The Coaching Crowd® Podcast with Jo Wheatley & Zoe Hawkins

What becomes possible for us as coaches when we move beyond the privacy of one to one conversations and begin working with the energy, complexity, and potential of groups and teams?
In this episode of The Coaching Crowd podcast, we explored why so many coaches are choosing to train in group and team coaching, and why this area of coaching practice feels increasingly relevant in today's professional landscape.
We wanted to bring this conversation to the podcast because coaching is no longer limited to one to one development conversations. More organisations, leaders, teams, and individuals are seeking collective development experiences. They want spaces where people can learn together, reflect together, challenge one another, and feel part of something more connected.
That matters because so many people are experiencing disconnection, pressure, and exhaustion. Group coaching and team coaching can create powerful spaces where people feel seen, heard, and supported by others who may be facing similar questions or challenges. In a professional context, this also gives coaches the opportunity to work more systemically, supporting culture, communication, leadership development, and organisational change at scale.
During the conversation, we reflected on the size of the opportunity for coaches. Group and team coaching are not new, but more coaches are now asking how they can broaden their work, move into organisations, support teams, run development programmes, and offer more than individual coaching sessions. For coaches who have mainly worked one to one, this shift can feel exciting, but also intimidating.
We spoke about how group dynamics and team dynamics are far more complex than individual coaching. When you move into a one to many setting, there are more relationships, expectations, emotions, roles, and patterns in the room. This means coaches need more than confidence. They need structure, skill, presence, and an understanding of the psychodynamics that can emerge when people come together.
One of the key reflections from this episode was that training in group and team coaching can benefit you even when you are not yet sure whether you want to specialise in this area. It develops your systemic thinking. It helps you see your one to one coaching clients as part of wider systems, including families, teams, organisations, communities, and cultures. That naturally expands the quality of the questions you ask and the way you support clients to understand themselves.
We also explored how training in this area can open doors. Many coaches begin with one to one coaching in an organisation and then get asked whether they can support a team, design a programme, facilitate a workshop, or help with a leadership development initiative. Those moments can be exciting, but they can also create doubt. Having training behind you can give you the confidence, credibility, and practical tools to say yes to those opportunities.
Another important theme was the need for coaches to think strategically about their business. Group and team coaching can help create more scalable offers, more variety, and more routes into organisational contracts. It can sit alongside one to one coaching, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and wider organisational development work.
We also reflected on the human nature of this work. Modern coaching is not only about performance. It is relational, emotionally intelligent, and systemic. In a world where artificial intelligence is changing how people work, human relationships are becoming even more important. Knowledge may be increasingly available, but connection, trust, culture, and shared understanding still require human presence.
That is why group and team coaching feels so valuable. It supports people to understand how they relate, communicate, collaborate, and make progress together. It also gives coaches the chance to engage with the living, breathing reality of organisational culture and human behaviour.
In the episode, we also shared more about our Group and Team Coaching programme, including the five phases that sit at the heart of the course:
Grounding and Gathering, where we explore how to set the work up for success and orientate people into the coaching experience.
Roles and Responsibilities, where we consider the role of the coach and the roles that people naturally take up in groups and teams.
Options and Opportunity, where we explore coaching methodologies, practical activities, and ways to work creatively with groups and teams.
Union and Understanding, where we look at group dynamics and the complexity of human behaviour in collective spaces.
Presence and Progress, where we focus on closure, endings, progress, sustainability, and how groups and teams recognise and carry forward change.
We also discussed the mindset of a group and team coach, because this is emotional work. How we resource ourselves, what we believe about groups, and how we manage our own presence will shape the quality of the work we offer.
This episode is for coaches who are curious about expanding their practice, leaders and HR professionals who already work with groups and teams, and anyone who wants to build more confidence in facilitating meaningful collective development.
Ultimately, group and team coaching is not an either or choice. It can sit beautifully alongside one to one coaching. It can widen your impact, strengthen your coaching practice, create new business opportunities, and help you work with the rich complexity of people, culture, and systems.
Timestamps:
00:00: Welcome to The Coaching Crowd podcast
00:06: Why so many coaches are training in group and team coaching
00:38: Five reasons to consider group and team coaching
01:58: The size of the opportunity for coaches
03:59: How group and team coaching enhances one to one coaching
05:52: Building confidence to pitch group and team coaching work
06:56: Organisational contracts, leadership development, and scalable offers
08:22: Why group and team coaching requires specific training
09:36: The relational, emotional, and systemic nature of modern coaching
10:02: How AI and changing workplaces are influencing team dynamics
10:44: Overview of the Group and Team Coaching programme
11:10: Grounding and Gathering
11:45: Roles and Responsibilities
12:16: Options and Opportunity
12:46: Union and Understanding
13:06: Presence and Progress
14:00: Mindset and business development for group and team coaches
15:16: Why group and team coaching can be energising and valuable
16:13: Facilitated programme structure and how to join
Key Lessons Learned:
• Group and team coaching allows coaches to create impact beyond one to one conversations by working with collective learning, shared reflection, and systemic change.
• Training in group and team coaching can strengthen your one to one coaching because it helps you see clients within the wider systems they belong to.
• Group dynamics and team dynamics are more complex than individual coaching, so coaches need specific skills, structure, and confidence to work well in these spaces.
• Organisations are increasingly investing in collective development because workplace culture, relationships, communication, and leadership are changing rapidly.
• Group and team coaching can open doors to organisational contracts, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and more scalable coaching offers.
• Effective onboarding is crucial because how a group or team enters the coaching experience shapes the safety, clarity, and outcomes of the work.
• Human presence, emotional intelligence, and relational skill remain essential in group and team coaching, especially as AI continues to reshape how people work.
• Group and team coaching can bring more variety, energy, and strategic growth into a coaching business.
• The work is not only for qualified one to one coaches. It can also support leaders, HR professionals, learning and development practitioners, and organisational development specialists.
• Group and team coaching is not a replacement for one to one coaching. It can sit alongside it as a powerful extension of your coaching practice.
Keywords:
group coaching, team coaching, group and team coaching, coaching training, coach training, coaching CPD, one to one coaching, coaching skills, systemic coaching, organisational coaching, leadership development, team development, group dynamics, team dynamics, ,coaching practice, coaching business, coaching programme, emotional intelligence in coaching, workplace coaching, coaching for organisations,
Links & Resources
Group and Team Coaching course: https://igcompany.com/group

