The loneliness of leadership can be one of the hardest parts of the job: all decisions and accountability metrics stop with you; you cannot always tell others the specifics of a problematic situation you have to resolve; and doubt and impostor syndrome can feel impossible to admit.

Of course, distributed leadership in schools and trusts means that no leader operates alone, but the opportunities to talk freely, acknowledge areas of doubt or weakness and seek guidance in a judgement-free zone are few and far between.

Given this, it is perhaps no surprise that leadership coaching has grown in popularity in education, offering leaders the opportunity to engage with an external counsel who seeks not to solve problems directly but to listen and ask questions about whatever the individual wishes to discuss.

But is this practice worth the time and effort? And how should it work? We asked leaders in a variety of roles in education for their experiences of how coaching has influenced their careers.  

Lee Mason-Ellis, chief executive, The Pioneer Academy 

As many leaders will tell you, leading an organisation can become quite a lonely existence. 

So, to be able to go to a coach who’s got no vested interest in anything you do or what direction you take - apart from wanting you to be successful - is an invaluable experience. 

You go into sessions with an issue or something you want to improve, and at the end of that hour you leave inspired by yourself. It’s enabled me to think strategically, in a safe environment, where I can say things out loud that might be wrong. 

My coach at OLEVI is quite an individual. Even though we follow models such as the Grow model (goal setting, reality, objective, what next?), he’s quite free with how we approach things.

I’ve actually had three different coaches but I’ve always gone back to my original. I think you have to find a style that suits you for coaching to work best. 

I’ve applied this attitude to my own methods of coaching, too. One of the headteachers I used to coach said: “Please just tell me what to do.” Coaching isn’t meant to do that. 

So, I developed a style with her that would be coaching to a point and then I’d mentor her with ways I would deal with a particular situation. 

Coaching, for me, isn’t just about leadership; everyone in an organisation can benefit from it. Out of 300 teachers across our multi-academy trust, I’ve currently got 213 who have opted to train as coaches, and some of the other non-education staff have as well. 

Introducing this level of coaching into the MAT has helped develop a really positive culture: it gives staff time to be listened to and valued, and takes away the passive-aggressive communication of telling people what they should do. In our wellbeing surveys, coaching is 95 per cent positive with all our staff. They all love it.

Rebecca Boomer-Clark, chief executive, Academies Enterprise Trust

I think it’s unrealistic to expect that a person will just keep getting better under their own steam, particularly at points of significant career transition. We all need the benefit of somebody else’s wisdom and insight from time to time.  

I think that, over the past five years, we as a sector have become more receptive to coaching and its benefits for both teachers and leaders. We are much more open to the idea that seeing your craft through the eyes of somebody else can be both reaffirming and challenging.  

Coaching provides a space where you can try out new ideas, explore current challenges or simply share embryonic thoughts and get some feedback.  

It’s certainly something I have found valuable at points in my career and at AET, we are investing in coaching for all school leaders, alongside structured mentoring and supervision.  

In terms of instructional coaching, there need to be clear boundaries. It needs to be decoupled from any sort of formal appraisal. If coaching is even tangentially associated with formal accountability, it can really add pressure.  

As such, instructional coaching works best when it’s pitched as an opportunity for investment in an individual, and when it becomes a regular and routine activity rather than a formal event.

Emma Hollis, executive director, NASBTT

The main benefit the coaching experience has brought me is headspace. The time to talk through and order nebulous thoughts has been invaluable.  

Like many British people, I’m not very good at recognising my strengths. I was more vulnerable about telling my coach what I felt I was good at, and I was able to talk about myself in a way I probably wouldn’t have in any other circumstance.  

That was important because if you don’t know what you’re good at, you can’t maximise the usefulness of those strengths.  

I’ve had a number of coaching experiences across my career, the first being when I took part in the OLEVI Outstanding Teacher Programme. I was assigned a coach within education then, through the Institute of Leadership and Management’s level 7 coaching qualification. I was also assigned a coach outside of education.

I found the sessions with coaches outside of the sector effective in inspiring a different way of thinking. You don’t have the shared experiences or shorthand of specific terms, so you’re forced to explain why that word or that thing is of importance or value. 

In doing that, it can make you realise that you might be making assumptions or there may be a bias that you’re demonstrating.

You don’t have to be friends with your coach or have loads of things in common. But there does have to be an element of professional respect - particularly because you’re often exposing your own ignorance, your own biases, your own things you feel less secure about. 

Ben Clark, headteacher of Copperfield Academy

I can’t stress enough how having coaching has really helped shape me as a leader, but I admit that when I was first offered leadership coaching I didn’t know what to expect. 

In my first session, the coach asked: “What’s on your mind?” I thought: “I don’t have any problems to address; I’m fine.”

That’s where my coach’s skill set came through. He saw, obviously, a naive headteacher and started asking open-ended questions (such as, “What’s bothering you?”). Before I knew it, we were in a deep conversation.

I went away reflecting upon what we discussed. He was great at shaping that conversation, giving pointers along the way, and I was eager to talk more.

