What Makes Coaching Work? Experienced Coaches’ Perspectives on the Ingredients of Successful Coaching Interventions

Meta-analytic evidence confirms that coaching works, yet less is known about how experienced practitioners themselves explain why it works. This study reports a reflexive thematic analysis of open-ended survey responses from 74 professional coaches with 10 or more years’ experience, based in 26 countries. Six themes were developed: the working alliance as foundation; coachee agency as the engine of change; structure, goals and contracting; coach capability as enabling but not sufficient; the bounded professional relationship; and sustaining and embedding impact. Findings nuance working alliance theory by surfacing boundary conditions, and inform coach education, contracting practice and organisational coaching design.