Bringing Coaching to Life at Work: Making Personality Shifts Practically

You’ve invested in coaching — now what?

Subscribing to coaching is a powerful first step toward personal growth and professional effectiveness. But the real transformation happens when insights from coaching sessions are applied consistently in the workplace. This is where awareness becomes action, and potential becomes performance.

In this blog, we’ll explore how individuals can take ownership of their development journey by making deliberate, personality-aligned changes at work. We'll also provide a framework for creating your own "Practice & Development Plan", including a sample with model answers to guide you.

The Coaching Mindset: Awareness to Action

After a few coaching sessions, you may start noticing:

• Patterns in how you respond to stress or conflict

• Blind spots in communication or collaboration

• Awareness of leaks in your body language

• Strengths you undervalue or overuse

• Being more effective dealing with contentious colleagues

• Feedback that confirms or challenges your self-perception

  
  

Coaching increases self-awareness, but without consistent practice, that awareness may fade. To make lasting changes, it’s important to:

• Anchor insights to real work situations

• Create new behavioural habits

• Track and reflect on your progress

  
  

Five Practical Steps to Bring Coaching into the Workplace

1. Identify a Focus Area

Pick one or two key areas from your coaching that are most relevant to your work effectiveness. These could be:

• Becoming more assertive

• Improving active listening

• Managing impulsive reactions

• Delegating better

• Staying calm under pressure

• Overcoming low emotional awareness

Ask yourself: “Where do I see the biggest gap between my intention and impact?”

2. Observe Yourself in Real-Time

Start noticing your behaviours in the moment — especially in challenging interactions. Journaling or voice notes after meetings can help you track:

• What happened

• How you reacted

• What you would do differently

This self-observation builds emotional regulation and intentionality.

3. Start Small and Specific

Choose small behaviour shifts you can practice daily or weekly. Examples:

• “In every meeting this week, I will pause before responding.”

• “I will check in with my team member on how they prefer feedback.”

Small wins build confidence and reinforce the learning.

4. Enlist a Feedback Partner

Invite a trusted colleague or manager to observe and share feedback on your behaviour changes. Let them know what you’re working on so they can support you — this creates accountability and encourages a feedback culture.

5. Create a Simple Practice & Development Plan

Use a light-touch format to guide your progress. You don’t need a complex system — just enough structure to stay intentional.

Sample Practice & Development Plan

Component	Practice/Context
Focus Area	Becoming more assertive in meetings
Why this matters	I tend to stay quiet even when I have ideas, which limits my visibility and contribution.
Current pattern	I hesitate to speak up unless invited. I second-guess myself.
Desired new behaviour	Speak up early in discussions with one clear idea or question.
Work situations to practice in	Weekly team meetings, project planning sessions, one-on-ones with my manager
Micro-actions	- Prepare 1 point to share before each meeting - Use phrases like “I'd like to add…” - Ask one clarifying question per meeting
Supporter / feedback partner	Peer colleague from my team who attends the same meetings
Reflection journal	Weekly: What went well? What felt difficult? What helped me speak up? What held me back?
Review date	4 weeks from today

Final Tips to Sustain Change

• Schedule short self-check-ins every week (10–15 mins)

• Celebrate small wins — these reinforce new habits

• Be compassionate with yourself when setbacks happen

• Share your journey with your coach for ongoing alignment and adjustments

Summary Thoughts

Coaching is not just a conversation — it’s a commitment to change. The true power of coaching unfolds when you take ownership of applying what you've learned, experimenting with new ways of being, and reflecting on your growth.

You don’t have to be perfect — you just need to be intentional and consistent. With small steps, over time, you can reshape how you show up at work in powerful ways.