Career Insights / Perspectives carrière
By Sophie Makonnen
⏱️ A new rhythm
As I continue to share insights through this platform, I’m introducing a new rhythm.
Going forward, I’ll continue publishing my usual full-length blog posts once a month, each one exploring a broader theme in depth, on the third Sunday of the month.
The weekly newsletter will, of course, continue, offering lighter, focused reflections always connected to leadership skills in the workplace.
I truly enjoy communicating with all of you.
Thank you for continuing to read and reflect with me.
AND…..
This week, I’m starting a new exploration that I would like to share:
The Leadership Lexicon – Exploring how leadership words evolve.
In this series, I’ll be sharing a selection of key words we often use in the context of leadership, coaching, and professional growth.
Some of them will seem familiar. They are so familiar that we rarely stop to question them. They appear solid, self-explanatory, and part of our everyday language.
But words evolve.
Sometimes their meanings shift slowly, shaped by centuries of use.
Sometimes they leap, adopted into new contexts, reframed by culture, bent by metaphor until they barely resemble where they started.
I’ve always been curious about that. About how a word can begin in one place and end up somewhere entirely different.
That curiosity is what sparked this series: The Leadership Lexicon.
It is not a glossary but an exploration of how certain words migrate from one domain to another and take on new roles through metaphor, reinterpretation, or contextual shifts. They don’t just evolve; they become something else entirely.
In the first few editions of The Leadership Lexicon, I’ll be taking a closer look at two such words: Coach and Leadership.
Both are everywhere—on résumés, in mission statements, in conversations about professional and personal growth. But they carry more complexity than we often realize.
Coach began as a literal vehicle, became a tutor, and eventually a guide—someone who helps others navigate uncertainty and reach new goals. Leadership, too, has shifted over time. Once tied to authority and command, it’s now often used to describe presence, influence, or even mindset.
What happens when we pause to look more closely at the words we rely on to describe our work, our goals, and ourselves?
Let’s begin!
✍🏽 Coach
I was unsurprised to find out that the word coach originally had nothing to do with performance or personal development.
For starters, it referred to a carriage (as it still does today), a large, four-wheeled vehicle used to carry people from one place to another. It entered English in the 1550s, but its deeper roots trace back to the Hungarian village of Kocs, renowned in the 15th century for building high-quality carriages with independent suspension.
These wagons offered more comfort, travelled long distances, and carried people and mail between Budapest and Vienna. Their reputation spread, and so did the word, becoming coche in French and Spanish, Kutsche in German, and coach in English.
By the 1830s, coach entered Oxford University slang, referring to tutors who “carried” students through their exams. That metaphor stuck. Over time, it expanded to sports in the 1860s, then to voice and acting coaches in the 1950s, and by the 1980s, to personal and professional coaching.
When you think about it, the core meaning never really changed.
A coach was originally built to carry someone from point A to point B. Over time, it became a metaphor for helping someone reach a desired state, like a student supported by their tutor.
I prefer to think of it as supporting someone on a journey from where they are to where they want to be. That often means helping them reach a new state of mind—one where they can see what’s possible, identify obstacles, explore new paths, or view a familiar situation from a different angle.
✍🏽 Leadership
The world leader has existed since the 13th century, from the Old English lædere, meaning “one who leads or guides.” It comes from lædan, “to guide, to conduct,” which traces back to older Germanic and Indo-European roots, all centred on movement and direction.
But leadership? That’s a much newer word. It only appeared in English in 1821. Formed by adding the suffix -ship (from Old English -sciepe, meaning “state or condition of being”) to leader, it literally means the condition of being a leader.
No mention of dominance, authority, or spotlight. Just the act and state of guiding.
And that still holds true today.
Leadership can show up quietly: naming a tension no one wants to touch, staying grounded in ambiguity, or helping a team reconnect with what matters.
It’s not always about being in charge.
Often, it’s about showing up with intention, clarity, and care.
This is why coaching and leadership work so well together. They both show the way, not by commanding, but by guiding. Coaching supports the kind of leadership that isn’t always visible: discerning where to focus, how to use your energy, and what kind of presence the moment calls for.
We use these words every day.
But their roots remind us that leading and coaching aren’t about holding power—they’re about creating movement and helping others get where they need to go.
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