterns that may be blocking progress. Often, it’s not the situation itself that holds someone back. It’s how they’re seeing it, what they’re afraid of, or what they believe is (or isn’t) possible. When we explore those deeper layers, we open the door to transformation.

A powerful question that helps anchor the conversation is: What’s the real leadership or personal challenge here for you? 

It may seem simple, but it can be profound. It invites the person to shift their focus from what others are doing (or not doing) to their own role, mindset, and choices. You might even need to ask it more than once, especially if they’re caught up in the actions of others or tangled in a complex situation. This question helps people attune to what’s actually in their control and recognize where they can grow.

For example, if someone shares that they’re leading a team with mistrust or conflict, the default temptation is to dive into details. Who’s involved? What happened? Have you tried addressing it this way?

But those questions direct attention away from the coachee’s opportunity for growth and ability to solve their own problems. Instead, great coaches redirect with questions like:

•  What’s the leadership challenge for you here?
•  What assumptions might you be making?
•  How do you want to show up?
•  What approaches are you considering?

These questions bring the focus back to the coachee, and to their leadership, their awareness, and their intentions. It’s not about fixing team dynamics on their behalf. It’s about helping them lead through it in a way that builds confidence and clarity.

Here’s how coaching the person changes everything:

•  It brings clarity. Instead of getting lost in messy context or office politics, the conversation becomes grounded in what the coachee can control: their mindset, actions, and responses.
•  It builds capacity. When people solve their own challenges, they strengthen their decision-making ability, confidence, and resilience.
•  It encourages accountability. Coaching focused on others’ behavior reinforces blame or helplessness. Coaching focused on the coachee invites responsibility and movement.

Ultimately, this approach leads to better outcomes and better leaders. It’s grounded in the neuroscience of learning, which tells us that people retain more and change more when they generate their own insights and act on them.

That’s why this concept—coaching the person, not the problem—is a core focus in our eCOACH program. This online, cohort-based course is where leaders learn to shift from problem-solving to becoming facilitators of problem-solving through practice, feedback, and reflection. If you’re ready to become the kind of leader who empowers others, not rescues them, our next eCOACH cohort starts this October. We’d love for you to join us.

About eLeadership Academy^®

Exclusive to credit unions, eLeadership Academy is the only online training solution that provides accessible, actionable training to develop high-performance leaders that people love to follow. We are on a mission to help build leadership and coaching bench strength within the system because we know credit unions are a force for good, and their leaders are the catalyst for member and employee experience. For more information, visit www.eleadershipacademy.com or contact [email protected].