Why Executives Need Coaching Skills to Support Mental Health at Work
- Bahaa Malaeb
- May 2
- 2 min read
Executives are expected to deliver results, manage teams, and navigate constant change. Yet one of the most overlooked aspects of effective leadership is the ability to recognize and respond to mental health needs in the team.
Executives are not therapists; but they are culture setters. When equipped with coaching skills, leaders can create environments where employees feel heard, supported, and psychologically safe.
The Role of the Executive in Mental Health
According to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Human Capital Trends report, over 80% of employees expect their leaders to support mental wellbeing; but less than 20% believe their managers are trained to do so.
Leaders who lack the tools to engage in supportive, human-centered conversations may unintentionally allow distress to go unnoticed or unresolved.
How Coaching Skills Help Executives Support Mental Health
Training leaders in core coaching skills enables them to:
Listen with empathy and without judgment
Recognize early signs of stress, burnout, or disengagement
Create psychological safety in one-to-one and team settings
Respond with supportive questions, not assumptions
Encourage boundary-setting and healthy performance expectations
These are practical, learnable skills. They don’t require a clinical background; only intention and training.
Coaching Is Not Therapy! It’s a Leadership Tool
The distinction between therapy and coaching is important. Coaching is forward-looking, goal-oriented, and non-clinical. For executives, it offers a structured approach to:
Foster resilience in teams
Navigate change with emotional intelligence
Hold space for staff challenges while maintaining clarity on goals
According to a study in The Leadership Quarterly, managers who coach regularly improve team wellbeing, reduce attrition, and increase performance: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2020.101388
Building These Skills in the GCC
In the GCC context, where mental health conversations are still emerging, equipping managers with coaching capabilities is both culturally respectful and operationally effective. It builds trust without overstepping boundaries.
Brightfields: Training Leaders to Lead with Empathy
At Brightfields, we work with leading organizations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha to train executives in ICF-aligned coaching skills; integrated with behavioral science and neuroscience. Our programs empower leaders to support their teams’ mental health while still driving results.
To explore how your leadership team can learn coaching-based approaches to employee wellbeing, check our featured Certified Positive Leadership Coach training program https://www.brightfields.co.uk/cplc
Interested in Executive Coach Training, and want to know more?
📧 Contact us at gcc@brightfields.co.uk
🌐 Visit: https://www.brightfields.co.uk
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