By Chris Sliz, RGS Organizational Development Team Leader

Complexity, accountability, and constant change are just a few of the realities of leadership in local government. Public-sector leaders navigate political dynamics, steward public resources, manage diverse teams, and respond to evolving community needs—all while building trust with elected officials, staff, and the communities they serve.

Coaching has emerged as one of the most effective tools for supervisors, managers, and executives in local government. As described in Executive Coaching in Local Government: What It Is and What It Is Not, coaching strengthens decision-making, deepens self-awareness, and helps leaders translate insight into meaningful action—without losing sight of public service values.

At RGS, we view coaching not as a benefit reserved for executives but as a strategic leadership practice that supports individuals, teams, and organizations in navigating today’s public-sector challenges with clarity and purpose.

What exactly does a coach do?

• A coach supports your professional growth by providing a confidential, open space to work through challenges, evaluate opportunities, and recognize self-imposed barriers. They help you strengthen your leadership, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.
• A coach serves as a guide through real-world challenges—delicate relationships, competing priorities, and the pressure to deliver results. They provide feedback, broaden your perspective by challenging assumptions and identifying patterns, and build self-awareness about how your behavior affects others. With a balance of support and accountability, coaching becomes an intentional, strategic partnership focused on measurable outcomes.
• A coach can help you and another team member address performance issues by helping you explore the problem more deeply and unearth potential solutions. Coaches can bring more structure and accountability to deficiencies that are technical or interpersonal.

What coaching looks like in local government

Coaching is often misunderstood. It is not mentoring, therapy, or consulting. While mentors offer advice based on experience and consultants provide expert solutions, coaching is grounded in intentional questioning, reflection, and self-directed learning. Rather than telling people what to do, effective coaching helps leaders examine how they think, decide, and lead—particularly through complex or high-stakes situations.

This distinction is critical in public service, where leaders must weigh ethical considerations, political realities, and long-term community impact. Coaching encourages leaders to pause, gain perspective, and act more deliberately—an essential practice in environments where decisions are highly visible and consequences extend well beyond the organization.

At the program level, coaching also supports clearer goal setting and sustained progress through intentional check-ins. These sessions help leaders and teams define priorities, align efforts with organizational objectives, and establish shared measures of success. Regular coaching check-ins create accountability while allowing space to reflect on what is working, where adjustments are needed, and when strategic pivots are required. In fast-moving local government environments, this rhythm of reflection and action helps ensure programs remain responsive, focused, and aligned with public service outcomes.

Coaching comes in many shapes and sizes

Values-driven

Effective coaching in local government must be both structured and values-based. Coaching with Clarity: Bruce Grimley’s 7Cs and Their Power in Local Government Leadership highlights the importance of clarity and intentionality throughout the coaching relationship. The 7Cs—Context, Contract, Connection, Curiosity, Challenge, Change, and Commitment—ensure coaching conversations are focused, ethical, and grounded in the leader’s real operating environment.

This values-driven approach is reinforced in Coaching with Purpose: Applying Lane and Corrie’s PPP Model in Local Government. The Purpose–Perspectives–Process model emphasizes aligning coaching with public service values by clarifying why coaching matters, encouraging multiple perspectives, and ensuring the coaching process itself is ethical and intentional. This mirrors the realities of local government decision-making, where equity, accountability, and stakeholder interests are ever-present.

Action-oriented

Coaching must also move leaders from insight to action. Coaching for Change: Applying Peter Hawkins’ CLEAR Model in Local Government Leadership offers a structured pathway from understanding to implementation. Through contracting, deep listening, exploration, action planning, and review, the CLEAR model supports leaders in turning awareness into concrete behavioral change.

Similarly, Unlocking Potential in Local Government: The INSIGHT Coaching Cycle frames coaching as an ongoing developmental process rather than a one-time event. By moving through stages of goal setting, implementation, feedback, learning, and transition, coaching supports sustained growth that evolves alongside changing roles and responsibilities. This cyclical approach is particularly effective for leadership pipelines, succession planning, and long-term capacity building in local agencies.

Team-based

Coaching is not limited to formal one-on-one engagements. Simple frameworks like the GROW model—highlighted in The Tao of Coaching: A Guide for Local Government Leaders—offer practical conversation templates that help employees clarify goals, assess reality, explore options, and commit to action without diminishing accountability.

For supervisors and managers, adopting this coaching mindset can be transformative. It shifts leadership away from directive control toward capacity-building and shared ownership, strengthening trust and engagement across teams. Over time, these everyday coaching moments accumulate, shaping healthier organizational cultures.

Coaching beyond the individual

While coaching often begins as a one-on-one relationship, its impact extends deeper into the agency. When coaching behaviors—reflection, inquiry, constructive challenge, and accountability—are modeled consistently, they ripple through teams and departments. Coaching becomes a lever for organizational learning, helping agencies surface systemic issues, navigate change, and build resilience amid complexity.

In this way, coaching supports not only individual performance but also the overall health and adaptability of local governments.

The RGS approach to coaching in public service

At RGS, we support leaders at all levels—from analysts and supervisors to senior executives—in strengthening their effectiveness and confidence. Our approach to coaching is grounded in real-world local government experience and evidence-informed frameworks that reflect the realities of public service.

We believe coaching is most powerful when it is intentional, values-driven, and action-oriented. By investing in coaching, local governments invest in more decisive leadership, healthier organizations, and better outcomes for the communities they serve.

~Chris Sliz, RGS Organizational Development Team Leader