Pair coaching: Strengthening critical relationships
- Martin Egan
- Aug 29
- 2 min read
When leadership teams hit bottlenecks, the problem often isn’t lack of talent or ambition, but the space between people. How well leaders communicate, align, and collaborate has a direct impact on organisational performance.
That’s where pair coaching can be a really effective process, as it helps to keep critical relationships on track.
What is pair coaching?
Pair coaching is a powerful coaching approach we developed in response to a specific challenge: how do you accelerate trust, alignment, and collaboration between leaders when the stakes are high, and time is short?
Instead of looking at individuals in isolation (executive coaching) or the whole group at once (team coaching), pair coaching focuses on critical pairings, for example, sales and operations, finance and marketing, or even co-founders, creating a structured space for two leaders to build clarity, deepen trust, and strengthen collaboration around their shared responsibilities.
Pair coaching helps leaders uncover three things:
Individual purpose – what drives each of them in their role.
Shared purpose – where their objectives and accountabilities overlap.
Relational dynamics – how power, authority, and history influence how they collaborate.
This structured process ensures that conversations go beyond surface-level alignment to tackle systemic issues, decision-making bottlenecks, and cross-functional challenges.
The result? Teams that function less as a collection of silos and more as one cohesive leadership unit.
Why pair coaching over executive or team coaching?
Pair coaching doesn’t replace executive or team coaching, it complements them by focusing where the stakes are often highest: the working relationship between two leaders.
It is especially valuable when:
New leaders join the team and need to align quickly.
Interdependencies create friction, such as between sales promises and operational delivery.
Decision-making bottlenecks emerge due to unclear roles, authority, or communication.
High-trust collaboration is required in fast-moving or high-stakes environments.
The value of pair coaching in action
One client came to us with a new executive team. Every function head was new to their role and new to the industry. The risk? Slow integration, misalignment, and poor decision-making at the top.
We introduced pair coaching. Within two months, the critical pairings had built stronger relationships, identified shared quick wins, and established clear agreements on how they would work together. The results were tangible:
Faster decision-making.
Improved clarity on accountabilities.
Reduced tension between functions.
A visible ripple effect across their teams, creating a culture of collaboration that spread throughout the organisation.
That’s the hidden power of pair coaching. It doesn’t just benefit the two leaders in the room. When senior leaders model collaboration, it cascades through their teams, embedding a stronger, united team culture.
Ready to explore pair coaching?
At Culture Impact, we’ve seen pair coaching transform executive teams, helping leaders build trust, align objectives, and remove bottlenecks that hold organisations back.
If you’re ready to explore how pair coaching could unlock new levels of performance and collaboration in your business, let’s start the conversation.
Get in touch with Culture Impact to explore coaching today.
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