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No More Sh*t Managers: Seven steps to a coaching culture
HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH OF SH*T MANAGERS?Do you want work to feel better, but struggle to know where to start?Do you want to impact the culture, but feel that there’s a lack of leadership buy in?Do you want managers to have better conversations, but need help to support them?It can be frustrating knowing how brilliant the organisation could be, only to see pockets of progress appearing, then grinding to a halt. Obstacles can appear anywhere, from unnecessary politics and unacceptable behaviour to a lack ofleadership buy-in to change. All making a coaching culture hard to imagine.However, it’s possible to build a dynamic and thriving organisation from even the most challenging situations. Change is possible, inevitable even. The role of the manager in these uncertain times has never been so important. They can help people to truly thrive through effective conversations and honest feedback, all underpinned by trust. It’s not impossible, it’s not too much to ask for, and it’s something that can start today.Jo Wright is an authentic and passionate cultural change leader on a mission to inspire people to think differentlythrough the power of coaching. As the co-founder of Coaching Culture, she has helped thousands of people to develop the confidence and capability to have better conversations. Jo is ready to support you on your journey, coach you through the challenges and guide you to a coaching culture.This book will Leaders buy into a coaching culture.2. Managers have the capability to coach.3. Relationships are stronger, trust is built, and performance improves.This isn’t another boring business book; it’s a book that will make work better for the long-term. It’s time to put an end to the sh*t manager and start to build a coaching culture.The time is now.
236 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2023
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July 10, 2025In "No More Sh*t Managers", Jo Wright takes aim at the persistent and damaging management practices that stifle motivation, drive good people away, and erode company culture from the inside out. Poor management, while widely acknowledged as a major issue, is often overlooked when it comes to meaningful reform. Wright argues that transforming this landscape isn’t about sweeping restructures or motivational posters; it’s about embedding a coaching mindset into every layer of the organization. Her book lays out a practical, seven-step framework to shift workplace cultures from fear and frustration to trust, performance, and purpose. At its core, this book is a call to action for leaders to ditch outdated methods and start building environments where people can thrive.
The journey begins with understanding what your current culture actually feels like—not what leadership claims it to be on paper, but how it’s truly experienced by employees day to day. This first step demands honesty and curiosity. Leaders must open themselves up to tough feedback and uncomfortable truths. Data can support this, but real insight comes from listening: to what people say, what they avoid saying, and what’s going unsaid altogether. Wright shares a case from the Institute of Occupational Medicine, where leadership embraced hard truths and used imagination exercises to emotionally connect with the culture they wanted to create. By helping the board envision what a successful, coaching-rich future might look like, the shift became less abstract and more personal. That emotional clarity is critical—it lays the groundwork for genuine change.
Once that clarity is established, the next challenge is crafting a strategy that doesn’t just look good on paper but actually guides real decisions and behaviors. Many organizations get stuck in the trap of busywork masquerading as progress—initiatives that sound impressive but fail to move the needle. A coaching strategy needs to bridge the gap between the vision of a better culture and the specific, observable behaviors that bring it to life. This is where mapping out 'from–to' models—identifying what mindsets and actions to leave behind and what to adopt—can be incredibly effective. The example of Silva Homes illustrates this well. Their leadership was pushed to interrogate the company’s values and translate them into actions. That internal tension, while uncomfortable, produced shared understanding and renewed purpose.
But strategy only works if people care about it. That’s why step three focuses on communication—not top-down announcements, but two-way engagement. Wright stresses that true buy-in comes when employees feel informed, heard, and connected to the changes happening around them. Too often, plans are delivered by email or mandated through calendar invites, stripping people of agency and curiosity. Instead, communication should be regular, clear, and human. Structured conversations—team meetings, one-on-ones, workshops—give people the space to reflect, question, and see themselves in the new culture. Championing this message requires more than leaders speaking into the void; it needs coaching ambassadors embedded across departments who can spark interest and guide peers through the transition. When people are part of the story, they want to help write the next chapter.
However, good intentions and positive energy only go so far if people don’t feel capable of doing things differently. That’s why step four zeroes in on building coaching confidence and skill. It’s not about turning every manager into a certified coach, but rather giving them the tools and practice to lead with curiosity, empathy, and trust. Wright critiques the traditional leadership training that relies heavily on theory with little application. Instead, she advocates for experience-based learning: real conversations, roleplay, feedback loops. At Kainos, a tech firm, leaders were encouraged to build coaching habits gradually, emphasizing curiosity and relational trust. The results went beyond improved competence—employee engagement visibly increased, too. What matters is making learning digestible and relevant. Coaching can’t feel like another task; it has to become part of how work gets done.
