What Really Sets Expert Coaches Apart, With Dr. Andrew McDowell
"Really excellent coaching is about helping people think new things they hadn't thought before." Andrew McDowell, TPC Leadership
Expert coaching skills separate a coach who follows a model from one who works with real depth. In this interview, TPC Leadership partner Andrew McDowell sits down with David Malkinson to open up the deeper skill behind good coaching. Andrew brings twenty years inside the firm, a background in clinical and health psychology, and early mentorship from John and Diana Whitmore. You will learn how coaching works at a psychological level, why questioning sits at the core, where the T-GROW model came from, and how expert coaches differ from beginners.
Coaching as a route to self efficacy
Andrew describes coaching as a transformational process, not a technique. This is what coaching does at a psychological level. It helps people reach their own potential and reconnect with what matters to them. The work is not about giving advice or fixing a problem. It is about creating the conditions for someone to think clearly and act with intent. The outcome Andrew points to is self efficacy, the belief a person holds in their own ability to shape what happens next. When a client leaves a session trusting their own judgement, the coaching has done its work. This is why the change lasts. It sits inside the person, not in the instruction. You see the same thread in transformational coaching.
The art of expert questioning
The core skill is questioning. Andrew draws a line between transactional questions and developmental ones. A transactional question gets a person to repeat what they already know. A developmental question helps them think something new. This is the difference between filling a gap and opening a door. Expert coaches ask coaching questions that raise awareness, so the client sees options they had missed. The skill is not in holding the right answer. It is in asking the question the client had avoided, then staying quiet long enough for them to reach it themselves. As Andrew puts it, excellent coaching helps people think new things they had not thought before. The move from answering to questioning is where most coaches grow the most, and where the depth of real practice starts to show.
The origin of the T-GROW coaching model
The T-GROW model gives a coaching conversation its shape. Its roots go back to Sir John Whitmore, who set out the GROW coaching model in his book Coaching for Performance. GROW stands for Goal, Reality, Options, Will. Myles Downey later added the Topic at the front, turning GROW into T-GROW, so a conversation starts by agreeing what to explore before setting a goal. Andrew treats T-GROW as scaffolding rather than a script. It holds the conversation together while the coach stays free to follow the client. Other models sit comfortably inside it. OSKAR, CLEAR and STEPPER each map onto the same underlying arc. Learn the T-GROW frame well and you hold a structure you return to under pressure, in any coaching setting. Read more in our guide to the GROW and T-GROW model.
Executive coaching vs clinical coaching
The same principles apply in a boardroom and a clinic, but the objective shifts. This is the heart of executive coaching vs clinical coaching. An executive coach follows the client. They trust the leader to hold their own agenda and reach their own answers. A clinical coach carries specialist knowledge and manages risk, so they lead more of the conversation. The level of directiveness moves with the context. Where the stakes touch health and safety, the coach steps in more. Where the work is leadership growth, the coach steps back. Andrew is clear the underlying skill is shared. What changes is how much the coach holds and how much they hand over. See the leadership side in our guide to executive coaching.
Novice coach vs expert coach
The clearest marker of experience is how a coach holds the model. Beginners grip it tightly. They work through each stage in order because the structure gives them safety. This matters when learning how to become an expert coach. Experienced coaches move beyond the structure into presence. They read the room, follow the client, and trust the process enough to let go of the steps. Andrew names two things every coach wishes they had learned earlier. The first is how to challenge, to say the hard thing with care rather than smoothing it over. The second is how to be present, to stay with a client fully rather than planning the next question. Both take time. Neither comes from a manual. They come from doing the work and reflecting on it.
The ten thousand hours behind expert coaching
Andrew closes on the point every expert makes. There is no shortcut. Coach, reflect, then coach again. The ten thousand hours behind expert coaching are not a slogan. They are the real path. Each session teaches something the last one did not. Reflection turns experience into skill. This is why serious training pairs learning with supervised practice, so you build the hours with guidance rather than alone. You learn the models, apply them with real clients, and leave with the confidence to keep growing. Explore the routes in our guide to coaching qualifications.
The through line
Coaching works when the coach listens well, asks questions that open new thinking, and trusts the process enough to be present. The models give structure. The skill is in how lightly you hold them. If you want to build these skills properly, TPC Coaching Academy offers ICF and EMCC accredited training grounded in this depth.
Watch the full conversation
The full interview goes deeper into each idea, with Andrew drawing on examples from twenty years of practice. Watch the conversation between Andrew McDowell and David Malkinson to hear the detail behind expert coaching skills, the T-GROW model, and the difference between a good coach and a great one.