Coaching doesn’t have to mean long sessions or formal frameworks. Some of the most impactful coaching happens in the moment – during a quick check-in, a conversation between meetings, or when someone turns to you for help thinking something through.
These brief, everyday interactions can offer just enough clarity, focus and momentum to help someone move forward.
In this article, we’ll share a simple structure you can use to coach someone through a challenge in real time, without needing to carve out extra time in the diary.
Why People Get Stuck
When someone feels stuck, it’s rarely about a lack of intelligence or motivation. More often, it’s due to one or more of the following:
- Competing priorities: They’re pulled in different directions and can’t decide where to focus.
- Fear of getting it wrong: Perfectionism or risk-aversion makes any next step feel unsafe.
- Overwhelm: There’s so much noise they can’t hear their own thinking clearly.
- Unclear values: They haven’t paused to ask what really matters most in this situation.
- Reluctance to act: They’ve already decided, deep down – they just need to voice it and commit.
Most people don’t need advice in these moments. They need space to think, someone to listen well, and a few well-timed questions to help them see things differently.
The Role of the Leader-Coach
It’s easy to default to solving mode – offering ideas, structuring the issue, or suggesting next steps. While well-intended, this can create dependency, dilute ownership, and miss the deeper issue.
Coaching, by contrast, helps the other person do the thinking. It focuses on awareness, accountability and learning, not just fixing.
When leaders coach well, even briefly, they create conditions for:
-
Greater confidence and independence
-
Higher quality decision-making
-
Stronger relationships built on trust and autonomy
A Four-Step Coaching Framework for 10-Minute Conversations
This structure can help guide your thinking when someone brings you a stuck or swirling challenge. You don’t have to follow it rigidly, but the flow helps create a clear shift from confusion to clarity.
1. Pause and Be Present
Start by slowing things down. Give your full attention and model calm focus. A short pause can shift the energy from reactivity to reflection.
Try: “Let’s take a moment, tell me what’s really on your mind.”
2. Identify the Real Challenge
Many people bring a surface-level problem, but there’s often something deeper underneath. Help them define what’s truly difficult about the situation.
Ask: “What’s the real challenge here for you?”
Or: “What part of this feels most difficult to get traction on?”
This helps cut through noise and bring the conversation into sharper focus.
3. Expand the Thinking
Once the core challenge is named, help them explore it from new angles. This is where insight emerges, and where coaching starts to diverge from advice.
Ask:
-
What have you not considered yet?
-
What would you do if you knew you couldn’t get it wrong?
-
If someone else brought you this problem, what would you say to them?
The goal is not to generate a perfect plan, but to shake loose rigid thinking and open up fresh options.
4. Anchor a Next Step
Don’t end on insight alone. Help them take action, however small. This builds confidence, creates momentum, and embeds the learning.
Ask:
-
What’s one step you could take from here?
-
What will you do, and by when?
-
How will you stay accountable to that decision?
This helps turn clarity into commitment.
A Real Example in Practice
Imagine this scenario: a team member says, “I’m completely stuck on how to handle this project. I keep circling but I’m not getting anywhere.”
Instead of offering advice, you ask, “What’s the real challenge for you right now?” After a short pause, they respond, “I think I’m worried I’ll disappoint my stakeholders no matter what decision I make.”
That opens the door to a more meaningful conversation about expectations, priorities and influence. Within 10 minutes, they’ve clarified their challenge, explored their thinking, and identified a clear next step.
No heavy guidance. Just the right questions, at the right time.
The Evidence for Short Coaching Interventions
Research shows that even brief coaching conversations can have measurable impact.
- 80% of people who receive coaching report improved self-confidence
- 70% experience better performance, relationships and communication skills
- Coaching increases goal attainment, resilience and wellbeing across roles and industries
A study by the Institute of Coaching at Harvard also found that even short-form coaching interventions (under 30 minutes) produced significant increases in clarity, commitment, and strategic decision-making.
Coaching, even in small doses, works – especially when it becomes a habit woven into the everyday.
Coaching as a Leadership Capability
You don’t need to be a professional coach to use these techniques. But building capability through structured development can accelerate your confidence and impact.
Leaders who undertake coaching training often report:
- Stronger presence in high-stakes conversations
- A more engaged, empowered team culture
- Better outcomes in performance, wellbeing and collaboration
And it’s not just anecdotal. Research by Human Capital Institute found that organisations with strong coaching cultures report 21% higher business performance, including improved retention, productivity and engagement.
Every Leader Can Coach
Helping someone get unstuck doesn’t require a long session or a set script. It requires presence, curiosity, and the willingness to guide rather than solve.
Start with a pause. Ask one powerful question. Stay with their thinking, not yours.
It may only take ten minutes but the shift in clarity, confidence and ownership can last much longer.
Ready To Grow Your Coaching Skills?
If you’re ready to grow your impact as a coach and leader, then this is for you.
The Accredited Certified Coach Programme is designed for leaders, HR professionals, and coaches who want to deepen their coaching capability, gain internationally recognised credentials, and lead with greater presence and purpose.