Once the basics of coaching take root, the next priority is creating an environment where those behaviors can flourish. In step five, Wright underscores the importance of structural support—removing friction, not adding layers. A coaching culture requires time and mental space for reflection and connection. Without it, even the best-trained managers will default to old habits. Leaders must review team rituals, redesign meetings, and model availability. Rochdale Borough Council is cited as a powerful case. Their leadership acknowledged the gap between theory and practice, then visibly committed to more reflective conversations. When coaching is modeled consistently and informally, it stops feeling like an initiative and starts becoming the norm.
To truly embed coaching, though, organizations must rethink how they evaluate and develop performance. That’s the focus of step six. Traditional performance reviews—static, one-way, backward-looking—are deeply at odds with the coaching mindset. Instead, performance conversations should be dynamic, frequent, and growth-focused. Feedback needs to be honest, actionable, and rooted in trust. Restore PLC’s shift to coaching-based check-ins during remote work illustrates the power of this approach. By making reviews more relevant and regular, they sparked real engagement. The takeaway is that when performance conversations align with coaching values, they become something people anticipate—not dread—because they offer clarity, support, and accountability. It’s about moving from control to co-creation.
The final, and perhaps most critical, step is sustaining the change. Culture isn’t a project; it’s a living system that needs regular attention. Wright emphasizes that coaching must be maintained through habits, not hype. Leaders should routinely reflect, assess, and adjust based on feedback and evolving needs. Tools like pulse surveys, regular check-ins, and transparent data help ensure the culture doesn’t drift or stagnate. But the most powerful driver of sustained change is role modeling. Leaders must keep living the values they promote—asking questions, listening actively, giving and receiving feedback with humility. PSS, a Liverpool-based social enterprise, exemplifies this. Their senior leaders went through coaching accreditation and embedded the approach into every layer of the business—from training to performance reviews to daily interactions. In doing so, they proved that a coaching culture can be resilient, scalable, and measurable.
Ultimately, Wright’s book argues that better management isn’t about charisma or control. It’s about cultivating relationships based on trust, fostering clarity through conversation, and enabling performance through purposeful support. Coaching provides the structure and language to do that. By shifting away from outdated leadership norms and investing in small, meaningful changes, organizations can unleash potential, reduce burnout, and create places where people actually want to work.
"No More Sh*t Managers" is more than just a how-to guide—it’s a call to stop accepting mediocrity in leadership and start building environments where people can grow, contribute, and care. Through its practical framework and real-world case studies, the book demonstrates that cultural transformation is possible, but only with sustained focus, humility, and consistency. Wright makes it clear that coaching isn’t a side project—it’s the backbone of better leadership. And when done right, it has the power to reshape not just individual teams, but entire organizations.
The journey begins with understanding what your current culture actually feels like—not what leadership claims it to be on paper, but how it’s truly experienced by employees day to day. This first step demands honesty and curiosity. Leaders must open themselves up to tough feedback and uncomfortable truths. Data can support this, but real insight comes from listening: to what people say, what they avoid saying, and what’s going unsaid altogether. Wright shares a case from the Institute of Occupational Medicine, where leadership embraced hard truths and used imagination exercises to emotionally connect with the culture they wanted to create. By helping the board envision what a successful, coaching-rich future might look like, the shift became less abstract and more personal. That emotional clarity is critical—it lays the groundwork for genuine change.
Once that clarity is established, the next challenge is crafting a strategy that doesn’t just look good on paper but actually guides real decisions and behaviors. Many organizations get stuck in the trap of busywork masquerading as progress—initiatives that sound impressive but fail to move the needle. A coaching strategy needs to bridge the gap between the vision of a better culture and the specific, observable behaviors that bring it to life. This is where mapping out 'from–to' models—identifying what mindsets and actions to leave behind and what to adopt—can be incredibly effective. The example of Silva Homes illustrates this well. Their leadership was pushed to interrogate the company’s values and translate them into actions. That internal tension, while uncomfortable, produced shared understanding and renewed purpose.
