Remedial — Why the People Sent to Coaching Are Rarely the Ones Who Need It

Who Coaching Is Actually For: how organisations misallocate coaching budget, and what changes when it goes to the strongest leaders rather than the struggling ones.

Russell Harvey has logged over 6,000 hours of executive coaching to board level, and he can usually tell inside one session whether a leader chose to be there or was sent. Most organisations spend their coaching budget on the person who is struggling, which quietly turns coaching into a disciplinary label and teaches everyone else to refuse it. Drawing on more than 10,000 hours of facilitation across organisations including the NHS, Novartis and Kerry Group, he makes the opposite case: the return is highest on the leaders already performing, because they are the ones with room to move. He is straight about where it does not work, and about what a sponsor has to say out loud when the offer is made so it does not read as a warning. Listeners leave able to tell whether coaching in their own organisation is a reward or a remedy, and how to change which one it looks like.

About Russell Harvey

Russell Harvey, podcast guest

The Resilience Coach | Resilient Leadership Expert

100,000+ People positively affected6,000+ Executive coaching hours£12M+ ROI delivered by RWE npower leadership programme20+ years Learning, leadership and organisational development

Russell Harvey is The Resilience Coach - a resilient leadership expert, executive coach, facilitator and keynote speaker who helps leaders and organisations perform at their best when the world refuses to stand still.

With more than 20 years in Learning, Leadership and Organisational Development, 6,000+ hours of executive coaching and over 70 published podcast appearances, Russell is an experienced and engaging voice on resilience, leadership and navigating persistent change. He has worked with leaders across organisations including Novartis, the NHS, AB World Foods, Kerry Group and The Co-operative Group.

Russell’s work goes beyond helping people simply cope with pressure. He believes true resilience isn’t about “bouncing back”, being tougher or pretending everything is fine - it’s about springing forward with learning and becoming better equipped to lead because of the challenges you’ve faced.

His approach connects the human side of leadership directly to what matters to organisations: engaged people, stronger cultures, better decisions and improved performance. His work has delivered measurable results, including a leadership programme that returned £12 million to the business and a Resilient Leader Programme that achieved more than 1,100% ROI.

In August 2025, Russell achieved his long-held purpose of positively affecting 100,000 people.

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