Do You Need an Executive Coach? 7 Signs It’s Time

✔ Key Takeaways

Introduction

In this article, I'll define what executive coaching is, show you seven signs that you need an executive coach, and also give you four signs executive coaching may not be right for you (at least not yet).

By the end of this article, you'll know whether or not executive coaching is the right choice for you.

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If You're Good, You Want to Get Even Better

You’ve worked hard, built a strong career, and earned a leadership role.

So why would you need an executive coach? 

I look at it the same way I look at coaching in sports.

Michael Jordan worked with Tim Grover. Shaquille O’Neal got help with his free throws. Tom Brady worked with a throwing coach even when he was already performing at an exceptional level. They weren’t getting coached because they were bad. They were getting coached because they were good and wanted to get better.

Business leadership works the same way. At a certain point, more effort alone may not move you forward. You need an outside perspective, different strategies, and someone willing to tell you what you might not see yourself. 

But coaching isn’t automatically the right next step for every leader. I want to make the distinction clear: there are signs you could benefit from executive coaching, and there are situations where you’re probably not ready for it yet.

What Executive Coaching Is, and What It Is NOT

It's helpful to start by defining what executive coaching is NOT.

An executive coach is not a consultant who comes in, tells you what to do, and fixes everything. If someone else is always solving your problems, you can become dependent on that person rather than developing your own leadership abilities.

Coaching also differs from meeting with a mentor to reflect on your career or discuss long-term strategies. Mentorship can be valuable, but that isn’t the relationship I’m describing here. 

Think of an executive coach more like a fitness trainer for your leadership. A good trainer challenges you, gives honest feedback, and points out muscles that are underdeveloped. An executive coach applies the same directive approach to your decision-making abilities, your communication skills, and your leadership blind spots. 

The essential benefit is an outside perspective combined with accountability. A coach can recognize patterns they’ve encountered with other leaders and help you work through them. 

That’s different from talking with a colleague, a friend, or your spouse. Those people may care deeply about you, but they have their own opinions and stakes in the situation.

An executive coach offers a different perspective: one that's 100% focused on your development as a leader.

7 Signs You Need an Executive Coach

1. You’re the Bottleneck in Your Business 

The first sign you need an executive coach is that you (yes, you!) are the bottleneck in your business or the company you work for.

If every important decision has to go through you, business can only move as fast as you do. I see this with founders and executive leaders who take on too much, feel responsible for everything, and stay involved in decisions their teams could handle.

This feeling of responsibility usually comes from having high standards. That’s a strength, but sometimes those high standards prevent things from moving.

Not every business task needs to be perfect. Sometimes the ball simply needs to move down the field. And sometimes "good enough" really is good enough.  

If you're feeling the need to control too much, ask yourself these three questions: 

1. Am I holding on to work I should be delegating? 
2. Am I slowing decisions because I want every detail handled "my way"?
3. Have I delayed hiring someone who could take responsibilities off my plate? 

If you answered yes to any of these, consider working with an executive coach.

A coach can help you examine where your involvement adds value and where it creates a traffic jam. The goal isn’t to stop caring about quality, rather it’s to stop making yourself the requirement for progress in your company. 

2. You’ve Just Been Promoted or Taken a New Role

The strategies that earned your new promotion may not be enough for the role you now hold. You’ve built your success using certain strengths, and now the job requires approaches you haven’t developed yet.  Sure, you'll probably grow into the role and learn as you go, but wouldn't it be nice to accelerate this process?

Whether you’ve moved up internally or joined a new company, an executive coach can help you adapt to the role, learn new strategies, and avoid missteps. 

Role transition is also where feelings of imposter syndrome can show up. And by the way, it's not a "syndrome" in any clinical sense. You're not stuck with this feeling forever. It simply means you haven’t spent enough time in the new role to feel comfortable.

The important thing is to address those imposter feelings rather than let them stifle the performance you’re capable of delivering. 