But strategy only works if people care about it. That’s why step three focuses on communication—not top-down announcements, but two-way engagement. Wright stresses that true buy-in comes when employees feel informed, heard, and connected to the changes happening around them. Too often, plans are delivered by email or mandated through calendar invites, stripping people of agency and curiosity. Instead, communication should be regular, clear, and human. Structured conversations—team meetings, one-on-ones, workshops—give people the space to reflect, question, and see themselves in the new culture. Championing this message requires more than leaders speaking into the void; it needs coaching ambassadors embedded across departments who can spark interest and guide peers through the transition. When people are part of the story, they want to help write the next chapter.
However, good intentions and positive energy only go so far if people don’t feel capable of doing things differently. That’s why step four zeroes in on building coaching confidence and skill. It’s not about turning every manager into a certified coach, but rather giving them the tools and practice to lead with curiosity, empathy, and trust. Wright critiques the traditional leadership training that relies heavily on theory with little application. Instead, she advocates for experience-based learning: real conversations, roleplay, feedback loops. At Kainos, a tech firm, leaders were encouraged to build coaching habits gradually, emphasizing curiosity and relational trust. The results went beyond improved competence—employee engagement visibly increased, too. What matters is making learning digestible and relevant. Coaching can’t feel like another task; it has to become part of how work gets done.
Once the basics of coaching take root, the next priority is creating an environment where those behaviors can flourish. In step five, Wright underscores the importance of structural support—removing friction, not adding layers. A coaching culture requires time and mental space for reflection and connection. Without it, even the best-trained managers will default to old habits. Leaders must review team rituals, redesign meetings, and model availability. Rochdale Borough Council is cited as a powerful case. Their leadership acknowledged the gap between theory and practice, then visibly committed to more reflective conversations. When coaching is modeled consistently and informally, it stops feeling like an initiative and starts becoming the norm.
To truly embed coaching, though, organizations must rethink how they evaluate and develop performance. That’s the focus of step six. Traditional performance reviews—static, one-way, backward-looking—are deeply at odds with the coaching mindset. Instead, performance conversations should be dynamic, frequent, and growth-focused. Feedback needs to be honest, actionable, and rooted in trust. Restore PLC’s shift to coaching-based check-ins during remote work illustrates the power of this approach. By making reviews more relevant and regular, they sparked real engagement. The takeaway is that when performance conversations align with coaching values, they become something people anticipate—not dread—because they offer clarity, support, and accountability. It’s about moving from control to co-creation.
The final, and perhaps most critical, step is sustaining the change. Culture isn’t a project; it’s a living system that needs regular attention. Wright emphasizes that coaching must be maintained through habits, not hype. Leaders should routinely reflect, assess, and adjust based on feedback and evolving needs. Tools like pulse surveys, regular check-ins, and transparent data help ensure the culture doesn’t drift or stagnate. But the most powerful driver of sustained change is role modeling. Leaders must keep living the values they promote—asking questions, listening actively, giving and receiving feedback with humility. PSS, a Liverpool-based social enterprise, exemplifies this. Their senior leaders went through coaching accreditation and embedded the approach into every layer of the business—from training to performance reviews to daily interactions. In doing so, they proved that a coaching culture can be resilient, scalable, and measurable.
Ultimately, Wright’s book argues that better management isn’t about charisma or control. It’s about cultivating relationships based on trust, fostering clarity through conversation, and enabling performance through purposeful support. Coaching provides the structure and language to do that. By shifting away from outdated leadership norms and investing in small, meaningful changes, organizations can unleash potential, reduce burnout, and create places where people actually want to work.
"No More Sh*t Managers" is more than just a how-to guide—it’s a call to stop accepting mediocrity in leadership and start building environments where people can grow, contribute, and care. Through its practical framework and real-world case studies, the book demonstrates that cultural transformation is possible, but only with sustained focus, humility, and consistency. Wright makes it clear that coaching isn’t a side project—it’s the backbone of better leadership. And when done right, it has the power to reshape not just individual teams, but entire organizations.
February 24, 2025
No More Sh*t Managers by Jo Wright is an eye-opener for anyone in a leadership position. The book isn’t about getting rid of managers, but rather about transforming how they lead. Wright gives a fresh perspective on what makes a great manager – someone who inspires, supports, and actually gets results. The book is packed with practical advice, funny anecdotes, and straightforward tips that challenge the traditional “boss” mentality. It’s perfect for anyone looking to level up their leadership game and make a real impact on their team. While some parts feel a bit repetitive, the message is clear: great managers can change everything. Worth the read for sure!
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