Here's how you can overcome client feedback resistance and showcase the value of your coaching insights.

Resistance often comes from not fully understanding the purpose of feedback. It's important to communicate that your insights are meant to enhance their progress, not to criticize. Show them how the feedback directly benefits their goals and aligns with their vision. By clearly connecting your guidance to their aspirations, you can shift their view of feedback from a potential obstacle to a valuable tool for reaching their desired outcomes.

Para superar la resistencia de los clientes a las ideas del Coaching, es fundamental practicar la empatía. Las propuestas del Coaching, por más valiosas que sean, solo generarán impacto si el cliente las entiende y las adopta. El Coach debe: 1. Ponerse en el lugar del cliente para comprender sus puntos de vista. 2. Adaptar su comunicación para que las ideas sean claras y resueltas con sus necesidades. Acompañar el proceso para asegurar que el cliente vea el valor y los beneficios en cada sugerencia. Así, se logrará una mayor aceptación de las ideas y un cambio efectivo.

First, step back and remind yourself and the client why they brought you on board. They didn’t hire you to agree with everything they’re doing—but to help them grow, stretch and succeed. When they push back, acknowledge their point of view instead of getting defensive and reconnect to the bigger picture. Frame your feedback to help them get where they want to go faster and with less friction. Share examples of how what you’re suggesting has worked for others or how it tackles their specific challenges head-on. Sometimes, people need to see the why behind your insights before fully buying in. It’s not about proving you’re right; it’s about showing them that embracing your feedback will lead to tangible, measurable results.

Whether in a coaching or a management leadership situation, feedback needs to be given in context, for a purpose, in a safe and trusted space, positively, and as far as possible when it's asked for, required and appropriate. Otherwise, feedback becomes criticism, preaching or advising. The best feedback is given with structured engagement sessions with clearly defined purposes. It may be a performance review or an informal chat over coffee understanding how the other feels, and what they need. Feedback must be non-judgmental and developmental helping the other to learn and progress. It must be empathetic to make the other feel understood. It must be respectful to make the other feel valued. Feedback is a performance enhancement tool.

Overcoming client feedback resistance and showcasing the value of your coaching insights involves a few key strategies. Begin by actively listening to their feedback with empathy, demonstrating that you value their perspective. Clarify any misunderstandings and address their concerns openly, showing how your insights align with their goals. Next, present data or examples that illustrate the tangible benefits and successes of your coaching. Highlight case studies or success stories where your insights led to significant improvements. By combining a respectful, data-driven approach with clear, relevant examples, you can effectively overcome resistance and reinforce the value of your coaching.

Feedback must be in the horizontal mode of empathetic respectful and generative delivery aimed at helping the other person to learn reflect and grow. It must never be a vertically superior to inferior preaching of 'I know what to do, now you should learn from me' approach. Such feedback is detrimental. The purpose of feedback is to benefit the receiver. They should feel empowered by it. They should feel they can own what they have learnt and be accountable for acting upon it. To make that happen feedback given needs to know the 'who' of the receiver in emotional and spiritual intelligence and tailor the feedback to their values and beliefs. The receiver needs to see the feedback as something they can use to achieve meaning in work life.

Even if feedback is given in a coaching mode of creating awareness for learning and growth when supported with mentoring inputs of the feedback giver's experience in the form of stories and metaphors they are exceptionally powerful. When I work with teams to build an emotional bond, I start by getting them to share their transformational experiences illustrating their strengths and needs. I start first by telling them about my work-life journey experiences focusing on failures from which I learned to grow. Many said that these inspired them to look at failures differently. A caveat I provide is that my DNA is different from theirs, and they need to think and reflect critically about how another's experience can be of value to them.