What is one piece of advice you would give to leaders who are considering working with a leadership coach? What should they look for in a coach, and how can they maximize the benefits of coaching?

Question

Leadership coaching can be a game-changer for executives looking to elevate their performance and impact. This article offers valuable insights from seasoned experts on how to select the right coach and maximize the benefits of leadership coaching. Discover the key factors to consider when embarking on your coaching journey, from finding a coach who challenges your thinking to approaching the process with openness and commitment.

Joshua Miller · Answer

When considering a leadership coach, seek evidence of real transformation rather than just credentials. The most effective coaches demonstrate a track record of helping leaders achieve meaningful results, not just superficial behavior changes or fleeting inspiration.
Look for someone who challenges your thinking rather than simply affirming your existing views. A valuable coach will make you productively uncomfortable—asking questions that reveal blind spots and pushing you beyond established patterns. They should balance compassion with direct feedback, creating psychological safety while still driving accountability.
To maximize coaching benefits, approach the relationship with genuine curiosity and vulnerability. The leaders who gain the most are those willing to explore their assumptions, share authentic struggles, and experiment with new approaches between sessions. Coaching isn't something done to you—it's a collaborative process requiring active engagement.
Be intentional about translating insights into practical action. After each session, identify one specific behavior change to implement immediately, no matter how small. These incremental shifts, consistently applied, create compound growth over time. The magic of coaching happens not during your conversations but in how you apply learnings in real-world situations.
Finally, share your coaching journey with trusted colleagues. When you invite others to support your development areas and provide feedback on your progress, you create accountability while modeling continuous growth for your organization. This transparency transforms coaching from a private investment into a catalyst for broader cultural change.

Nancy Capistran · Answer

Lead Before You Need It: The Smart Leader's Guide to Choosing and Using a Coach
If you're a leader considering working with a leadership coach, here's the one piece of advice I'd anchor you in: Don't wait for a crisis or stagnation to spark the decision—great leaders engage coaching when they're strong, not just when they're struggling. The ROI isn't just in solving today's problem but in accelerating your ability to lead with greater clarity, capacity, and confidence over time.
When evaluating a potential coach, look beyond surface credentials or charisma. Yes, certifications and experience matter, but the real differentiator is chemistry and courage—do they create a space where you feel challenged and safe? A high-impact coach won't just affirm your brilliance; they'll help you see blind spots, pressure test your thinking, and hold a mirror up to how you're showing up. Choose someone who has a track record of working with leaders at your level (or higher), someone who's been in the trenches and can go toe-to-toe with your intellect, your ambition, and your fears.
The best coaches serve as strategic thought partners—blending candor, compassion, and actionable insight. You're not hiring a cheerleader or a therapist. You're partnering with someone who can help you cut through noise, reframe obstacles, and operate more intentionally. Look for someone who doesn't push an agenda but who consistently pulls forward the best in you.
To maximize the benefits of coaching, show up ready to be honest—even when it's uncomfortable. Coaching isn't a performance; it's a lab for growth. Be willing to unpack the patterns behind your behaviors, not just the outcomes. Use your sessions to zoom out, elevate your thinking, and get strategic about what matters most. The most successful leaders bring real business issues to the table, stay curious, and apply insights between sessions. Growth happens in the doing.
Finally, make coaching part of your leadership rhythm, not a side gig. Let it inform how you think, how you lead your team, and how you show up in the boardroom and beyond. Done right, coaching is not just professional development—it's personal evolution.

Ryan Crittenden · Answer

One piece of advice I'd give to leaders considering working with a leadership coach:
Don't just look for someone with impressive credentials—look for someone you connect with. The coaching relationship is built on trust, starting with a strong sense of connection. You want someone who listens deeply, challenges thoughtfully, and brings out the best in you—not just someone who gives advice.
When choosing a coach, look for both connection and competency. A great coach should have a solid foundation in coaching principles, not just leadership experience. Ask about their methodology, credentials, and how they tailor coaching to individual needs. A coach who blends relational trust with professional rigor will create a space where real growth happens.
To maximize the benefits of coaching, come in with openness and ownership. Be honest about your challenges and willing to experiment with new mindsets or behaviors. Coaching is most powerful when you treat it not as a performance review—but as a practice ground for becoming the kind of leader you aspire to be.

