Earlier this year, I set out to speak with mentors and staff about their early experiences of coaching in the workplace. I was curious about what those first few years were like and how they compared with my own — a time that was vibrant, well supported by my organisation, and full of learning.
Finding the right people to speak with has turned out to be a journey in itself. Everyone who came forward identified as a coach rather than a mentor, which aligned with the fact that most of my recent work has focused on coaching and team coaching rather than mentoring — particularly within the nonprofit and educational sectors. I cast the net internationally, and coaches came forward from across the UK and Europe — most of them women, many from culturally diverse backgrounds.
What has stayed with me most is the power of their stories. These were personal accounts — often emotional, sometimes deeply moving — of what it really feels like to coach in those early years. Many participants described the interviews as “like a coaching session, but not quite.” For me, the experience was equally revealing.
About a third of the way in, I made two decisions. First, I would focus only on coaches, not mentors. Second, I would develop a model to support early-career coaches with the challenges that emerged — not a model for conversations, but one for development. Alongside that, I plan to create a version for organisations that offer coaching programmes or train leaders to coach — so they can address the issues that are clearly present but often overlooked.
I’ll be talking more about this ongoing research in upcoming episodes of my Learning and Development podcast, which focuses on programmes in the nonprofit sector — seen from three perspectives: the Learning and Development Manager, the facilitator or designer, and the participant.
Questions for reflection: Where do you have opportunities to speak with new mentors or coaches in your organisation post training?
How do you gather their feedback and stories?
And what do you do with what you learn?
How do those stories and experiences impact future coaching L&D your organisation offers, or signposts staff to?
If you are attending my Tuesday 12pm workshop – Beyond the Toolkit – What New Coaches and Mentors Really Face – @SDF Festival 2025, please send me your answers to these questions by email – ideally before the workshop: andry@thelearningmoment.org