Last week, we hosted an introductory webinar for Transcend Japan. During the session, we explored the question, “What is coaching?” through dialogue, and we received many thoughtful and insightful questions.
Going forward, we will take these questions one by one and explore them in greater depth. This reflection may also offer useful insights for those who were not able to attend the webinar.
Do Coaching Clients Always Start with a Clear Goal?
Whether we have experienced coaching or not, we all carry various “goal-like intentions” in our daily lives.
- If only this were better
- If only this problem would disappear
- I wish this person (or this team) perform better or were different than this
- I want to become this kind of person
These intentions range from abstract and aspirational—such as “I want to contribute more to society”—to very concrete and practical ones, like “I want to lose 3 kg” or “I want to be promoted to this position by next year.”
However, many of these are not necessarily effective goals that truly support our growth.
In coaching, the coach does not set the goal. The goal is defined by the client, and the coach’s role is to walk alongside them in that process.
As a result, realizations such as “This was not my real goal” or “What truly matters to me is something else” emerge from the client themselves.
Coaching is a powerful way to arrive at these essential insights. It is a process of expanding one’s thinking through dialogue.
“To extract one ounce (about 28 grams) of gold, two tons of earth must be removed. Both goals and gold are buried beneath the soil. One reason why discovering goals is so difficult is that we tend to focus more on the soil covering them than on the goal itself.”
A Leader’s Story
(A composite case)
The following case is a composite, created by drawing out common elements observed across multiple coaching engagements. It does not refer to any specific individual or organization.
Sam is a highly respected senior leader in a global organization headquartered in Europe. Having spent many years in a large Asia-based subsidiary—and with experience at headquarters as well—Sam is trusted and admired by colleagues across regions.
Sam feels proud of her career and confident in her professional identity.
At one point, Sam is selected as part of the founding team for a new overseas subsidiary—a smaller, less developed market compared to their home country. Everything is new: the country, the culture, the organization, and the reporting line.
Sam’s new manager is a talented leader recently dispatched from headquarters. Younger, but highly capable, this manager now leads the new subsidiary and appears to rely heavily on Sam’s experience, regional knowledge, and extensive APAC network.
At the start of coaching, Sam’s stated goal is clear:
to return to my home country and transfer to another department.
Sam expresses a strong desire to move away from familiar territory and challenge themselves in a new functional area, but in her own country. She has many reasons why she wants to return. She works hard and remains highly committed.
As the coaching conversations continue, a different realization begins to surface. Sam gradually recognizes that the core issue lies in their relationship with her current manager.
This issue had been present from the beginning, but Sam had unconsciously dismissed it as irrelevant to personal growth.
Eventually, Sam recognizes something more uncomfortable: she may be trying to escape the problem rather than face it.
Sam decides instead to confront the relationship and work toward building trust.
“Because my manager doesn’t trust me.”
Sam says this with visible pain and begins listing the reasons:
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The workload keeps increasing no matter how much I do
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I’m asked for input far beyond my formal responsibility
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I’m always pulled into organizational and people issues
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The most difficult cases somehow become mine
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It feels like I’m disliked and distrusted
The coach asks:
“What are you currently doing to increase trust?”
Sam reflects:
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I do everything I’m asked, and I do it well
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But I keep communication to a minimum
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I report only after problems are fully resolved
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Outside of 1-on-1s, there’s almost no interaction
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I often decline lunch invitations
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I don’t like small talk or even greetings
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Honestly, I tend to avoid my manager
Sam falls silent.
After a long pause, she speaks again:
“I’m starting to wonder if it’s not that my manager doesn’t trust me…
but that I don’t trust a manager who actually trusts me very much.”
Up until this moment, Sam’s attention had been fixed on the dirt—the assumptions, emotions, and past experiences covering the real goal.
For the first time, Sam creates enough space to view the situation from the manager’s perspective.
In that moment, a new goal emerges.
Sam now wants to help grow this new organization into one that can stand shoulder to shoulder with other APAC entities—and begins asking:
What can I contribute to make that possible?
The “dirt,” more often than not, is made up of past experiences, deeply held assumptions, and the emotions attached to them.
Coaching as a Process
Coaching is not about providing answers.
It is a process.
The coach supports the client as they deepen self-understanding and build their own path toward meaningful change.
Sam’s goal can only be found by Sam.
And the reason that goal is gold is because only Sam can recognize its true value.
Is the goal you’re chasing the one you truly desire?