Rachel Radway · Answer

Talk with several coaches and get a feel for their coaching style and approach. The coaching relationship is a partnership, and success depends on mutual respect and trust. Leaders often look for coaches who have a background in a particular area, but that isn't necessary for great coaching to happen. If the coach is trained and certified by an accredited institution, they're qualified to coach in any area. Sometimes the most powerful coaching happens when the coach knows nothing about the topic and can be 100% focused on deep listening, observing, reflecting back, and asking more insightful questions.
Leaders should be looking for a fit in terms of style, approach, and personality. Some coaches work strictly according to the ICF (International Coaching Federation) model: asking questions to help the leader access their own inner knowing. Some incorporate their domain knowledge, experience, and expertise and blend advising or mentoring in with their coaching. Some coaches are great cheerleaders; others are good at noting and challenging tensions or conflicts between words and actions or statements and body language.
A leader who wants a strategic thought partner—or something completely different—needs to make that clear when talking with prospective coaches. I once worked with a leader who told me she didn't want to be challenged; she just wanted help figuring out her next steps. I can do that, of course, but she didn't want to hear that some of what she was saying contradicted her stated goals. That put me in an awkward position and didn't allow me to coach her as effectively as possible. It was a learning experience: We weren't a good fit and parted ways. Now I raise this question early in discovery/chemistry conversations.
Leaders often don't have anyone objective they can talk over sensitive situations with, or reflect on how they could do things differently or more effectively. Working with the right coach for them can make the difference between a good leader and a great one. Leaders can maximize the benefits of coaching by knowing what they want from the partnership, being willing to invest emotionally and energetically, and being fully present and open to learning more about themselves in the process.

Rebecca Babcock · Answer

Leadership coaching works best when it's a partnership, not a prescription. Look for a coach who doesn't just offer advice, but who challenges and expands the way you think about yourself and your impact. The right coach will feel less like a consultant and more like a mirror — reflecting your strengths, blind spots, and untapped potential. To maximize the benefits, leaders should come prepared to be radically honest, open to feedback, and willing to experiment with new behaviors between sessions. Growth isn't just intellectual; it's behavioral — and lasting change comes from applying insights consistently, not just understanding them conceptually.

Pamela Cournoyer · Answer

My primary piece of advice is twofold: Clarity and Fit.
Clarity:First, be very clear about what you want to achieve through coaching. Consider how you envision yourself after the coaching process. Are you aiming to increase your confidence in a corporate setting, improve your close ratio, motivate your team, build a cohesive team, enhance your social media leadership presence, or learn to work more effectively with your boss? Identifying your specific goals will help you find a coach specializing in those areas.
Fit:Second, ensure your selected coach instills confidence in their expertise in your desired area. It is not uncommon to work with multiple coaches, each with a unique strength that aligns with your goals. For instance, at one point in my career, I was so driven that I hired seven different coaches, each focusing on a specific area where I recognized their excellence. This approach proved highly effective.
Additionally, it is crucial to respect and trust your coach. You will likely have a successful coaching relationship if you feel confident in their abilities and are willing to follow their guidance. While cost is a factor, it should be the last consideration after ensuring clarity and fit.
Focusing on these two aspects can help you maximize the benefits of coaching and achieve your leadership development goals.

Miriam Groom · Answer

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, leadership coaching has shifted from a luxury to a strategic necessity. For leaders aiming to scale their impact, enhance emotional intelligence, or navigate complex transitions, coaching provides a structured, confidential space for growth.
A key piece of advice for leaders considering coaching is this: seek a coach who challenges with empathy and brings both business acumen and psychological insight. The best coaches don't merely affirm—they stretch. They pose tough questions, highlight blind spots, and guide clients toward sustainable, self-directed change. Equally important is the leader's mindset. Coaching works best when leaders approach it with humility, consistency, and openness to feedback.
A senior executive at a tech company once began coaching to improve team retention. What started as tactical sessions on communication evolved into deep work on leadership style and values alignment. With the right coach—someone who balanced accountability with trust—the leader transitioned from reactive to intentional management. As a result, employee engagement scores increased by 27% over the next quarter.
According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), 86% of companies report a positive return on investment from coaching, with leaders citing improved self-awareness, clarity, and decision-making. A 2021 Harvard Business Review article further emphasized that coaching leads to stronger team dynamics and organizational trust—when the coach is selected based on both chemistry and credibility.
Leadership coaching can be a transformative tool—but only when grounded in the right match and mutual commitment. The most effective leaders choose coaches who both support and challenge them, and they approach coaching ready to reflect, act, and evolve.

