6 ‘Must Haves’ That Determine If You Are Coachable

In Entrepreneur, executive coach Cari Jacobs explores a question every ambitious leader should ask before hiring a coach: “Am I actually coachable?” The article argues that coaching only works when the client is prepared to move beyond venting, passive listening, or surface-level advice and instead engage in a focused, goal-oriented process of reflection, challenge, and behavioral change.

Overarching Theme

Coaching is not simply a space to talk through frustrations. It is an active leadership-development partnership. Jacobs emphasizes that the most effective coaching clients arrive with goals, openness, emotional honesty, curiosity, and a willingness to do work between sessions. In other words, the value of coaching depends as much on the leader’s readiness as it does on the coach’s skill.

Major Takeaways for Business Leaders

The first takeaway is that coaching requires clear goals. Jacobs distinguishes coaching from therapy by describing coaching as an active engagement with shared goals and intentional progress. Leaders get more value when they arrive prepared with a topic, barriers they are facing, desired outcomes, and what they have already tried.

The second takeaway is that leaders must be willing to go deeper than workplace symptoms. Jacobs notes that seemingly ordinary work issues can have emotional undercurrents, and that stress may be a surface label for deeper workplace pain or limiting patterns.

The third takeaway is that coachability depends on openness to change. Leaders who are unwilling to hear another perspective, examine their assumptions, or receive difficult feedback are unlikely to benefit fully from coaching.

The fourth takeaway is that coaching does not end when the session ends. Jacobs argues that the deepest work often happens between sessions through reflection, journaling, experimentation, and continued attention to the coaching topic at work.

Talking Points for Executives

Executive coaching is not a passive benefit; it is a leadership discipline. A coach can create structure, ask better questions, and reflect blind spots, but the leader must bring focus and readiness.

The article also challenges leaders to distinguish between “talking about the issue” and “working on the issue.” Spending most of a session recounting events may feel productive, but it can crowd out the deeper work of identifying patterns, making choices, and changing behavior.

For business leaders, coachability is also a cultural signal. A CEO, founder, or senior executive who models curiosity and willingness to be challenged sends a powerful message: growth is expected at every level, including the top.

Reflection Questions

Am I entering coaching with a clear goal, or am I mainly looking for a place to vent?

What leadership pattern am I ready to examine honestly?

Where might I be defending my current perspective instead of exploring a better one?

Am I willing to hear feedback that may be uncomfortable but useful?

What work will I commit to doing between coaching sessions?

How would my team know that coaching is actually changing my leadership behavior?

Potential Action Items

Before starting coaching, write down two or three specific outcomes you want from the engagement.

Prepare for each session with a short agenda: the issue, the stakes, what you have tried, and what decision or shift you need to make.

Track recurring themes that show up in coaching conversations, especially emotional triggers, avoidance patterns, or leadership blind spots.

Ask your coach to challenge you when you are over-explaining, rationalizing, or staying too high-level.

Create a between-session practice, such as journaling, stakeholder conversations, new leadership behaviors, or reflection prompts.

Evaluate coaching success not only by how sessions feel, but by what changes in your decisions, communication, relationships, and results.