The Leader as Coach: How One CEO Dismantled Silos by Coaching His People How to Coach

“The greatest gift a leader can give isn’t a solution. It’s the ability to create solutions through their people.”

Atip Muangsuwan
CEO Coach and Coach Supervisor

It was a Tuesday morning when John, the regional CEO of a global electronics giant, sat across from me with a problem that had been gnawing at him for months.

His factory team—the brilliant engineers and production specialists who built the company’s flagship products—wasn’t talking to the sales team. Not really. Sure, they exchanged emails. They attended the same meetings. But somewhere along the way, the two groups had built invisible walls between them. The factory felt the sales team made unrealistic promises to customers. The sales team felt the factory didn’t understand the urgency of the marketplace.

John called it what it is: a silo-working environment.

And he was exhausted from playing referee.

The Moment Everything Changed

Here’s what John didn’t know when he walked into our coaching session: he wasn’t just going to walk out with a solution to his silo problem. He was going to walk out with a completely new way of leading his people.

You see, this wasn’t a normal executive coaching session. John came to me with a goal: learn a coaching technique that could solve the silo-working environment in his organization. But I had a different goal for him. I needed to coach John on how to coach his people at the same time.

Because the real question wasn’t “How do I fix this?” The real question was “How do I coach my people to fix this themselves?”

John wanted to learn how to become what I call a “Leader as Coach.” And that changes everything.

Two Birds, One Stone

Think about it. Most leaders solve problems by giving orders. They dictate solutions. They tell people what to do and how to do it. It’s fast. It’s efficient. And it creates dependency. And that’s not healthy!

John had been doing exactly that. In our session, he confessed: “In the past, I had always given orders and instructions to my people.” He was the problem-solver-in-chief. And his people were waiting for him to solve their problems.

But here’s what we discovered together: when you coach your people how to solve problems by themselves, you don’t just solve today’s issue. You build an organization that can solve tomorrow’s issues, too.

So, this coaching session became about killing two birds with one stone:

First, we found a solution to the silo-working environment issue. We mapped out a strategy that would create real collaboration between the sales team and the factory team.

Second, and more importantly, I taught John the coaching skills he would need to transfer this solution—and this mindset—to every level of his organization.

The Strategy: Coach the Heads First

Here’s the approach we developed together. I call it “Coach-the-Heads-First.”

John would start by coaching the Heads of each department. Not his entire team. Not everyone at once. Just the leaders.

Then, he would teach these Heads how to coach others.

Then, he would ask these Heads to coach their own team members.

This cascading effect—this transfer of coaching skills from leader to leader to team—is how you build something far more valuable than a one-time solution. It’s how you build a coaching culture in your organization.

The LAR-SE Model: A Framework for Understanding

But how do you actually coach someone? John needed a simple, repeatable framework. So, I introduced him to the LAR-SE Model.

L — Listen. Listen actively and deeply to understand their needs, expectations, motivations, pain points, concerns, worries, fears, etc.

A — Ask. Ask powerful questions to find out and understand their needs and concerns. Ask questions that evoke self-awareness in them.

R — Reflect. Reflect back what you hear from them to clarify issues, problems, dilemmas. Create mutual understanding.

S — Share. Share your information, data, facts, feedback, thoughts, views, perceptions, stories, feelings. By sharing your own self with them, you show your vulnerability and your humanity.

E — Empower or Encourage. Empower when coaching your team or subordinates. Encourage when talking with peers and people above you. Encourage them to talk more while you listen more.

The key of the LAR-SE Model is simple: Mutual Understanding.

We Listen, Ask, and Reflect to understand them and their side of the story. We Share from our side because we want them to understand us and our side of the story, too.

“The best communicator,” I told John, “is the one who can create the clearest understanding between both parties.”

The Magic of Coaching

Here’s what surprised John the most.

He told me, “I really appreciate the ‘coaching approach’ because it is just like a ‘Magic’ to me. Coaching surprises and amazes me!”

Why? Because coaching isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about asking the right questions. It’s about creating a space where your people discover their own solutions. And when they discover it by themselves, they own it. They commit to it. They execute it with passion.

John left our session with three clear action steps:

1. Start coaching and also teaching coaching skills to the Heads of each and every Department.
2. Observe and monitor their coaching skills development.
3. When they’re ready, ask them to coach their team members.

And he left with a one-sentence summary that captured everything:

“Transfer coaching skills to my people.”

To which I added: “Build coaching culture in your organization.”

The Deconstruction of Coaching: How the Session Worked

For those who want to understand the coaching behind the coaching, here’s how I structured our session:

• I applied the LAR-SE Model throughout the session.
• I reflected in the form of a key word or key message.
• I used a unique structure to frame and structure the session.
• I focused on solutions—we reached the solution within just a few minutes of coaching time.
• I was mindful of the time and controlled the time spent.
• My coaching structure followed a clear flow: coaching topic, session goal, importance of the goal, exploring with the coachee using LAR-SE, key insights, action steps, one-sentence summary, and one-word summary.
• And above all, I achieved mutual understanding.

What John Learned About Himself

John walked away with three profound realizations:

1. In the past, he had always given orders and instructions to his people. From now on, he would apply more coaching and transfer his knowledge and experiences to his people.
2. He needed to transfer his knowledge, skills, and experiences to his people and the organization—not just keep them to himself.
3. Coaching isn’t just a tool. It’s a transformation.

Your Turn

Here’s the truth: every leader faces silos. Every leader deals with misalignment. Every leader gets exhausted from being the middleman between competing teams.

But the leaders who break through aren’t the ones who solve every problem themselves. They’re the ones who coach their people how to solve problems.

They’re the ones who become Leaders as Coaches.

John is now on that journey. He’s coaching his Heads. He’s teaching them to coach their teams. He’s building a coaching culture, one conversation at a time.

And you can do the same.

One Word to Remember: Transfer.

Because the greatest gift a leader can give isn’t a solution. It’s the ability to create solutions through their people.

And that’s the kind of leadership that changes everything.

Are you ready to become that kind of leader? If you are, then let’s connect!

About Atip Muangsuwan: Atip is an executive leadership coach who specializes in helping high-achieving leaders overcome internal barriers to unlock their full potential and drive organizational success. Through a blend of strategic frameworks and profound personal insights, he empowers leaders in transforming their mindsets, emotional states, and behaviors for lasting impact.