Leadership coaching is a developmental relationship undertaken by organizational leaders with a coach. The leaders engage in partnership with a coach, who offers humanistic, result-oriented, and structured support through a formal engagement. Leaders explore their strengths and available resources to deploy them in their current context and maximize their impact. The leadership coaching journey is a purposeful engagement where the leader works with the coach to achieve specific goals in enhancing leadership efficacy within their context. Coaching is very influential within an organizational context as leaders’ enhanced effectiveness can have a significant impact on their immediate team and the ecosystem in which they operate. Developing leadership competencies requires conscious effort from the leaders and support from their organizations. Leadership coaching is particularly valuable in today’s context as the demands on leadership are much greater than before in terms of demonstrating sustainable business growth in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world.

Leadership and executive coaching aim to enable leaders and executives to realize their full potential and succeed in current and future roles. It prepares the leader or executive to take on greater responsibilities and positions. This becomes evident when a leader or executive demonstrates fearlessness and takes positive steps towards their goals, without self-limiting themselves because of their beliefs and assumptions. Leaders or executives also begin to appreciate that they have agency and can make choices that bring fulfillment to their professional and personal lives. The coaching process helps the leader or executive move from intention to action, helping them build new leadership competencies and discover resources they already possess. Therefore, coaching enables self-discovery and self-actualization. Coaching also has a therapeutic effect, as the coaching relationship creates a safe and non-judgmental environment for the leader to explore and build resilience, hope, self-esteem, and self-efficacy.

The terms mentoring and coaching are often used interchangeably, but there is a clear distinction between the two.

Coaching is a developmental relationship with an experienced professional who helps the coachee discover their strengths define their goals, and help them achieve it. It is a non-directive and non-perspective relationship, and the coach does not provide direct answers to what needs to be done. The coaching relationship is time-bound.

On the other hand, mentoring is a nurturing relationship with a mentor who has achieved success in areas that the mentee aspires to. The mentor shares their experiences and provides guidance on how to approach goals and situations. There is no time limit to a mentor-mentee relationship.

Though distinct, both coaching and mentoring are crucial for developing leaders and executives. While a leader can have both coaching and mentoring relationships simultaneously, it may not be effective to expect a coach to fulfill the role of a mentor, and vice versa, in order to derive the most value from both relationships.

Leadership coaching and executive coaching serve different audiences with distinct needs, focus areas, and engagement scopes.

Executive coaching is meant to enhance the effectiveness of C-suite executives and high-potential leaders transitioning into the C-suite level. The executive coaching focuses broadly on three levels of needs – current role effectiveness, transition into a new role, or the executive’s agenda. Executive coaching spans eight months or longer. By working with the coach, the executives overcome their mental barriers and drive meaningful impact for themselves and their organization

On the other hand, leadership coaching is meant for leaders at all levels in the organization. Leadership coaching focuses on helping leaders enhance their leadership competencies, team management, and self-awareness. The leadership coaching spans for four to six months when the leader takes the coach’s support to build new capabilities to address the current leadership gaps.

In summary, both types of coaching empower leaders and executives to reach their full potential.

It’s crucial to select the right coach based on the goals you aim to achieve through coaching. While these goals will become clearer once you begin working with a coach, having a general direction in mind is helpful. Since coaching is a personalized supportive relationship, it’s important to find a coach who meets your psychological and demographic needs. Once you’ve identified potential coaches, it’s essential to have one or two conversations with them. It is also necessary to evaluate if their coaching process aligns with your preferences. A successful coaching program hinges on the chemistry between the coach and the coachee. Therefore, it’s important to have confidence in the coach’s ability to assist you.