6,000 Trained Coaches Globally

30 Years’ Coaching Expertise

Leader as Coach – Open Programme

 

Making Everyday Conversations Extraordinary

Become an impactful leader by transforming everyday conversations into stronger relationships and better team results.

Join Free Taster SessionEnrol Now

EMCC Global Quality Award

Certification

EMCC Accredited

EMCC’S Global EQA Quality Award.

Programme Delivery

Online Sessions

8 online sessions via Zoom, with optional in person networking event at Barefoot HQ.

Fees

£2,500 (Incl. VAT)

VAT added for company funded places.

Barefoot Coaching Leader as Coach Open Programme

Who Will Benefit From This Programme?

This programme is suitable for leaders and managers at any level who want to strengthen their leadership through better conversations. It’s ideal for those leading teams directly or indirectly across organisations.

  • Designed to help leaders apply coaching skills practically in their day-to-day leadership, not step into full-time coaching roles
  • A highly practical programme, with opportunities to practise real conversations and receive tutor feedback
  • Focused on developing stronger relationships, increasing engagement, and improving performance across teams
  • Grounded in psychology, with simple, applicable tools that create meaningful and lasting change
  • Join the Barefoot community, with ongoing insights, support, and connection
We also offer this programme in-house for organisations looking to develop groups of leaders together. Interested in bringing this into your organisation? Get in Touch

Now Enrolling

How The Programme Works – Step By Step

Delivered online over 8 half-day Zoom sessions, the programme includes live tutor-led teaching, coaching practice and regular feedback.

You’ll be guided through a carefully designed blend of coaching theory, practice, reflection and feedback.

Set the foundations for the programme, clarify expectations, and complete a diagnostic to build awareness of your current leadership and coaching strengths.

Explore what it means to lead as a coach, shifting from fixing and directing to curiosity, trust and partnership.

Learn how to ask questions that deepen thinking, unlock insight and help others find their own answers.

Understand what really drives change and how to support ownership, momentum and commitment in others.

Use coaching conversations to navigate career development, challenge, feedback and working relationships with greater confidence and care.

Apply coaching skills at team level to improve engagement, resilience, wellbeing and shared responsibility.

Pause, reflect and embed learning , revisiting tools, refining practice and exploring real workplace experiences.

Connect with the other leaders on the programme, share learning, and build relationships that extend beyond the classroom, hosted at Barefoot Coaching HQ.

(This is an optional event)

Barefoot Coaching Leader as Coach Open Programme

Upcoming Programmes

Choose from our upcoming training programmes

September 2026 Programme Schedule

Engagement Session Thursday 3rd September 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 1 Thursday 24th September 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 2 Thursday 15th October 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 3 Thursday 22nd October 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Thursday 19th November 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 4 Thursday 26th November 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 5 Thursday 10th December 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Thursday 14th January 2027 9:30 am to 11:30am
Networking Event (Optional) Thursday 4th February 2027 10 am to 12:30pm

February 2027 Programme Schedule

Engagement Session Tuesday 2nd February 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 1 Tuesday 16th February 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 2 Tuesday 2nd March 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 3 Tuesday 16th March 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Tuesday 6th April 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 4 Tuesday 20th April 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 5 Tuesday 11th May 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Tuesday 25th May 9:30 am to 11:30am
Networking Event (Optional) Tuesday 29th June 10 am to 1:30pm

April 2027 Programme Schedule

Engagement Session Tuesday 13th April 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 1 Tuesday 27th April 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 2 Tuesday 18th May 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 3 Tuesday 8th June 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Tuesday 22nd June 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 4 Tuesday 6th July 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 5 Tuesday 20th July 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Tuesday 14th September 9:30 am to 11:30am
Networking Event (Optional) Tuesday 19th October 10 am to 1:30pm

September 2027 Programme Schedule

Engagement Session Tuesday 7th September 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 1 Tuesday 21st September 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 2 Tuesday 5th October 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 3 Tuesday 19th October 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Tuesday 2nd November 9:30 am to 11:30am
Session 4 Tuesday 16th November 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Session 5 Tuesday 30th November 9:30 am to 1:30pm
Booster Session Tuesday 11th January 2028 9:30 am to 11:30am
Networking Event (Optional) Tuesday 15th February 2028 10 am to 1:30pm

The Leader as Coach Diagnostic™

A powerful assessment tool, developed in partnership with Business Psychologists. It aims to highlight a leader’s strengths and development areas.

