Too often in law firms a coach is only ever engaged for remedial purposes. The message sent to the lawyer is: you have a problem, you are not up to scratch, a poor performer; you can have a coach to ‘fix’ the problem.

Rather than seeing a coach as a positive thing, as a vote of confidence, a perk, an opportunity to maximise potential – which is much more in keeping with how executive coaching is viewed outside the law – the remedial coaching focus can create a stigma that makes lawyers more reluctant to engage a coach.