Comparing the perspectives of coaches and clients on the coaching process: coaches underestimate the value of empathy and autonomy support for coaching success

Comparisons between coaches’ and clients’ perspectives are uncommon, yet they consistently highlight differences in the perceived importance of coaching-success predictors. In this study, 76 coaches and 1,217 clients assessed their own processes with respect to coaching predictors (working alliance, empathy, trust, perspective taking, and need support) and coaching-success variables (goal attainment, satisfaction, and need fulfilment). A comparison of structural equation models for coaches and clients indicates that working alliance and trust, the strongest predictors of the proximal coaching-success variables (goal attainment, satisfaction), were consistent across perspectives. For clients, empathy emerged as a particularly influential predictor of both proximal outcomes, while coaching satisfaction was further influenced by the working alliance bond and, negatively, by imagine-self perspective taking. For the distal outcome (need fulfilment), working alliance tasks and trust proved significant. Empathy and competence were supported from both coaches’ and clients’ perspectives. For coaches, imagine self added predictive value, whereas for clients, autonomy support and commitment (negatively) played a role. We found systematic differences in the factors according to perspective, particularly the neglect of empathy among the proximal coaching-success factors and of autonomy support among the distal ones, highlighting the importance of considering both perspectives to enhance the understanding of coaching effectiveness.