Coaching Mindset

This is about the way a leader thinks, and the beliefs they hold about themselves and others.

Coaching at Work

This is about how leaders model the qualities of an effective Leader as Coach in the workplace.

Attention & Listening

This is about the environment leaders create to help others do their best and freshest thinking.

Coaching Organisations

This is about a leader’s ability to have effective and impactful coaching conversations.

Curious About The Leader as Coach Programme?

Our free taster session is a relaxed, no-obligation opportunity to experience the Barefoot approach and explore whether Leader as Coach is right for you or your organisation.

  • Experience what it’s like to learn with Barefoot and get a feel for our warm, practical style.

  • Explore the coaching mindset and why today’s leaders create space for others to think, grow and perform.

  • Get a flavour of the core coaching skills – from listening more effectively to asking questions that build trust, ownership and accountability.

  • See how small shifts in how you lead conversations can make a big difference to engagement and performance.

  • Ask questions, explore your context, and decide whether it feels like the right fit. No hard sell, just honest conversation.

Barefoot Coaching Leader as Coach Open Programme

Why Do Leaders Need Coaching Skills?

Leadership today asks more of conversations than ever before.

In increasingly complex, fast-moving environments, leaders aren’t just expected to direct, they’re expected to engage, involve, and unlock the thinking of the people around them.

The difference between teams that thrive and those that stall often comes down to this: are people told what to do, or are they able to contribute what they know?

This programme helps you shift how you lead, so that everyday conversations become more than updates or instructions. They become moments that build trust, surface insight, and move things forward.

You’ll learn alongside leaders facing similar challenges, in a space that is practical, supportive, and grounded in real work, not theory.

“The role of the manager, in short, is becoming that of a coach.” – Harvard Business Review, 2019.

Enrol Now

What Our Graduates Say

Hear from coaches who have completed our Leader as Coach programme, and how it is already impacting their leadership.

For many, the programme becomes more than a learning experience, it’s a turning point. A chance to step back, deepen their thinking, and become more intentional in how they lead and coach others.

Enrol Now

Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers

This programme is suitable for leaders or managers who are ready to take their leadership to the next level. It is the ideal choice for anybody who wants to supercharge their results, by empowering and building stronger and more productive relationships with their team and stakeholders. We have deliberately constructed a programme that is targeted towards building even better leaders rather than turning leaders into full-time coaches.  

Whether delegates are directly or indirectly responsible for leading others, our Leader as Coach Programme will enable them to engage and inspire those they work with to achieve better results by making their everyday conversations extraordinary. 

This open programme brings leaders from different organisations together to share their experiences of leading in todays complex and hybrid world. The programme is delivered online and consists of 1×2-hour Engagement Session, 5 x half-day taught sessions + 2 x two-hour Booster Sessions.

Delegates will coach inside and outside of the learning environment and are required to complete a minimum of ten hours of workplace coaching to successfully complete the programme. 

At the end of the programme, delegates are asked to write and submit a 500-word reflective essay on the impact of their coaching in their organisation.

*For 2025 we are adding an optional in-person networking event at Barefoot HQ.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAMME ROADMAP

This programme is accredited by the EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council) at Foundation Level and carries the EMCC’S Global EQA Quality Award. This is an internationally recognised award that demonstrates the quality of the programme content and the high standard of tutoring.

The programme includes 2 x 2-hour Booster Sessions which typically take place at the mid and end point. These group sessions provide valuable space to review coaching progress and take the place of traditional coaching supervision. Group Coaching methodologies are used to help delegates work through live issues or challenges related to their coaching practise. The aim is to have delegates leave feeling better resourced and more confident in their coaching ability  

Delegates receive a welcome back at the start of the programme which contains the following Barefoot Coaching resources: 

     

Our exclusive Leader as Coach Diagnostic™ is a powerful assessment tool, developed in partnership with Business Psychologists. It aims to highlight a leader’s strengths and development areas in relation to a set of ‘Leader as Coach’ competencies. Organisational-specific norm data is utilised as a helpful way for delegates to benchmark their results against those of their peers. Supporting resources are provided to assist delegates in turning their insights into meaningful actions that benefit themselves, their team and their organisation. It is offered as a standalone product, as well as being a core part of our Leader as Coach Programme, where it provides a helpful measure for demonstrating the impact and return of the programme.