Cindy Cavoto · Answer

If you're a leader considering bringing a coach into your professional life, my strongest piece of advice is to focus on finding someone who truly understands you and your world. It's not just about their impressive credentials; it's about whether their approach resonates with your personality and leadership style. Look for a coach who listens more than they talk, who asks insightful questions that make you think differently, and who creates a space where you feel completely comfortable being open and vulnerable. That kind of genuine connection is where the deepest growth happens.
To truly maximize the benefits of coaching, you must approach it with an open mind and a real willingness to do the work. It's not a passive process where you just show up and expect answers to be handed to you. The most successful coaching relationships are partnerships where you're actively reflecting, experimenting with new behaviors, and pushing past your comfort zones. Be prepared to challenge your own assumptions, embrace feedback, and consistently apply what you're learning. That active engagement is what really turns insights into tangible progress.

Simone Sloan · Answer

Coaching can be a transformative process. Coming into that process with assumptions and judgments can hamper the experience. One piece of advice I offer to leaders considering working with a leadership coach is to approach the relationship with openness and a genuine willingness to grow. A great coach will challenge your thinking, hold up a mirror to your blind spots, and help you align your values with your actions. When choosing a coach, look for someone who has relevant experience and credentials (for example, International Coaching Federation certified), and is able to create a space where you feel both supported and stretched. To maximize your experience with the coach, be consistent, come prepared with real challenges, and stay committed to applying what you learn between sessions.

Nikita Sherbina · Answer

One piece of advice I'd give leaders considering a leadership coach is to prioritize finding someone who truly understands your industry and leadership challenges. Early in my career, I worked with a coach who had a deep background in tech leadership, which made our sessions incredibly relevant and actionable. Look for a coach who asks thoughtful questions and challenges your assumptions rather than just giving generic advice. To maximize the benefits, be open and honest about your struggles and goals—coaching works best when you're willing to be vulnerable and take feedback seriously. I also found it helpful to set clear objectives upfront and review progress regularly. This keeps the coaching focused and practical, making it easier to apply insights directly to your day-to-day leadership. Ultimately, a good coach helps you see blind spots and develop strategies you might not have considered on your own.

Carolina Zorrilla · Answer

Most leadership coaches focus on either mindset or surface-level strategy, but I do both and delve deeper. I combine mindset work, energy awareness, and leadership tools so clients don't just talk about change; they actually feel it, embody it, and sustain it.
My advice for leaders? Don't just look for someone who's worked in corporate environments. Look for someone who can help you break patterns you didn't even know were blocking you. Coaching isn't just about being more productive; it's about becoming more aligned with who you are and how you lead. To get the most out of it, come prepared to question the habits that got you here. That's where real transformation happens. And that's the kind of change that lasts.

Michele Caron · Answer

If you're considering working with a leadership coach, my best advice is to be willing to look inward, not just outward. Coaching isn't just about solving problems; it's about expanding who you are as a leader. When choosing a coach, look for someone who asks better questions than they give advice; the right coach will draw out your own wisdom rather than trying to impress you with theirs. To get the most out of the coaching experience, show up to your sessions with clarity, honesty, and openness. The more real you're willing to be, the more powerful the transformation will be.

Ryan Gottfredson · Answer

If you're considering working with a leadership coach, my biggest advice is this: Find someone who helps you elevate your Being Side, not just your Doing Side.
Most coaching focuses on behavior—improving what you do. But real transformation comes from upgrading who you are: your mindsets, meaning-making, and internal capacity. That's the essence of vertical development, and it's what separates incremental improvement from deep, lasting change.
So, look for a coach who can guide you through vertical development. And come prepared to do the inner work—not just to perform better, but to be better.