3. You Keep Hearing the Same Feedback 

One colleague’s criticism may just be a difference of opinion, but a recurring pattern of criticism deserves a closer look.

Maybe people tell you that you dominate meetings. Maybe you come across as intimidating, or maybe you're a people-pleaser and want everyone to be happy.

Whatever the issue, if you keep hearing the same thing from different people, I’d encourage you to stop treating these comments as isolated events. 

You may already know there’s something you need to work on. And you may also feel a bit defensive about it. That's all totally normal. A coach can help you move beyond simply recognizing the patterns and push you toward actually changing them.



4. You’ve Hit a Performance Plateau 

Maybe you’re working as hard as ever, but your results have flattened out. Or maybe you’re bored in your current role and you don't feel challenged. You might have hit a plateau.

I don’t see hitting a plateau as evidence that something's wrong with you. Not at all. Athletes hit plateaus all the time. The solution isn’t to repeat the same workout with more intensity. No, it's time to mix it up and try a different training plan.

Think about Michael Jordan when he incorporated strength training into his regimen. That helped him immensely. The point is that a different approach can accomplish more than just pushing through with the old strategies.

An executive coach can help you identify whether you’re trying to solve a new challenge with an old strategy.

5. It’s Lonely at the Top 

As your leadership responsibilities grow, the number of people you can speak to candidly gets smaller. 

Certainly, leaders should be transparent, but there are limits. Your work colleagues and your team are not where you process your frustrations, insecurities, or difficult leadership dilemmas. They have their own responsibilities, and are far from neutral participants in your situation. And venting to your spouse or family can get old, right?

An executive coach gives you a place to think out loud, test new ideas, and discuss difficult issues. Having someone to talk to who has a neutral perspective is one of coaching’s biggest benefits. 

6. You’re Stuck in Analysis Paralysis 

Another sign that you need an executive coach is when you're indecisive. This is usually around big decisions. While it's prudent to do some risk analysis for important decisions, it's not okay to fall into analysis-paralysis.

Maybe even as you're reading this, there’s a decision you know you need to make. You’ve been thinking about it for weeks, maybe longer.  It could involve hiring someone, restructuring the business, or letting an employee go. You keep weighing the pros and cons, but you aren’t moving forward.

An executive coach can help you set up a decision-making framework, separate your emotions from the situation, and execute with confidence.

Of course the coach doesn't make the decision for you. Instead, the coach helps you break free from overthinking and learn to turn overwhelming decisions into bite-sized actions.

7. You’re Heading Towards Burnout 

And finally, the seventh sign that you need an executive coach is you're feeling burned out. 

Now, to be honest, long hours often come with leadership. There are periods when you need to push hard and work late. But if that's become your normal operating mode, burnout may be on the horizon.

Let's get back to the sports analogy here. Sports like football and basketball have quarters. And all sports have an offseason. Even highly trained athletes don’t perform at maximum intensity indefinitely. They need time to recharge.

While not as physically demanding as sports, business has a way of deceptively draining your energy. An executive coach can help you look at your pace and boundaries before exhaustion catches up to you.

Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare? It was written for a reason. While you don't have to be as slow as the tortoise or as frenetic as the hare, you'd be wise to take a page from this famous book.

4 Signs Executive Coaching May Not Be Right for You

While you may be feeling inspired to try executive coaching, it doesn’t automatically mean coaching is the right answer for you today.

Readiness matters, and sometimes another kind of support needs to come first. The following are four important signs that executive coaching is not right for you, at least not yet.

1. You’re Not Willing to Change 

Coaching requires a willingness to try something new and admit that you might be wrong. You don’t have to arrive with every blind spot identified but you need to acknowledge that you need help. 

If your default is that you always know what's best, coaching will be slow going, or worse, it will be a complete waste of time.

2. You Want Someone to Fix Your Team, Not Your Leadership

“I’m not the problem. My team just needs someone to motivate them.” If that’s your expectation, executive coaching is not the right fit.