Have you ever found yourself giving great advice, only to realise the person in front of you still cannot move forward?
In this episode of the podcast, we explored one of the questions many leaders, managers, mentors and people-focused professionals face: when is it time to stop mentoring and start coaching?
We began by reflecting on the close relationship between coaching and mentoring. They are often treated as separate roles, but in reality, they can sit on a continuum. Mentoring is often about sharing experience, guidance, wisdom and practical advice. Coaching, on the other hand, helps someone explore what is getting in the way of their growth, decision making, confidence and long-term development.
As we talked this through, we recognised how easily managers and mentors can fall into the pattern of answering every question, solving every problem and becoming the person everyone turns to for direction. That can feel useful at first. It can even feel rewarding. But over time, it may lead to dependency, firefighting and frustration. If every conversation ends with advice, the mentee may never build the confidence to find their own answers.
A key theme in this episode is the difference between helping someone know what to do and helping them understand how to do it in a way that feels possible for them. Someone may know the next step, but still feel blocked by fear, imposter syndrome, uncertainty, beliefs, emotions or organisational pressures. That is often the point where coaching becomes powerful.
We also reflected on the limits of labels. The question may not be whether we are a coach or a mentor. The better question may be: what does this person need from us in this moment? Sometimes they need knowledge. Sometimes they need challenge. Sometimes they need emotional space. Sometimes they need a thinking partner who can help them work beneath the surface.
For mentors, line managers and leaders, this episode highlights the importance of recognising repeating patterns. If a mentee keeps returning with the same concern, the same confidence issue or the same barrier, more advice may not be the answer. Coaching skills can help uncover the deeper obstacle and support sustainable growth.
We also explored the emotional experience of the mentor. If we begin to feel frustrated, tired or unable to help, that may be a sign that we have reached the edge of what mentoring alone can offer. Rather than blaming the mentee, we can see this as an invitation to expand our own skills and capacity.
One of the most important reflections from this conversation is that coaching can help mentees move beyond reliance on the mentor. Great mentoring should equip people for life beyond the relationship. Coaching supports that by helping people build self-trust, self-awareness and the ability to make decisions for themselves.
We also talked about how this can show up in organisations. A new employee, or someone stepping into a new role, may benefit from a mentoring approach at first. They may need guidance, structure, advice and practical support. But as they grow in confidence and competence, the relationship may need to evolve. That is where recontracting becomes important. We can have honest conversations about what support is needed now, what has changed and whether the relationship should become more developmental.
Ultimately, this episode is about working with people in a way that truly serves their growth. Mentoring has huge value. Coaching has huge value. The real skill is knowing when to offer guidance, when to step back and when to create the space for someone to discover their own way forward.
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome and episode introduction
00:51 Coaching and mentoring as a continuum
02:19 When mentoring reaches its natural edge
03:14 Coaching the gap beneath the goal
04:56 The limits of coach and mentor labels
05:52 Repeating patterns, confidence and imposter syndrome
07:36 Moving from the what to the how
08:40 Helping mentees grow beyond the relationship
10:03 When the mentor no longer has the answer
11:28 Why mentors benefit from coaching skills
13:05 Recontracting the relationship as people grow
14:47 Coaching training and next steps
Key Lessons Learned
Mentoring and coaching are closely connected, but they serve different purposes at different moments.
Mentoring often focuses on sharing knowledge, experience and advice, while coaching explores what is getting in the way of action and growth.
If a mentee keeps bringing the same challenge, theme or confidence block, it may be time to move into a coaching approach.
A mentor's frustration can be a useful signal that advice alone is no longer helping the person move forward.
Coaching helps people build self-awareness, self-trust and the ability to make decisions beyond the mentoring relationship.
Managers who rely only on giving answers can become trapped in firefighting rather than developing their team.
The shift from mentoring to coaching often happens when someone knows what to do, but feels unable to take the next step.
Recontracting the relationship matters. As people grow, the support they need may change.
Coaching skills can strengthen mentoring relationships by helping mentors work with emotions, beliefs, values and systemic pressures.
The most effective leaders and mentors are able to blend approaches rather than being limited by one label.
Keywords:
coaching and mentoring, mentoring versus coaching, coaching skills for mentors, leadership development, coaching for managers, mentoring relationships, imposter syndrome coaching, workplace coaching, professional development, coaching training, executive coaching, team development, self-awareness in leadership, confidence coaching,
Links and Resources
International Growth and Development Company: www.igcompany.com

