Considering Hiring An Executive Coach? Here’s Your Primer.

By Jeff Mignault, Director of Customer Experience, AugmentHR

On April 1, we’re convening 3 of Canada’s leading executive coaches in a fireside chat on Turning Leadership Potential Into Performance through Executive Coaching.

Sandra Oliver, Founder of Impact Coaches, the home of over 30 accredited coaches
AugmentHR’s Shelley Brown, winner of the Human Resources Professional Association Fellow Award and,
Bart Egnal, CEO of The Humphrey Group, 35 years training leaders in communication in Canada and 20 other countries.

Your invite to this free session is at the end of this article. But for those new to hiring executive coaches we’ve put together this primer with everything you need to know if you’re considering effective leadership coaching. With the wisdom of these executive coach leaders sprinkled throughout, we’ll cover all the common questions organizations wrestle with when considering hiring executive leadership coaching services:

Why do people hire executive coaches?
What’s the goal of executive coaching?
What does an executive coach help with?
Executive training vs coaching vs mentorship - what’s the difference?
How to pick an executive coach?

Why do people hire executive coaches?

Consider that 77% of businesses report a lack of leadership yet only 49% of those companies that do are investing in leadership development. As an HR services company, what troubles us is that only 33% of employees of those companies feel engaged in the business, harming retention.

Executive coaches are crucial in helping leaders refine their skills, enhance their decision-making, and improve their ability to manage teams effectively. This is particularly true when navigating through uncertain environments like these. Leadership is a continuous learning process, and even experienced executives benefit from personalized guidance to strengthen their leadership style.

Companies also use executive coaches to do deep and thorough assessments. Not only of the exec but the context they operate in. Through clear development and coaching plans, leaders learn to make more informed and strategic decisions by analyzing situations from multiple perspectives and managing risks effectively. Coaches also help executives improve their ability to delegate responsibilities, empower their teams, and foster a positive work culture that drives productivity and engagement.

What is the goal of executive coaching?

The goal of executive coaching is to enhance leadership effectiveness, improve performance, and communication skills and drive both personal and organizational success. Through coaching, leaders gain deeper self-awareness, allowing them to recognize their strengths, address weaknesses, and refine their leadership style.

Executive coaching also plays a crucial role in helping leaders manage change and uncertainty such as the times we are currently living in. As businesses evolve, executives must adapt quickly and guide their organizations through transitions. Coaching provides them with the tools and mindset to embrace challenges and drive innovation.

The outcome should be a clear development plan for your leaders with meetings between the coach, exec and boss to review feedback and plans.

What does an executive coach help with?

An executive coach can help leaders improve many things, and you can customize your coaching sessions based on your needs. Here’s a list of areas coaching sessions can focus on:

Leadership Development: Helps leaders refine their skills, enhance decision-making, and improve their ability to manage teams effectively.
Personality Assessments: Antoine Laganiere of Impact Coaches wrote a great piece on how the goal of a good personality assessment is to help leaders push out of their comfort zones to become better leaders.
Performance Improvement: Executives identify weaknesses, build on strengths, and develop strategies to enhance performance.
Increased Self-Awareness: Coaches provide honest feedback, helping executives understand their behaviours, leadership styles, and areas for improvement.
Succession Planning: Executive coaches can help ensure you’re investing in the right people by external assessment of potential leaders that avoids cliques and politics. As Sandra Oliver says “Succession Planning isn’t just about identifying the right skills - it’s about recognizing the unique humanity of the leaders we invest in.”
Strategic Thinking: Helps leaders sharpen their strategic thinking, enabling them to make better business decisions.
Change Management: In a fast-changing business environment, executives must navigate uncertainty, manage change, and lead organizations through transformation.
Work-Life Balance: Helps executives manage stress, avoid burnout, and maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life.
Accountability: A coach holds executives accountable for their goals, ensuring they stay on track and take action toward improvement.

How effective is executive coaching?

As HR consultants to a wide range of companies over 20 years, we’ve learned that executive coaching is only highly effective when tailored to the specific needs of the leader and organization. Studies show that it leads to significant improvements in leadership skills, decision-making, and overall business performance. One study found that executive coaching has a 788% return on investment (ROI) because of enhancements to productivity and employee retention.

According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), common benefits of executive coaching include:

70% increase in individual performance
50% increase in team performance
48% increase in organizational performance

Executive training vs coaching vs mentorship - what’s the difference?

Executive coaching, training, and mentorship are all similar tools to help leaders improve their leadership skills. Below are the nuances between the three terms:

What is the difference between leadership training and an executive coach?

Leadership training and executive coaching both aim to develop leadership skills, but they differ in their approach, structure, and outcomes. Leadership training is typically a structured program designed for a group of leaders at various levels within an organization. It follows a standardized curriculum covering topics such as communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, and strategic thinking. Training sessions are often conducted through workshops, seminars, or online courses.

Executive coaching, on the other hand, is a highly personalized, one-on-one development process tailored to an individual leader’s specific strengths, challenges, and goals. A coach works closely with an executive to identify areas for growth, provide direct feedback, and develop customized strategies for improvement. Coaching sessions are flexible and evolve based on the executive’s needs, offering real-time support for handling leadership challenges. Unlike training, executive coaching is about transformation, self-awareness, and behavioural change.

What is the difference between an executive coach and a mentor?

An executive coach and a mentor both support professional growth. An executive coach is a trained professional accredited in many assessment tools who works with leaders to enhance their skills, performance, and effectiveness. Coaching is a structured, goal-oriented process that focuses on personal and professional development.