While some executive coaches might take the bait and fix things, my coaching approach starts with leadership. If someone on your team is underperforming, I want the leader to examine their own decisions, including whether they’ve avoided moving that person into a different role or simply letting them go.

I learned a lot about "fixer coaches" while working at a tech company in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 2000s. The company was doing well financially, but there were some hiccups in our processes. Nothing terrible, but leadership decided to bring in a coach to solve the problem. The coach was well known and had published some books. We had high expectations. But the coach focused solely on the employees and not on leadership. The result? The coach made things worse.

That experience reinforced my belief that guidance and accountability have to start at the top. Bringing someone in to “fix the team” while not addressing leadership is a Band-Aid approach, not a real solution.

3. Mental Health Symptoms Need Attention First 

There’s a big difference between working on leadership performance and getting treatment for mental health symptoms. If you’re experiencing significant depression or anxiety symptoms, I would point you toward a licensed mental health professional. Checking in with your medical doctor may also be appropriate. 

Leadership can be stressful, and feeling depressed or anxious can happen to anyone. Take care of yourself before starting any kind of executive coaching.



4. You’ve Been Sent to Coaching

Sometimes it happens. You get sent to coaching or it's "suggested" that you go.

Mandated coaching can work, but you need to be willing to give it a try. If your organization has required or strongly suggested that you try coaching, it's ultimately up to you to make coaching work.

Don't expect any real results from mandated coaching unless you're able to say, “There may be something here that could help me.”

A Few Questions to Assess If You’re Ready for Coaching

If you’re still unsure about executive coaching, start with these questions. Answering them honestly can help you decide if you would benefit from coaching.

1. Do I keep getting the same critical feedback? A recurring pattern may point to a barrier you haven’t been able to work through on your own. 

2. Have I put off an important decision for more than a month? That can be a useful signal that overthinking has replaced action. 

3. Do I have someone I can speak with candidly and privately about my leadership? Consider whether that person can genuinely offer a neutral perspective. 

4. Am I enjoying my work the way I used to, when I felt "in the zone"? Think about the periods when meetings flowed, decisions felt clearer, and you were performing at a high level without forcing things. 

5. Would I be proud to give a keynote address about my current level of leadership? If describing your current leadership would make you uncomfortable, that gap is worth exploring. 

Choosing a Coach: Some Things to Consider

If coaching feels like the right next step, don’t choose solely on impressive credentials. Focus on these four things. 

1. Chemistry and Trust

Many executive coaches offer an initial consultation. Use that conversation to assess rapport. If someone is highly qualified but you don’t feel comfortable speaking honestly with them, that matters.

2. Ask About the Process

Inquiring about coaching should include some essential questions like these:

• How is progress measured?
• How will I know when the coaching engagement is complete?
• Are modules, templates, or other structured tools part of the process? 

The answers to these questions should help you understand what working together would actually involve.

3. Check for Relevant Experience

Has the coach worked with people at your level of leadership? Do they understand the kinds of pressures you face?

Ask these two questions directly, and pay attention to how the coach responds. You’re looking for someone whose experience will allow them to quickly recognize the leadership challenges you’re facing.

4. Be Wary of Quick Fixes and Guarantees

Be cautious about anyone promising a guaranteed transformation, especially in just a few weeks. While some leaders might only need a few weeks to achieve their coaching goals, it's impossible to predict a quick outcome until a coach actually meets with the prospective client. 

Final Thoughts

Here’s my honest answer to whether you need an executive coach.

You may be doing just fine without one. But in the same way an NFL quarterback can keep playing without a throwing coach, you can probably continue using the strategies that have already served you. You'll be fine.

But I suspect you didn’t get into leadership just to be "fine." You enjoy growth, you enjoy competition, and you enjoy building something that makes a difference. 

The leaders who keep improving are willing to look at their blind spots, try new strategies, and try executive coaching. Not because they’ve failed, but because they want to get better.

➜ Is Executive Coaching Right for You?

If you're interested in my executive coaching offerings, Apply for a Consultation to discuss your leadership challenges and whether working together might be a good fit.