What Separates a Good Coach From a Great One

This newsletter is inspired by Empower World's Coaching and Leadership Podcast conversation with Andy Robbins, Founder of Oyster, Executive Coach, Author, Climber, and Photographer: Episode 255 - 'What a Camera Lens Teaches You About Coaching - And Why Presence Is Everything.'

Most coaches and leaders reach a point where they realise something unsettling: the models aren't enough. The frameworks guide, and the techniques support: they provide us structure, language, and a place to begin. But at some point - often in the middle of a session, when something unexpected surfaces - we discover transformation comes not from the tool or model we reach for. It's something more natural and yet harder to teach.

It's our presence.

This is exactly what executive coach and headshot photographer Andy Robbins discovered when he began to see the unexpected parallels between his two crafts. A headshot, Andy explains, is not simply about capturing an image. It is about creating one with intention. As he puts it: "There's such a greater opportunity here to create an image which reinforces how a leader comes over - and how they want others to see them."

What Andy noticed behind the camera mirrors what the best coaches know in a session. You are not simply observing what is in front of you. You are in a creative, relational process where your attention, your language, and the quality of your presence shape what is underlying the stories that become more visible.

A skilled photographer reads micro-expressions, tracks energy, and notices what shifts when the subject stops performing and starts simply being. A skilled and present coach/leader does the same when supporting an individual or a group.

Andy describes learning to see and observe with a different 'pair of glasses' - developing new distinctions that become apparent only through practice, reflection and the willingness to hold space and stay with uncertainty rather than rushing toward a result.

"It's a bit like coaching," he says. "I trust the process - that at the right moments, the expressions I'm looking for will come out, and I'll be there capturing them." That is what is at the heart of developing your craft: your presence, which is the key to listening beyond the words and surface stories we hear.

Noticing what is invisible or under the surface of what our coaching partners present isn't about accumulating more models or having better questions ready. It deepens our capacity to be fully present with another human being: curious, unhurried and trusting in a way that invites honesty, insight and the possibility of something genuinely new.

This kind of presence cannot be rushed. It is shaped through experience, reflective practice, coaching supervision, and the courage to stay with what is emerging rather than reaching too quickly for answers. 

The more we do this work - and the more honestly we reflect on it - the more we begin to notice what we previously missed, such as the subtle shift in posture, the pause before the answer, or the metaphor the client uses again and again without realising it.

Like Andy standing behind his camera, we recognise that the continuous development of our craft - refining our ability to 'see' what we might not ordinarily notice - supports our ability to masterfully empower the coaching partners we serve.

As you continue your coaching journey, we invite you to sit with this question: Where am I relying on what I already know - and where am I truly open to discovering something new?

Be Empowered.

www.empower-world.com

If this reflection resonates with you, you may enjoy listening to the full conversation with Andy Robbins on the Empower World Coaching and Leadership Podcast with Marie Quigley, Co-Founder of Empower World. You can listen to the full episode here:

YouTube: ------ https://bit.ly/YT-Podcast-EP-255

Direct Link: ---- https://bit.ly/Podcast-EP-255

Spotify: ------- https://bit.ly/SP-Podcast-EP-255

iTunes: -------- https://bit.ly/IT-Podcast-EP-255

As always, we would love to hear what resonates most with you. What helps you move from sharing knowledge to inviting meaningful transformation?

Upcoming Empower World Events and Programmes

Empower World's world-class ICF-Approved Professional Coach Training and Leadership Programme for Level 1 starts on 16 June 2026. You can find out more here.

Coaching Skills Mentoring Programme with an MCC mentor for ICF credentialing purposes, starting 18 September 2026. Find out more about how you can step into masterful coaching here.

The Reignite Coaching Community supports coaches to rebuild confidence, reconnect with their purpose, and return to coaching with clarity and momentum. Through practical resources, peer coaching, expert-led sessions, and a vibrant community, you gain the experience and growth, together with encouragement and feedback to enhance your skills, pursue credentials, and create a thriving, sustainable practice - no matter where you are on your coaching journey, from beginner to highly experienced. Find out more here.

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