Through further sessions, my coach helped unpack aspects of my leadership style that I could work on. For example, I learned I’m quite impulsive and my work pace is quick. I was getting frustrated that people weren’t keeping up with me. 

I brought this up with my coach, and he helped me think this through and work on it. It’s great having someone who is able to listen, think and talk through possible solutions and alternative ways of thinking. 

I learned through my coach how I need to structure my day, my expectations and my composure. As a consequence, I found I’m more productive and, I’d like to think, more likeable! 

There’s always room to progress and to grow. As long as I am reflective, I can find things I can do better, especially as leadership is such a human business.

Gary Bennell, head coach, Reach2 Academy Trust

In our trust, people can opt for coaching, or line managers or peers can recommend it if they think it might be useful. 

In my experience, most people are quite nervous about starting to have coaching. Sometimes, when it comes from a recommendation, there’s a little trepidation.  

When deciding whether coaching is the right mechanism to support someone, I will have an introductory session for the coachee to ask themselves: is this going to be an hour and a half of my time, every so often, that is useful?  

‘I can’t stress enough how having coaching has really helped shape me as a leader’

We give a general guide of four to six sessions in an academic year but it’s not set in stone. Some people just pick it up when they feel they’re under a bit of stress or have got something they need to resolve.

Ultimately, it’s about them having the autonomy and confidence in what they’re doing as it allows people to think outside the box, consider their options and feel confident rehearsing a scenario and going through it as a mental preparation. 

Education can be battered from one end of the post to the other. You’re under scrutiny the whole time, so it’s good to have time to be in a place where it’s OK to be vulnerable.

Sasha Taylor, headteacher, Springfield Primary Academy

My coaching experience originally started with The Colour Works training about understanding the dynamics of the leadership team that we had in our school. 

Having done that, I felt there would be value in having one-to-one coaching myself, which started before the pandemic. Because it was pre-pandemic it was face to face and that worked well to help build that relationship. I don’t think it would have worked as well had it started remotely. 

As such, when other people are considering coaching or we are referring staff, I tell them to think about how they will engage best with it to ensure they get the most from it, whether in-person or over video conferencing. 

In terms of how it has helped me, a lot of it has been around acceptance. I’ve had to learn that it doesn’t matter what my background is; I’ve earned my right to be here. I did a lot of that whole “I’m not supposed to be here. I come from that estate down there!” Through coaching, I’ve learned to realise it’s not luck - I’ve earned it. 

In fact, when the school advertised the headship job twice, I didn’t apply because I didn’t think I could. But through good coaching, I did apply and I got it. It’s helped me since then, too - it’s so much easier to lead and make decisions when you have more faith in yourself. 

I will absolutely continue with my coaching and also encourage all my team to do it. If teachers come to me and they’re at a stop point in their career, or maybe questioning if teaching is still for them, I’ll ask: “Have you considered coaching?”

Liz Free, director and chief executive of International School Rheintal

In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, I took up my first chief executive and director role, in an international school in Switzerland. Despite decades of working in education and with a strong basis in leadership development, there is no rule book for taking the reins of an organisation in such circumstances.

I held steady in my first few months, firefighting, watching and learning. I had a clear remit to move the school from a start-up phase into an established high-performing school. However, bringing about change in the midst of change was challenging and isolating. When should I push and when should I tread water?

It was at this time that I was able to access executive coaching through the British School of Coaching. I had four sessions over a period of about six months. I already knew the direction of travel but I was caught up in decision making about how to take the small steps to enable us to make the giant leaps.  

‘It is so important when you are in leadership to have safe spaces with an independent voice, to explore ideas free of judgement’

I was surprised by how, with this dedicated time of a professional conversation, and with someone delving deeper and asking the killer questions, I was able to clarify my own thinking. It was like the haze lifted and I could see a path clearly through. 

It is so important when you are in leadership to have safe spaces with an independent voice, to explore ideas free of judgement. Finding the time to think deeply with a coach was absolutely invaluable in giving me the clarity and confidence to move forward. 

Lesley Birch, deputy chief executive, Meridian Trust 

As part of the National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership, I had six sessions with a professional coach. For me, it was really helpful to talk through ideas, have difficult questions posed in a safe environment and look at things from different viewpoints. 

Although it could feel like quite a selfish thing to do, it was good to have time and space that was my own. Hopefully, it is making you a better leader for other people.  

When I was looking at working with other people, coaching helped me structure things in a slightly different way and pose those difficult questions that needed to be asked. It made me vary the approaches I employed for a range of people and contexts.  

It helped me empathise with those making difficult decisions but avoid getting embroiled. You can gain from it personally but, for me, the most important thing is that it empowers you to work with other people and see them flourish.  

Sometimes, you go into a session and offload with your coach about whatever is happening that day or week. I think that this flexibility was very productive and supportive, but it also helped with dealing with long-term issues that I had given more thought to. 

There were times, when I was considering particular issues within the trust, that coaching really helped, as I had already gone through the thinking process about how it might be perceived and how things would be managed in sessions. It didn’t feel like such a knee-jerk reaction when it came around to implementation.

Ben Jones is a freelance journalist. He tweets @benjonesjourno. Additional reporting by Dan Worth, senior editor at Tes