If you are a leader striving to become better or a company aiming to develop exceptional future leaders, it might be the right time to partner with an executive coach. Many may have misunderstood what they can do but in fact, executive coaching has a lot to offer to every company, business, and aspiring leader out there. To take a step further in your leadership journey, let us understand what is an executive coach, how they can help, and what to expect in a coaching session.
An executive coach is a professional who works with C-level executives, startup business owners, and other professionals transitioning to leadership roles. These high-potential individuals often seek experts to help them sharpen their skills and confidence to lead a group. The main focus is to improve their leadership styles to maximize productivity and effectiveness through proper mind-setting and encouraging progress over time. Coaches aren't there to provide all the answers, but they ask the right questions and guide leaders toward self-awareness resulting in better decision-making and stronger communication.
Due to the changing trends and high expectations in the business world, executive coaches have become key role players in the industry. Approximately, 39% of CEOs in the US have partnered with an executive coach which includes one-third of high level managers from the Fortune 500 companies. As of 2024, there are approximately 80,490 coaching businesses in the US, employing around 115,488 people in the industry. This expansion has greatly contributed to $14.1 billion annual revenue and a high CAGR of 17%. These figures show the remarkable impact of coaching to several businesses and companies in the US.
Executive coaching is not just for CEO's and senior VP's. Professionals and companies who wish to level up their career and leadership game are typically the ones needing these coaching services. Aside from these individuals and organizations, let us point out who are most likely to benefit from executive coaching.
One-third of the Fortune 500, the largest companies in the US based on revenue, has reported to be gaining benefits from executive coaching. One leading company has 77% of its respondents seeing the positive impact of coaching within their organization. These facts show the undeniable advantages an executive coach can offer to anyone needing it.
Alongside the benefits executive coaches can offer, they also have unique objectives for every client they work with. To have a clearer grasp of their roles and responsibilities, it is crucial to understand what they want to accomplish for the progress and development of their clients.
Leadership development is one of the main goals of executive coaching. It helps leaders project confidence and authenticity to develop strong communication skills and learn how to effectively command a team. After all, true leadership is not just about charisma, but it is all about sharing the same vision and goals with the people around you.
Understanding your own emotions while trying to empathize with others is what you call emotional intelligence (EQ). This is one of the most crucial leadership traits that every individual must possess. Handling a group of people with different personalities requires high EQ to be able to identify emotional triggers, manage conflicts effectively, and build more meaningful relationships.
One of the most common reasons why leadership is not as effective as it should be is the lack of proper communication. Coaching can contribute a lot to how a person speaks, listens, and delivers feedback. This is essential for a whole organization to collaborate better towards their common goal. Stronger communication leads to greater outcomes.
Every person is faced with decisions to make everyday. Executive coaching can help clients evaluate their choices, step back when needed, and make decisions aligned with their goals. This involves promoting a strategic mindset and focusing on the bigger picture to come up with efficient strategies.
An effective coach does not only give emphasis on individual performance. Rather, it focuses on leadership that uplifts others. The core of coaching sessions are deeply rooted on developing, motivating, and retaining potential individuals by improving team dynamics, fostering trust, and creating a positive work culture. This will all lead to the development of a highly competitive organization.
All of these factors when combined together often yield great results including clearer communication, improved collaboration, clarity in conveying ideas, and stronger alignment with business goals. To make it simple, executive coaching supports individuals not just in going through their struggles but becoming better versions of themselves.
You may have heard both executive coaching and business coaching. They may be interchanged sometimes but it is important to take note of their difference when it comes to focus, typical clients, and coaching scope.
An executive coach concentrates more on personal and professional development of high potential individuals in an organization such as corporate executives, senior managers, and Fortune 500 managers. They usually cover leadership development, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence. Focusing on improving mindset and behaviors, it is simply aiming to make an organization more efficient. Understanding what is an executive coach is important to know which professional should you work with.
On the other hand, business coaching emphasizes more on guiding entrepreneurs and business owners to improve their overall performance and strategy by focusing on profitability, growth, operational efficiency, and marketing. A business coach provides insights on business planning, growth strategies, operations and systems, and time management. In this set up, a coach stands more like consultants and mentors who give tactical advice and guidance.
Both executive and business coaches create an impact depending on your chosen career or business venture. Many professionals even seek the expertise of both to come up with a strategy and improve one's mindset. Now that you already know the difference, you can now choose or decide which coach is best suited for your needs.
Every coaching session is personalized depending on the clients' needs and specific concerns but it usually follows a structure to facilitate a meaningful and orderly engagement. In this section, we will discuss the executive coaching process in detail so you could manage your expectations.
Before anything else, the coach initiates an initial consultation to talk about your objectives, challenges, and expectations. This is also where you, as a client, can assess whether the coach's style and personality matches yours. The purpose of this step is to determine whether there is compatibility and clarify everything you want to know before you start.
Once you have decided to start, the next thing to do is to set goals and agree at a certain point in terms of timelines, and metrics for success. This is done to clear out coaching objectives and set boundaries for confidentiality.
A coach may use assessments like 360-degree feedback from peers and colleagues, personality assessments, and behavioral observations. This step helps identify your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth. The main goal is to see where you are positioned as a leader and discover more about how you interact with others.
With the data gathered from the assessment, the coach creates a development plan that aligns with your goals and identifies the key areas of focus for every coaching session. This plan may include the possible milestones you'll go through, behaviors to practice, and ways to solve conflict effectively.
As the plan or coaching outline has been created, the actual sessions take over and would typically last 60 to 90 minutes at a bi-weekly or monthly schedule.These interactions are considered confidential where you can open up about current challenges, reflect on your own behavior, and try to implement the new strategies. The coach listens, understands, and guides but doesn't provide exact answers. Instead, they let you discover it on your own.
Follow-up feedback and check-ins are essential to track progress. This is to see whether the coaching sessions have created a remarkable impact on your performance and checks to see how you will continue to achieve your goals without coaching. Assessments are conducted to check your progress, current mindset, and the ability to maintain momentum.
The coaching process is straightforward, considering human limitations and flexible enough to improve your skills. It's not about fixing problems, but unlocking potentials you never thought you'd have.
Every executive coach you'll meet out there is unique and skilled in their own way. Aside from looking for a coach with formal training, relevant experience, and strong credentials, there are other factors that you need to consider. We will look into these aspects before you finally start your coaching journey with the right coach.
Choosing the right executive coach isn't about going with who is famous in the industry; it is more of finding someone who can bring out the best in you as a leader and as a person. After all, this isn't about the coach. It's about your individuality and professional development.
Executive coaching has made waves this 2025 for aspiring leaders and business owners who want to level up their career. Aside from getting the great benefits from leadership coaching or building a highly effective team, an executive coach has more to offer. These include improving your emotional intelligence and solidifying your decision-making skills to build professional relationships within your organization. Now that you already know what is an executive coach, choose someone who listens well, has relevant experiences, and matches with what you want to achieve. This is all about having a meaningful coaching engagement and retaining the habits you have learned.
Ronald Osborne is an Australian entrepreneur and experienced business coach. With over ten years of business and mentoring experience, an MBA specializing in Finance, along with launching/partnering with over 10 of his own companies around the globe, he has been able to achieve his version of success. Ronald has been able to help large telecommunication companies, law firms, trade businesses, and everyday business owners improve their business and take it to the next level.
