n this episode of The Luxury of Choice, Steve Vaughan is joined by Jonathan Cooper and Pascal Le Floch to explore one of the biggest challenges facing sales managers: knowing when to coach and when to direct.
The discussion covers:
- What coaching really means—and why it is not giving advice or telling people what to do.
- The difference between coaching, directing, supporting, and delegating.
- Why many sales managers default to controlling behaviour, especially under pressure.
- The role of questioning, active listening, and helping salespeople find their own solutions.
- How coaching builds ownership, accountability, confidence, and long-term performance.
- When directive leadership is appropriate, particularly with new or inexperienced team members.
- Using Situational Leadership to adapt management style to the individual and the task.
- The balance between winning critical deals and using customer visits as coaching opportunities.
- How to handle performance issues and when coaching alone is not enough.
- The value of planned coaching sessions versus spontaneous day-to-day coaching moments.
- Building a coaching culture through peer-to-peer support and mentoring.
Key Takeaways
- Coaching is about helping people think, not telling them what to do.
- Great coaching relies on asking effective questions and listening actively.
- New salespeople often need more direction; experienced salespeople need more coaching and autonomy.
- Coaching is an investment of time that ultimately creates more capable and independent team members.
- The best sales managers consciously adapt their leadership style to the situation.
- If you're not coaching regularly, you're missing one of the most powerful tools available to a sales leader.
Recommended Reading
Growing Human Potential by Sir John Whitmore – a classic introduction to coaching and the GROW model.
Steve Vaughan, Jonathan Cooper, Pru Layton, Christian Walter, Pascal le Floche, Jayne Green and Jonathan Slasinski are Sales Trainers from george james ltd. You can email the show at: Podcast@georgejames-training.com
The trainers on LinkedIn:
Steve Vaughan https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-vaughan-salestrainer/
Jonathan Cooper https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-cooper-18716b1/
Pru Layton https://www.linkedin.com/in/pru-layton-b46a3528/
Christian Walter https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-walter-a1857b1/
Jayne Green https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayne-green-salestrainer/
Pascal Le Floch-Riche https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascal-le-floch-220ba46/
Jonathan Slasinski https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-slasinski-449a655/
george james training website https://georgejames-training.com/
