Myths & Paradoxes in Coaching

Coaching is full of ideas that sound simple until we meet them in real practice.

Be client-led. Create safety. Trust the process. Do not advise. Stay curious. Follow the client’s agenda.

Each of these ideas matters. And each can become limiting when held too tightly.

In this live, unscripted conversation for International Coaching Week 2026, Steve Jeffs MCC and Tinus van der Merwe will explore some of the myths and paradoxes that shape how coaches show up in the room. Together, they will look at the tensions beneath masterful coaching: structure and emergence, autonomy and direction, safety and discomfort, knowing and not knowing, helping and not helping.

This will not be a polished lecture or a set of rehearsed answers. It will be a real coaching conversation about the realities, subtleties and professional judgement required when there is no single “right” way to coach.

For coaches who want to deepen their practice and explore the subtleties of masterful coaching.