Quick answer: Executive Coaching is a confidential, one-on-one partnership that helps leaders build self-awareness, work through real decisions, and change behavior that’s no longer serving them. A coach listens differently than a friend, colleague, or family member because a coach has no stake in the outcome. Engagements typically run six to twelve months and combine regular sessions with practice between them. Across The Bailey Group’s coaching portfolio, clients report 96.3% overall satisfaction and a greater than 50% extension rate, meaning most clients choose to continue coaching once they start.
I’ve been an executive coach for 40 years. It should be easy to describe what Executive Coaching really is and how it works. But it is hard to talk about in ways that truly communicate the experience. Here’s why.
The Outcomes Are Easy to List. The Experience Isn’t
It’s easy to talk about the outcomes of Executive Coaching: clarity and alignment between individual and organizational goals, deeper awareness of strengths, weaknesses, and patterns that help or hinder the ability to lead, accountability to practice new skills, improved execution on key initiatives, and results that are sustainable over time, to name just a few.
It’s also easy to list what I do as a coach: listen, offer empathy and compassion, reflect, challenge, support, and offer new perspectives. I can even describe the typical process of coaching, raising awareness, setting and committing to goals, and practicing new skills.
Essentially, what I do as a coach sounds simple, but it is not. It has the potential to be so powerful that it could be considered a life-changing experience.
How Coaches Listen Differently
Boiled down, coaches listen like others do not. They really listen, not just wait to talk. What we listen for is how you feel, how you think, and what your beliefs and assumptions are about yourself, others, and the world of work. And while we do offer advice and suggestions, we only offer it once you are “ready” to hear it. A question I often ask people is, “When was the last time you took the advice of someone who offered it to you unasked?” If you’re like most leaders, the answer is probably never.
Why a Coach Isn’t the Same as a Friend, Family Member, or Colleague
If you’ve never had a coach, you probably believe that others do this for you already. You’ve had plenty of people listen as you talk through an issue, understand what you’re going through, and offer feedback and insight. But the critical difference is this: are your friends, family, and coworkers unbiased? Or do they have a stake in what you do or don’t do? Is their view of you who you “really are” inside, or is it based on who they’ve come to know over time? Yes, they love you (and your coach likely doesn’t, though we respect you). But sometimes love and loyalty from others only strengthens the belief that we are right and others are wrong. And that won’t solve work issues.
Due to their psychological distance, coaches can be more objective. Coaches have no personal stake in what you choose to do or not do. The coach’s goal is to help you gain clarity, so you know what you want to do, and the courage to try it, even when the outcome is unclear and likely risky. That combination, clarity plus courage, is fairly uncommon on its own.
Great Coaches See All of You, and Accept All of You
Executive Coaches come to know you, your strengths, your weaknesses, and your vulnerabilities. Great coaches see you, all of you. And they accept you, all of you. They have no interest in changing YOU, even though your behaviors might not be working for you.
Executive Coaches normalize the human work experience. After 40 years, I can safely say I have heard, seen, discussed, and experienced through others just about every kind of work experience imaginable. I am not shockable. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate how unique and impactful these experiences are for you. My motto, learned from a colleague some years back, is to make sure I communicate to you, in whatever way you need to hear it, that what you feel, think, or did, “happened, and it mattered, so now what?”
I’m Not Perfect, Neither Are You – That’s the Point
Am I perfect? Heavens no. I make the same darn mistakes you do. I am biased, driven by my ego sometimes, and I look at situations in a skewed manner. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I do know that you are okay. You are “incomplete” as a leader, and your behavior may need to change. I believe you will change when you see the need to and are ready. My job is to help you get there quicker than you could on your own.
I love this work, and I’m good at it. I have learned and honed skills over many years, and I have seen it work, it provides new outlooks, new possibilities, and new successes to those who are brave enough to engage in it.
What the Numbers Show
This isn’t just my experience talking. Across The Bailey Group’s coaching engagements, clients report 96.3% overall satisfaction, a greater than 50% extension rate (meaning most clients continue coaching past the initial engagement), and 100% organizational impact, measured through pre- and post-engagement assessment. In one 12-month program with a technology client, 100% of participants advanced in role and remained with the company at the six-month follow-up mark. Coaching works when it’s built to be measured, not just felt.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Executive Coaching?
Executive Coaching is a confidential, ongoing partnership between a leader and a trained coach, focused on building self-awareness, working through real business challenges, and practicing new leadership behaviors. It typically includes regular one-on-one sessions, goal setting, and accountability between meetings.
How is a coach different from a mentor, friend, or trusted colleague?
A coach has psychological distance and no personal stake in what you decide to do. Friends, family, and colleagues care about you, but that closeness can reinforce your existing point of view rather than challenge it. A coach’s objectivity is what makes new perspective possible.
How long does an executive coaching engagement last?
Most engagements run six to twelve months, with sessions scheduled on a regular cadence so leaders have time to set goals, practice new skills, and see change stick.
What results can leaders expect from coaching?
Clients typically report greater clarity and alignment with organizational goals, stronger self-awareness, improved execution on key initiatives, and results that hold up over time. Across The Bailey Group’s portfolio, 96.3% of clients report overall satisfaction and over 50% choose to extend their engagement.
Snippet
What I do as a coach sounds relatively simple, but it is not. It has the potential to be so powerful that it could be considered a life-changing experience. Executive Coaching provides new outlooks, new possibilities, and new successes to those who are brave enough to engage in it.
