Great Coaching Questions
You might have seen me mention recently that I’ve been in a recording studio, reading out loud my book It’s Not Bloody Rocket Science for the Audible version.
Firstly hat’s off to people who do that all the time! It is a lot harder than it looks (and sounds!)
And do you know what struck me? I’ve got some cracking sections in there that I’d completely forgotten about?
One question I get asked all the time is.. where can you find great coaching questions?
“Where can I find better coaching questions?”
The simple answer is one I haven’t been giving people: at the end of every single chapter in the book, there are Top Right questions. Questions for you, and questions for you to ask others.
By the time I’d finished recording, I realised there must be 50, 60, maybe 70 of them—sitting right under my nose! Just shows how blind you get when you flick through something every day!
So, I thought I’d share a few today from the Imposter chapter. That’s a theme I know a lot of you resonate with.
Here are some of the ones that really landed as I said them out loud in the studio:
For yourself:
- What do I fear will happen if I fail?
- Will I feel worse if I fail, or worse if I don’t try?
To ask others:
- Who do you see—whether in the media or personally—who feels the fear and does it anyway?
- Who do you know who wouldn’t feel the fear and do it anyway? And what could you learn from them?
And here’s one that really stuck with me:
👉 What advice would you give your protégé—or your best mate—if they were about to take a big step and were scared stiff?
Sometimes the best coaching question is the one that helps you step outside yourself. Because the advice we’d give someone we care about is often exactly the advice we need to hear ourselves.
So whether you’re coaching others, or just giving yourself a nudge forward today—borrow these. They’ve been waiting in the back of the book for their moment.
Neuroscience in a Nutshell: Why Questions Work
When someone tells you what to do, your brain often resists—it feels like a threat to autonomy. That kicks up a stress response.
But a well-framed question? That’s different. A question flips the brain into search mode. It lights up the prefrontal cortex, where we do our best problem-solving and meaning-making. In short, questions don’t push—you pull the answer from yourself. And because it’s your answer, your brain treats it as more trustworthy and more likely to stick.
That’s why coaching works – and isn’t about giving advice. It’s about asking the kind of questions that help new neural pathways form – making change and growth possible, rather than just a vague hope.
As well as writing, I train people to coach for a living. If you’d like to learn to coach, or to try coaching with one of the amazing people I’ve taught over the years, just drop me a DM. They all know the neuroscience in a nutshell – and can use it to help you find what’s next and brilliant for you.
And if you want to join our tribe of coaches with their feet firmly on the ground, find out more here.
We listen. We understand. We are confident that we can create a bespoke solution
that really adds to your bottom line.