As Sandra Oliver, founder of Impact Coaches and a leader of 35 accredited coaches, pointed out good executive coaches are different. They tend to have a broader background than mentors and have greater experience with a wide range of CEOs, boards and shareholders. Impact, for example, coached over 100 different C-suites last year. This allows them to be a good confidential sounding board and an advisor. Important when things are complex and CEOs need to be at their such as the uncertainty we’re currently navigating.

A mentor is a professional who shares knowledge, advice, and insights based on their own career experience. Mentorship is often informal and long-term, focusing on career growth, networking, and professional guidance. A mentor acts as a role model, offering wisdom and encouragement rather than structured coaching sessions. Unlike an executive coach, a mentor typically has industry experience and provides guidance based on their own journey.

What are some examples of executive coaching?

The executive coaching program a company embarks upon depends very much on that company’s goals and needs but here are some examples of different programs:

Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

Team Coaching: working with team members individually and as a group to help them build trust and reach their potential faster.
Individual coaching: One-on-one plans and sessions to help identify their journey, identify new tools and evolve as a leader.
Leadership Communication Training: Creating leaders that inspire through storytelling, presentation skills and the exchange of feedback.
High-Potential Coaching: working with your high-potential candidates one-on-one or in groups across 6 to 12 months.
New Partner Coaching: Great for mergers and acquisitions, coaches work with large cohorts of new partners in groups and one-on-one.
Assessments: A wide variety of assessment tools to help you identify the strengths of your team for succession purposes and for individuals to gain greater self-awareness as leaders.

Regardless of the program, the goal is to work with the CEO and team to create a plan to help the company’s leaders and entire team increase their effectiveness, individually and collectively.

How often should you meet with an executive coach?

How often you meet with your executive coach can range from bi-weekly to monthly, depending on your goals, availability, and preferences. Some coaches may request weekly meetings when you first start coaching to learn more about you and address pressing needs.

How to pick an executive coach?

Choosing the right executive coach is essential for achieving your company’s goals. Here are key factors to consider when selecting an executive coach:

Know Your Goals: Are you looking to improve leadership skills, communication, strategic thinking, or work-life balance? A clear goal will help you find a coach with the right expertise.
Check Credentials and Experience: There’s a big difference between coaches and executive coaches. Executive coaches have broader and more senior business backgrounds with greater experience with CEOS and shareholders that can lend gravitas to challenging executives and holding them more accountable. Look for coaches that are accredited in multiple assessment tools. Is industry experience important in choosing an executive coach? It helps but broad experience and coach capability matters more. Try to get both.
Assess Coaching Style: Different coaches use various methods, such as goal-setting frameworks, behavioural assessments, or mindfulness techniques. Choose someone whose coaching style aligns with your personality and learning preferences.
Ask for References and Success Stories: A good coach should be able to provide testimonials or case studies from past clients. Hearing about their impact on other leaders can help you gauge their effectiveness.
Consider Chemistry and Compatibility: Coaching is a personal journey, so it’s important to choose someone you feel comfortable with. A strong connection fosters honest discussions and deeper self-reflection.
Evaluate Accountability Measures: An effective coach will hold you accountable for your growth and actions. Make sure they provide structured follow-ups and help track your progress over time.
Discuss Logistics and Costs: Clarify details such as session frequency, duration, location (in-person or virtual), and fees. Executive coaching is an investment, so ensure that the coach’s pricing aligns with your budget and expected return on investment.

A final word about executive coaching

To enjoy effective executive coaching that doesn’t get pushed aside, the person being coached needs to be ready to be coached. Impact Coaches wrote a piece outlining the 4 Essentials YOU need to have for successful coaching:

Know Your Goals: Be able to articulate it, with a strong personal reason why it’s important.
Commit To Taking Action: Be willing to push outside your comfort zone because that’s where growth happens.
Understand Your ‘Coachability’: Are you open to new ideas, perspectives and ways of thinking?
Have A Support System: Whether it’s your team, your peers or even your family and friends, you need to have some folks around you that will support your coaching journey.

Done right, executive coaching is a powerful investment for leaders who want to enhance their performance, develop key leadership skills, and drive organizational success. By providing tailored, one-on-one guidance, coaches help leaders navigate challenges, improve decision-making, and foster stronger team dynamics. With the right coach, executives can unlock their full potential and make a lasting impact on their organizations. Contact AugmentHR to learn about our executive coaching services.

Want To Learn More About Executive Coaching?

Join 3 acclaimed leaders in Executive Coaching - Shelley Brown of AugmentHR, Sandra Oliver, Founder of Impact Coaches and, late addition, Bart Egnal, CEO of The Humphrey Group - in this free webinar session as they talk about:

Leading through chaotic times like these
Trends in Leadership Development/Training & Executive Coaching
How have companies evolved their approach?
What are best practices around Succession Planning?
What role do Assessments/Personality Profiles/360’s play in supporting leadership development?

To get the benefit of a combined 60 years of experience in coaching leadership teams here and around the world, click below:

AugmentHR is an HR consulting firm based out of Toronto that offers a variety of HR services for companies looking to outsource all or part of their HR needs. AugmentHR and Impact Coaches are both part of the Humanis Group of Companies, a dynamic network of Canada's top talent management firms. With offices nationwide and over 150 talent advisory professionals, leadership development coaches and recruiters the Humanis team provides growing companies with Total Talent Solutions.