The Leader as Coach Assessment™ is currently undergoing validity testing by MSc students at The University of West England.

The diagnostic consists of 64 indicators across Barefoot’s Four Leader as Coach Quadrants. These are: 

COACHING MINDSET

This is about the way a leader thinks, and the beliefs they hold about themselves and others. 

COACHING AT WORK

This is about how leaders model the qualities of an effective Leader as Coach in the workplace. 

ATTENTION & LISTENING

This is about the environment leaders create to help others do their best and freshest thinking. 

COACHING ORGANISATIONS

This is about a leader’s ability to have effective and impactful coaching conversations. 

Typically, the diagnostic is completed pre and post-programme. The outputs provide a helpful focus for the delegates’ development whilst they are on the programme.

The diagnostic is available in three formats, Self-Assessment, 180 (Self-Assessment + either Line Manager or Direct Report feedback), or 360 (Self-Assessment + Line Manager + Direct Reports + Peers + Others). For this open programme, learners will complete a self-assessment. 

Successful completion of the programme will enable delegates to confidently coach others as part of their day-to-day role using the coaching skills, knowledge and mindset that they learn and practise on the programme. As well as valuable tools and resources, delegates will receive a Barefoot Coaching certificate of completion, which includes the EMCC EQA accreditation logo, and a Barefoot Qualified Leader as Coach digital badge to display on email signatures and on social media. Our digital badge is a demonstration of a delegate’s ability to effectively coach others as part of their day-to-day role, and the EMCC accreditation logo is a representation of the delegate having completed an internationally recognised and robust coach training programme.

  • Develop the skills needed to build and sustain cohesive, productive and high-performing teams 
  • Develop greater self-awareness through critical reflection, diagnostics, coaching practise and feedback from tutors and delegates 
  • Understand why coaching works, the benefits of coaching and the essential attributes of an effective Leader as Coach  
  • Learn about the psychology of people and the key skills of coaching – listening, asking powerful questions and giving feedback   
  • Review existing knowledge, skills and experience and apply this to coaching    
  • Understand your leadership style and be able to adopt a coaching style when it is requiredmore of the time 
  • Know when to coach and when a different approach is required 
  • Have impactful coaching conversations in a variety of scenarios and settings (e.g. goal setting, career and difficult conversations, in 1:1s, ‘on the go’, in-person and online) 
  • Practise coaching inside and outside of the learning environment and receive feedback from tutors and delegates on your strengths and areas for development 
  • Acquire a range of practical tools and approaches to help you coach your team (1:1 and as a group), your stakeholders and people more senior than you  
  • Coach your team for increased self-sufficiency and improved engagement, collaboration and results 
  • Build your coaching confidence and start practising coaching skills from the first session 

Minimum 10, maximum 15.

Self-funded: £2,500 incl. VAT*
Corporate-funded: £2,500 + VAT*

*Per Person

Interest-free instalment options available. Terms and conditions apply, speak to a member of the Barefoot Team for more details.

Barefoot  ‘Leader as Coach’ cancellation/late changes policy.

To ensure the required minimum number of delegates and minimise disruptions caused by short-notice cancellations, we have the following policy:

All course cancellations must be submitted in writing via email to [email protected]. Verbal cancellations cannot be accepted.

Cancellations or changes made within 14 days of the session start date will result in the full balance being retained.

This policy applies to all online session bookings for the Leader as Coach Programme made via phone or our website (www.barefootcoaching.co.uk). However, we will make every effort to work with delegates to find a suitable solution before enforcing this policy.

We're here to help & answer any questions

Let's Talk! Call 01332 863641

Kelly Wood Barefoot Coaching

Meet the Tutor Team

Our Team Coaching Practitioner tutors are experienced, expert coaches with backgrounds in team and executive coaching, and deep understanding of team dynamics in practice.

Clare Carpenter PCC

Clare Carpenter

ICF PCC
EMCC EIA Senior Practitioner
Chaya Mistry - Barefoot Coaching Tutor

Chaya Mistry

ICF ACC
Chartered PR Practitioner
Julia Barry - Barefoot Coaching Tutor

Julia Barry

ICF PCC
Trained Neurodiversity in Coaching
Caz Hawley - Certificate in Coaching Supervision

Caz Hawley

ICF PCC
Post Graduate Certificate in Coaching Supervision

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