Bertha Garcia Robinson · Answer

Here is what I would look for in a coach:
A structured, pragmatic process. Star One Professional's Developmental Coaching model is "a structured, open-ended, and pragmatic approach to personal and professional growth," meaning you'll have clear frameworks and the flexibility to apply them directly to your challenges.
Emphasis on mindset and blind spots. Great coaches help you surface and reframe the "intangibles"—the beliefs, habits, and unseen blockers that keep you from performing at your best. As one Star One blog post puts it, effective coaching "goes beyond strategies to help leaders unlock their potential by addressing mindset, habits, and blind spots."
A results-driven formula. Look for a coach who starts by diagnosing your current Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge (ASK), helps you set Meaningful Goals (MG), drives Positive Behavior Change (PBC), and then measures Improved Results (IR)—exactly the process Star One follows to ensure you see tangible progress.
How to maximize the benefits of coaching:
- Set clear, measurable goals up front. Work with your coach to define 2-3 "WHYSMART" goals—goals that are not only Specific and Time-bound, but also Written (you write them down to clarify and commit), Harmonious (aligned to your deeper purpose), and Yours (you own them).
- Be radically open and honest. Coaching only works if you share your real struggles, doubts, and failures. Treat every session as a safe space for full transparency.
- Commit to the homework. Whether journaling, practicing a new leadership behavior, or soliciting 360-degree feedback, your real growth happens between sessions. Block time on your calendar and hold yourself accountable for follow-through.
- Review progress regularly. Use the PBC - IR cycle: note the positive behavior changes you've made, track the results you're getting, and then recalibrate your goals and actions in the next session. This continuous feedback loop turns insight into lasting performance gains and improved results.
By choosing a coach whose approach aligns with a proven methodology and then engaging fully—goal setting, honest reflection, disciplined practice, and ongoing review—you'll unlock far more than new strategies. You'll transform how you think, lead, and achieve.

Terry McDougall · Answer

Recognize that continuing to ascend in your career may require the investment of time, energy, and money. However, the investment that you (or your company) make in paying for the services of a credentialed and experienced coach can deliver a very high return on investment.
When looking for a leadership coach, here are a few things to consider:
1. Experience in your industry - though deep and direct experience is not strictly required, it can save some time in terms of getting the coach up to speed.
2. Experience at your level - what level of leader does the coach have? Do they focus strictly on C-suite or are they experienced in coaching rising leaders? Though some coaches can coach at all levels, the challenges faced at each level can vary greatly.
3. Experience with the challenges you're facing - ask for examples of some of the situations the coach has helped other clients with.
4. Chemistry with the coach - you will spend a lot of time with your coach and will need to confide in them, and you'll receive sometimes difficult feedback from your coach, so it's critical that you feel comfortable with them. If you don't vibe, continuing to look for a better fit may serve you better.
5. Cost - Leadership coaching is not cheap. Most experienced executive and leadership coaches are well-educated, and many had successful business careers before becoming a coach. The investment you make in a coach will reflect that. However, it's likely that you'll make much quicker and easier progress toward your goals with the help of a coach vs. struggling along on your own. It still makes sense to speak with a few coaches and get quotes. The rates are typically commensurate with the level of leader being coached, with C-suite coaches charging more than coaches for less experienced leaders.

15 Tips for Leaders Considering a Leadership Coach and Maximizing Benefits

15 Tips for Leaders Considering a Leadership Coach and Maximizing Benefits

Seek Transformative Coaches Who Challenge Your Thinking

Engage Coaching from a Position of Strength

Find a Coach Who Balances Trust and Challenge

Choose a Coach Based on Style and Approach

Partner with a Coach Who Expands Your Perspective

Prioritize Clarity of Goals and Coach Fit

Select a Coach Who Stretches with Empathy

Connect with a Coach Who Understands You

Approach Coaching with Openness and Commitment

Find an Industry-Savvy Coach for Relevant Insights

Seek Coaches Who Address Mindset and Strategy

Focus on Elevating Your Leadership Being

Choose a Coach with Structured, Results-Driven Approach

Invest in Coaching for High Career Returns

Consider Experience and Chemistry When Selecting Coach