In this episode of the podcast, we explore how to coach skeptical clients with curiosity rather than defensiveness. Skepticism can show up when clients have been sent to coaching by an organisation, have had disappointing experiences before, feel unsure about the process, or do not fully understand how coaching could help them.
We reflect on why skepticism should not be treated as resistance to overcome, but as useful information. By asking thoughtful questions, contracting clearly, and keeping the client in choice, coaches can create a safer adult-to-adult relationship where concerns can be named openly.
The episode also explores the ethical side of coaching reluctant clients. Sometimes coaching may not be the right fit or the right time, and forcing value can do more harm than good. The key message is to stay curious, welcome the skepticism, and use it as a doorway into honest, meaningful coaching conversations.
a willingness to receive feedback so that every client can feel properly seen, heard and supported.
Links & Resources
Inclusive coaching programme: www.igcompany.com/join

In this episode of the podcast, we explore what it really means to be ready to coach neurodivergent clients. We reflect on the importance of building an inclusive coaching space that does not rely only on textbook knowledge of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia or other neurodivergent conditions, but also listens deeply to lived experience.
We discuss how easily coaches can make assumptions about clients when viewing behaviour through a neurotypical lens. A client who gives short answers may not be disengaged, and a client who moves quickly between ideas may not be unfocused. Inclusive coaching asks us to stay curious, adapt our approach, and recognise that every neurodivergent client's needs, strengths and experiences will be different.
The episode also highlights the importance of recognising our own bias, whether we are neurotypical or neurodivergent ourselves. Being ready to coach neurodivergent clients is not about knowing everything. It is about ongoing learning, humility, psychological safety, thoughtful contracting, and a willingness to receive feedback so that every client can feel properly seen, heard and supported.
Links & Resources
Inclusive coaching programme: www.igcompany.com/nd

This episode explores how the technology you choose can shape the coaching business you build. We discuss how coaches can move beyond selling time by the hour and use tech more strategically to create a scalable, professional, and sustainable business.
We focus on Kajabi, the platform we have used since 2019 to support our website, courses, community, marketing, email list, client journeys, and business growth. Rather than stitching together multiple tools, Kajabi has helped us create a smoother, more premium experience.
We also share an honest view: no platform is perfect, and there can be overwhelm or cheaper alternatives. But for coaches wanting to grow their online presence, create digital products, build community, and market more effectively, the right platform can become a major strategic advantage.
 Links & Resources
Kajabi offer and masterclass: www.igcompany.com/Kajabi