Why I Coach Systems, Not Just People
- hanrimostert
- Jul 26
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
When people first come to coaching, they often expect the focus to be on them — their habits, their goals, their behaviours. And of course, that matters. But I’ve come to believe that working only with the individual — as if they exist in a vacuum — often leads to short-lived results.
Why? Because we are not separate from our environments.
We live in systems: in families, in teams, in histories, in bodies.
And often, the thing we’re struggling with isn’t just ours.
It’s a pattern held in place by everything around us.
That’s why I coach systems, not just people.
What is a System, Really?
A system is any set of things that are interconnected and influencing one another.
That could be:
Your internal world — thoughts, feelings, patterns, beliefs.
A team — with roles, relationships, feedback loops, and blind spots.
A couple or family — with shared histories and unspoken agreements.
Even your work-life-health ecosystem — where pressure in one area bleeds into another.
Coaching a system means we don’t just ask “What’s wrong?” or “What do you want to fix?”
We ask:
What’s happening between the parts?
What are you carrying alone that belongs to the wider system?
What’s being reinforced, ignored, or misunderstood?
What would happen if this pattern were interrupted — kindly, clearly?
Why a Systems Approach in Coaching Works
Many people feel stuck not because they’re doing something “wrong,” but because they’re locked into a dynamic — an emotional choreography they didn’t choose but have learned to perform.
Systems coaching offers a way to:
See the choreography clearly
Disentangle from what’s not theirs
Shift the pattern at its roots, not just its surface
And here’s the magic: when the system shifts, people feel relief — not just insight. Change becomes less about force and more about flow.
Where this Approach Comes From
Systems thinking began in biology, ecology, and engineering — fields that study how things function as wholes, not parts. From there, it moved into family therapy, organisational development, and leadership learning. Thinkers like Peter Senge helped us see that transformation happens best when we understand context, not just content.
In coaching, this became the foundation for powerful approaches like:
ORSC (Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching)
Family systems coaching
Integral and somatic coaching models
Team and culture work in leadership development
Each of these recognises that no behaviour exists in isolation — and that lasting change is often systemic change.
The Difference it Makes
When I coach a person, I listen for the system they’re part of. When I coach a team, I listen for the voice of the team itself — the space between the individuals, where patterns play out.
In practice, this might mean:
A leader learning that her “need to fix everything” is part of a wider team dynamic of passivity and silence.
A burnt-out client realising that his constant overfunctioning is being quietly reinforced by his family’s expectations and his workplace culture.
A team in which people with polarised views learn to value their differences as essential to innovation progress, rather than hurdles.
Systems Work is Human Work
This approach doesn’t make things more complicated. It makes them more honest.
It allows for tenderness and truth.
It creates space for people to belong — not just perform.
It gives us permission to stop carrying things that were never ours to begin with.
And in that kind of space, people begin to breathe differently: They find their voice. They move more freely. And they begin to choose, instead of just cope.
If this Resonates
Whether you're feeling stuck, navigating change, leading others, or just sensing that something needs to shift — coaching the system, not just the self, might be the turning point.
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