How Founders Can Prepare for Coaching

Anyone using coaching for the first time often encounters a surprising situation. The coach asks an open question, and suddenly you do not know where to begin. Not because there is nothing to discuss, but because there is too much. Product, team, finances, your own role. Everything at once.

That is not a failure. It is a sign that coaching does not simply happen on its own. It requires preparation.

In coaching research, there is a term for this: coachability. It refers to the willingness and ability to seek, receive and act upon feedback. A systematic review published in Sports Medicine in 2025, analysing 53 studies across five decades, identifies six dimensions: attentiveness, willingness to learn, persistence in the face of setbacks, actively seeking feedback, openness to feedback, and finally translating what has been heard into concrete action.

For founders, one finding is particularly relevant. Those who are more coachable demonstrably benefit more from support programmes and report higher satisfaction with their coaching experience (Kuratko et al., 2021). At the same time, researchers caution against confusing coachability with compliance. Founders know their company far more deeply than any external coach. What is needed is not blind agreement, but critical openness.

From these findings, a few straightforward preparation steps can be derived.

Bring a topic. No coach can do good work with a vague situation. What is genuinely on my mind right now? What do I want to be different in three months?

Separate what you know from what you do not. There are areas where founders have very good judgement, and areas where they are too close to their own company to recognise patterns.

Be prepared for uncomfortable feedback. It helps to remind yourself beforehand that you are not going into the coaching session to be validated.

Ask actively. Good coaches ask good questions. But founders are also allowed to ask: How do you see this? What would you do next in my position?

Follow up after the session. A short note after coaching significantly increases the likelihood that what was discussed actually makes it into everyday practice.

A coaching session is not a consultation where you receive answers. It is a structured space for reflection, and how much you take from that space depends largely on how you enter it. Coachability is not a fixed personality trait. It is an orientation that can be developed.