In my blog post Reflecting on working as an internal and external business coach one of the key differences I saw between the two approaches, in my experience, was that stakeholder (360) feedback was less used in external coaching than internal coaching.

The reason for this, as I saw it, was that it is an obvious additional cost and easy to leave out in external coaching. In internal coaching, it is often factored into costs that can be less transparent, while in an organisation with a coaching culture, it is probably already recognised in terms of its value and therefore the organisation concerned is happy to invest in it.


Reflecting on this, I think it can be a significant missed opportunity for a client in external coaching, which I will explain, and one that the external coach should make more of a case for, including to the client and sponsor.


Not surprisingly, the focus in coaching, for the client and sponsor, is often perceived to be what happens in the coaching sessions. To a large extent that is true, but if the coaching goals for those sessions are not in the best interest of the client’s development areas, then an opportunity has certainly been missed.


We often refer to “holding up the mirror” for the client in coaching.

The mirror represents playing back to the client what they have heard about themselves, what they have said about themselves, and the coach’s perspective on what they have observed. The client can then reflect on what they recognise in themselves, what they didn’t recognise but are now aware of, what they want to work on (their coaching goals), what they want to leave out and what they disagree with.


A key element of “what they have heard about themselves” is stakeholder feedback.

Stakeholder feedback typically involves asking several people who know you well (through direct reports, peers, line manager and other senior stakeholders), to give feedback on your strengths and development areas. It can be captured using various online tools or through some short calls between the stakeholders and the coach (the calls are typically done separately so a stakeholder can feel comfortable giving honest feedback).

The coach then identifies themes (often split under strengths and development areas) from the feedback and can put unattributable quotes under the theme headings, so anonymising the feedback.

From this point, the feedback can be shared with the client, which is best done in a stakeholder feedback session. This allows the coach to prepare the client to receive the feedback with a positive mindset and allows the client to share their reflections on the feedback with the coach, who can then help the client decide what they may take from the feedback to shape their coaching goals.


This process is all part of developing the client’s self-awareness, particularly their awareness of how others see them, which then shapes how they see themselves.


In external coaching, when stakeholder feedback is not factored into the process, the client may at best get the sponsor’s (often their line manager) feedback on how they show up, or possibly no feedback at all.

There is a real risk here that the client misses out on feedback that shines a light on a development area that they were not personally aware of; the blind spot, that others see in them, but they may not have seen in themselves. Stakeholder feedback concerning a particular development need can also be very helpful to revisit once coaching commences. This can be a useful reminder for the client of how others perceive them and give focus to a session which may be occurring sometime after the original coaching goals have been agreed upon.

I recall one client, who had line manager input to their coaching goals but no wider stakeholder feedback. The client always struggled with seeing themselves as being part of the challenge under discussion. Stakeholder feedback on how others saw them concerning a coaching goal would have been very helpful in “holding up the mirror” for the client and potentially increasing their self-awareness on the topic in hand, as well as increasing responsibility to change themselves, rather than blame others.


The process of receiving stakeholder feedback and using it to craft coaching goals can in itself be very powerful for a client. I recently had a client for whom getting feedback from others on their leadership style and using it to identify their development areas gave them absolute focus on what they needed to keep front of mind as they went forward.

The following coaching sessions helped shape new ways of working, but the focus came from the feedback process.

The giving and receiving of feedback needs to be carefully managed by the coach. Just as importantly, the stakeholders need to be confident that their feedback will be treated confidentially and fed back anonymously for them to be comfortable to give open and honest feedback to the client.

Finally, the client needs to be encouraged to see feedback as a gift and that a stakeholder has made time to give in the best interests of the client. Time spent with the client to explore how to best prepare for receiving feedback before the feedback is shared helps the client see the feedback as an opportunity to reflect on how they are perceived and their strengths and development areas, rather than as a negative critical experience.


The stakeholder feedback session can also play a key role in the development of the trust relationship between the client and the coach. The coach as the collator of the feedback, which is then shared with the client in a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space, allows the client to start to see the coach as an individual with whom they can be open, vulnerable, honest and self-reflective.

This in itself is a great starting point for coaching sessions to further build the trust relationship upon.


I think the case should be made for stakeholder feedback playing a greater role in external coaching, as it facilitates the client choosing what should be the focus areas for their coaching with a 360 view, rather than as a self-view. It also plays a role throughout the coaching sessions, bringing the stakeholders' voice - that crucial external perspective - into the client’s sessions, enabling them to shape their thinking regarding their development with a wider perspective than just their own.

Therefore going forwards, as an external coach, I will be more strongly advocating to include stakeholder feedback to my clients and their sponsors.

As always, please get in touch if you have any questions regarding what I write about here.