Many organisations invest heavily in leadership programs. But a common question remains: how do you make those learning moments stick?
For EY, one answer has been embedding coaching directly into the organisation. Over time, this approach has grown into a powerful development lever, supporting leaders through transitions, strengthening leadership capability, and reinforcing cultural priorities like inclusion.
In a recent conversation on the Mentoring Unlocked podcast, EY Oceania Inclusiveness Business Partnering Lead Michaela Wortley shared how coaching evolved organically within the firm, and why it has become such a valuable part of leadership development.
What began as a small internal initiative has grown into a coaching network delivering up to 1,200 coaching hours annually.
More importantly, it has helped create a culture where reflection, curiosity, and leadership growth are part of everyday work.
Here are three ways EY has embedded coaching into the organisation to support and develop their people.
1. BUILD INTERNAL COACHING CAPABILITY
EY’s coaching capability didn’t start as a formal program.
In fact, it began with a simple idea.
After completing coaching training, a small group of HR professionals decided to put their new skills into practice. They reached out to colleagues, offering coaching conversations to senior managers who might benefit.
The demand quickly grew.
Over time, this informal initiative evolved into a structured internal coaching practice. Today, EY has around 30–35 accredited internal coaches across the organisation.
Why internal coaches?
According to Michaela, internal coaching offers several advantages:
- Coaches understand the organisation’s leadership framework and culture
- Conversations can connect personal development with organisational priorities
- Leaders feel supported by people who understand the context they operate in
As the program matured, perceptions shifted. Early on, leaders often preferred external coaches. Now the dynamic is often reversed. Internal coaching has built such credibility that leaders frequently request it first.
“I actually think that’s where internal coaching works really well. Because we’re so aligned to our leadership framework and the culture, it makes it easier to help our people steer in the right direction.” — Michaela Wortley
For HR leaders considering a similar approach, the lesson is clear: if coaching capability can be nurtured well internally, it can become a powerful strategic asset.
2. FOCUS COACHING ON LEADERSHIP TRANSITIONS
Much of EY’s coaching focuses on moments that matter most in a leadership career. Transitions.
These can include:
- Moving from an individual contributor to a formal leader for the first time
- Development towards the next career progression
- Stepping into senior executive leadership responsibilities
These moments often require leaders to rethink how they show up. Technical capability may have driven success so far, but leadership requires something different. As Michaela explained, coaching conversations often centre on helping leaders:
- Clarify who they are as a leader
- Articulate their purpose and leadership approach
- Translate career aspirations into intentional actions
- Build confidence in how they present their ideas and perspectives.
The goal isn’t to secure a promotion. Instead, coaching supports leaders to better understand themselves, their leadership style, and the impact they want to create.
This self-reflection is where coaching has its greatest impact. When leaders are given space to think more deeply about their leadership identity, they step into new roles with greater clarity and confidence.
And when this support is available at scale, it strengthens leadership capability across the organisation.
3. USE COACHING INSIGHTS TO SHAPE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
One of the most powerful aspects of EY’s approach is the connection between coaching and broader leadership development.
Because the coaching function sits within the leadership development team, insights from coaching conversations can inform the organisation’s learning strategy.
In practice, this means:
- Coaches identify recurring themes in what leaders are experiencing
- Those themes help shape leadership development priorities
- Development programs and coaching then reinforce each other
For example, if multiple leaders are struggling with similar challenges such as leading through complexity or managing stakeholder expectations, those insights can feed into future leadership initiatives.
The relationship also works in reverse. Leadership programs create new capabilities, and coaching helps leaders embed those capabilities in real situations. This creates a powerful learning loop.
Rather than learning remaining theoretical, coaching allows leaders to reflect on how they apply new skills in practice.
For many organisations, this is the missing link between leadership development and real behavioural change.
Coaching behaviours that strengthen leadership
One of the most interesting insights from Michaela’s experience is that effective coaching doesn’t require complex frameworks.
In fact, EY identified three simple behaviours that can dramatically improve leadership conversations:
- Curiosity
Ask genuine questions to understand how someone is thinking. - Deep listening
Pay attention not just to what is said, but how it is said. - Reflection
Play back what you’re hearing to help the other person process their thinking.
These behaviours are simple, yet powerful. When leaders adopt them, conversations become more open, more reflective, and more developmental. And importantly, these skills extend beyond coaching sessions. They influence mentoring conversations, leadership discussions, and everyday team interactions.
Coaching, mentoring, and inclusive leadership
Another theme from the conversation was the connection between coaching and inclusive leadership.
Curiosity and listening are not only coaching skills, they are also essential leadership capabilities. When leaders genuinely seek to understand different perspectives, they create space for diverse thinking.
As Michaela reflected, many workplaces are conditioned to listen for answers. People are trained to respond quickly with solutions. But leadership often requires something different: the willingness to pause, ask questions, and understand how others arrived at their ideas.
This shift can unlock significant benefits.
When leaders ask more questions and listen more deeply:
- teams feel heard
- diverse perspectives surface
- better decisions are made
Mentoring programs can also play an important role here. Formal mentoring relationships often connect people who may not naturally work together. These conversations expose leaders to different experiences, perspectives, and ways of thinking.
And in many cases, mentors discover they learn just as much as their mentees.
The deeper impact of coaching cultures
Perhaps the most powerful message from EY’s coaching journey is this: Leadership development is most effective when reflection becomes part of everyday work.
Coaching creates the conditions for this. It helps leaders pause, question their assumptions, and explore different perspectives. And when those habits become embedded across an organisation, leadership capability grows naturally.
For HR and People & Culture leaders, the question isn’t simply whether to introduce coaching. It’s how to create environments where coaching behaviours like curiosity, listening, and reflection, become part of how leaders show up every day.
Because when leaders learn to ask better questions and listen more deeply, development conversations become far more meaningful.
And that’s where real growth begins.
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At MentorKey, we believe that mentoring, coaching and sponsorship programs can play a powerful role in strengthening these leadership conversations. By creating structured spaces for reflection and dialogue, organisations can help their people build the clarity, confidence and capability needed to lead well.
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