Does It Matter How You Coach Women?
- Dr. Dawn
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month are easy to celebrate with quotes and pink graphics. Do you know what’s hard? Letting the month change how we listen, what we assume, and what we treat as “normal” in coaching.
When you coach women, you are partnering with a person whose goals, risks, and choices are shaped within gendered social conditions. That context can influence voice, boundary-setting, self-advocacy, and what feels safe.
Why culturally responsive coaching matters
Some coaches, especially in the executive leadership or business coaching space, treat culturally responsive coaching or social identity as an optional layer—something you add when a client is “different.” In practice, culture and social identity are always present. Social location (gender, race, nationality, religion, differently abled identity, class, sexuality, and more) shapes what clients have learned to expect from authority, what has been rewarded or punished, and what consequences may follow visibility, ambition, or dissent.
A trauma-informed lens helps coaches recognize how experiences of threat, power, and safety can shape behavior and decision-making, and it emphasizes conditions that support choice, collaboration, and empowerment (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2014). Cultural and identity humility complement this by encouraging a person- or individual-oriented stance—openness, self-reflection, and a willingness to be taught by the client’s lived experience rather than relying on assumptions (Hook et al., 2013).
How to anchor your coaching approach
1) Coaching women requires attention to gendered social learning
Many women navigate a double bind: be assertive but not “too much”; be competent but not intimidating; lead but stay likable. Over time, these pressures can show up as over-functioning, second-guessing, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or a quiet belief that wanting more is selfish.
Coaching implication: This is not simply a confidence issue. It is often a values-and-safety issue. Effective coaching helps clients name the social rules they have been trained to follow, evaluate the cost of those rules, and choose responses that align with their values and goals.
2) Intersectionality changes what support looks like
Kimberlé Crenshaw’s (1989) work on intersectionality explains why “women’s experiences” cannot be treated as a single storyline. Gender interacts with race, nationality, religion, differently abled identity, class, sexuality, and other identities in ways that shape opportunity, risk, and the likelihood of being believed.
A few examples coaches routinely miss:
A Black woman may face different penalties for directness than a white woman in the same role.
An LGBTQ+ woman may need safety planning before visibility or advocacy goals.
A differently abled woman may be managing access barriers that make “consistency” a structural challenge, not a motivation problem.
An immigrant woman may be balancing cultural values, family obligations, and workplace norms that pull in different directions.
Coaching implication: Intersectionality is not a buzzword. It is a practical reminder to coach the client’s lived reality rather than an abstract category.
3) Social context influences motivation, goal attainment, and outcomes
Motivation is not purely internal. If a client’s environment punishes ambition, the nervous system may interpret growth as danger. If past experiences taught her that speaking up leads to backlash, “executive presence” work can activate threat responses.
Coaching implication: Goal design must account for context. Coaches can help clients set meaningful goals while also identifying supports, constraints, and risk-mitigation strategies.
Seven trauma-informed, culturally and identity responsive strategies
Lead with consent around depth Try: “Would you like to stay present-focused today, or explore what’s underneath this pattern?”
Acknowledge power dynamics without making the client responsible for them. Try: “What has it cost you in the past when you’ve spoken up in similar spaces?”
Practice cultural humility: let the client be the expert on their context Try: “What should I understand about your cultural context to support you well here?”
Differentiate skill gaps from context penalties Try: “Which part of this challenge is about skill, and which part is about the environment you’re in?”
Challenge with care while holding space for authenticity Try: “What would a values-aligned next step look like that still protects your safety and well-being?”
Use safe communication strategies Try: “What is the simplest sentence you can say that communicates your boundary clearly?”
Make bias visible, then choose an empowered response Try: “What response would reflect your values even if the other person stays committed to misunderstanding you?”
A quick note on ethics and scope
Trauma-informed coaching is not trauma treatment. If trauma symptoms are active and impairing, collaborate with the client on appropriate clinical support and stay inside your coaching scope.
Want a deeper dive?
Follow the podcast for deeper conversations and practical tools on culturally responsive coaching: https://www.reidreadycoaching.com/podcast
Register for the next Inclusive Coaching: Intro to the CRC™ Framework cohort: https://www.reidreadycoaching.com/certification
References
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8/
Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., Owen, J., Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Utsey, S. O. (2013). Cultural humility: Measuring openness to culturally diverse clients. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(3), 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032595
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach (HHS Publication No. SMA 14-4884). https://www.samhsa.gov/resource/dbhis/samhsas-concept-trauma-and-guidance-trauma-informed-approach
Author: Dr. Dawn C. Reid, PCC
Personal & Professional Growth Architect
CEO & Founder of Reid Ready®
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