Coach FEATURE: Imad Alarimi

For Imad Alarimi, coaching begins with the human being.

Based in Oman, Imad sees coaching as an opportunity to help people discover and explore more about themselves. Awareness, understanding and choice sit at the heart of his approach, with the coach creating space for clients to find their own answers rather than providing those answers for them.

In a recent conversation with Dr Steve Jeffs, Imad shared his passion for working with entrepreneurs, the books that have influenced his thinking and why he believes understanding the whole person should come before reaching for a coaching tool.

Coaching for Awareness and Understanding

When asked what he loves about coaching, Imad returned repeatedly to awareness.

He believes coaching can help people understand themselves more deeply, whether they are facing a problem, considering a career change or trying to understand their own performance.

For Imad, the coach’s role is not to answer the client’s questions for them. It is to support the client in exploring what is happening, developing greater awareness and discovering what they want to do next.

Respect for the person is an important part of that process. Imad’s approach centres on understanding the individual as a human being and creating the conditions in which change, awareness and action can emerge.

Supporting Entrepreneurs Through Change

Imad works primarily with entrepreneurs and people who own businesses.

Some are moving from employment into building a business of their own. Others are already running a business and finding themselves struggling with the challenges that can appear after the initial stages of starting up.

Imad also works more broadly with individuals around their goals and relationships, but entrepreneurship is a particular focus of his coaching.

A question at the centre of this work is simple: Where are you now?

From there, the conversation can move towards what comes next.

Imad sees an important bridge between exploration and change. Developing awareness is part of the process, but the client also needs to consider what they will do with that awareness and what action can move them forward.

From Exploration to Action

For entrepreneurs in particular, Imad recognises the importance of looking beyond the immediate challenge.

There may be pressing decisions and difficulties to work through, but there is also the question of what happens afterwards.

His coaching therefore moves through exploration, awareness and change towards action.

Rather than directing the client towards a predetermined solution, Imad wants them to understand where they are, explore what may need to change and identify the next step for themselves.

It is an approach that reflects three ideas he returned to throughout his conversation with Steve: humanity, awareness and choice.

Books That Have Shaped His Coaching

Imad highlighted three coaching books that have been particularly important to him: The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin, Team of Teams Coaching by Peter Hawkins and Catherine Carr, and Co-Active Coaching by Henry Kimsey-House, Karen Kimsey-House, Phillip Sandahl and Laura Whitworth.

He spoke particularly about Co-Active Coaching and its connection with listening, attention, silence and action.

For Imad, the value of these books can be brought back to the same three themes that underpin much of his coaching philosophy: humanity, awareness and choice.

They reflect his belief that coaching is not simply about moving quickly towards an answer. It involves paying attention, listening and allowing the client to develop their own understanding.

Understanding the Whole Person

When Steve asked Imad about his favourite coaching tools, Imad began somewhere else.

Before choosing a tool, he believes it is important to understand the human being.

One framework Imad shared during the conversation was the Coach Spiral, which he uses to explore different aspects of a client’s experience, including the mind, heart and body.

The process can begin with what the client thinks and believes before moving towards what they feel and value. It can then explore physical sensations and the body before considering behaviour, action, awareness and choice.

Rather than treating these areas separately, the framework gives Imad different places from which to explore the person and their experience.

As Steve reflected during their conversation, it becomes a map for exploration. It does not tell the coach or client what to do, but provides different places to look.

The Power of Questions, Listening and Attention

Imad also highlights the importance of powerful questions in coaching.

A deep question can encourage a client to reflect, increase their awareness and discover an answer for themselves.

But for Imad, the question itself is only part of the work.

He emphasises attention and listening: being fully present to what the client is saying and what may be happening within the conversation.

This is why he does not see tools as the starting point. A coach may have access to many frameworks, questions and techniques, but their value depends on how they are used within the coaching relationship.

As Imad explained, the value for the client lies in developing greater understanding and awareness of themselves.

In Conclusion: Humanity Before the Tool

Imad Alarimi’s approach to coaching begins not with a framework or a list of questions, but with the person in front of him.

Whether he is supporting an entrepreneur through the challenges of building a business or helping someone explore a personal goal, his focus is on creating greater understanding and awareness before moving towards choice and action.

Powerful questions and coaching tools have their place, but Imad’s starting point is understanding the human being and paying attention to what is happening within the conversation.

Because for Imad, coaching starts with humanity.