Coaching the Who, Not the What: Why True Transformation Starts Within

Most people come to coaching looking for outcomes — a new job, more confidence, better leadership skills, or clarity about what’s next.
They want the what.

But real coaching, the kind that changes everything, starts somewhere else entirely. It starts with the who — the human behind the habits, the stories behind the results.

As an IPEC-certified coach, I learned a principle that changed the way I see growth forever:

“We coach the who, not the what.”

Because when you transform the person, the results inevitably follow.

1. Coaching Isn’t About Fixing — It’s About Awareness

There’s a misconception that coaches give advice, solve problems, or promise results. In reality, ethical coaching doesn’t promise anything external — because that would be a lie.

No coach can hand you a promotion, a new opportunity, or a relationship. What we can do is help you see yourself differently — and that changes everything.

When your awareness shifts, your behavior follows. When your energy changes, your outcomes do too.

At Juvena Therapeutics, where I recently worked with the senior leadership team, we didn’t focus on “how to lead better.” We focused on who they were being as leaders — how their energy showed up in the room, how it affected trust, creativity, and collaboration.

And here’s the beautiful thing: once they started leading themselves differently, their teams began responding differently. The culture shifted — naturally, not forcefully.

2. The Energy You Lead With Becomes the Culture You Create

Many people hear the word “energy” and immediately think it’s something mystical or abstract. But in the IPEC framework, energy is simply the lens through which we experience life.

It’s the way you react under stress. The mindset you bring into a challenge. The story you tell yourself before you walk into a meeting.

When I work with leaders — like those at Juvena Therapeutics — we explore these energetic patterns. Are they coming from fear or purpose? Control or curiosity? Ego or service?

Because the energy you lead with determines the energy your team mirrors back. Change the input, and the output transforms — without needing to control the outcome.

3. Teaching and Coaching: The Bridge Between Insight and Action

Before becoming a coach, I spent over a decade as an educator. I learned how to read people, sense when they were stuck, and ask the question that unlocked their thinking.

In many ways, coaching was the natural evolution of teaching for me. The classroom became the conversation. The students became clients. The lesson became awareness.

That’s why my approach blends structure and soul. You’ll walk away not just feeling inspired — but equipped. You’ll learn how to observe your energy, regulate it, and redirect it toward what matters most.

4. How to Apply This to Your Own Life

You don’t need a coaching session to start noticing your energy today.
Here are three reflection prompts I give my clients between sessions:

• Notice the pattern. When do you feel most drained vs. most alive? That’s energy feedback.

• Ask, “Who am I being?” Not what am I doing, but who am I showing up as in this moment?

• Shift the story. Instead of reacting from frustration or fear, pause and ask: “What’s another way to see this?”

These small shifts build the muscle of awareness — and that’s where true leadership begins.

5. The Real Lesson: Leadership Is an Inside Job

Whether I’m coaching a biotech executive, a teacher navigating burnout, or someone reinventing themselves entirely, the pattern is always the same:
Transformation doesn’t happen by force. It happens by alignment.

When you coach the who, the what takes care of itself.
When you lead from energy, not ego, people respond.
And when you commit to awareness, you stop chasing results — and start embodying them.

If You Take One Thing Away……..

Coaching isn’t about what you want to get.
It’s about who you’re willing to become to get there.

Because once you shift your energy — your awareness, your choices, your lens — everything around you begins to move.

That’s not magic.
That’s leadership.