After fourteen years of coaching executives, the clearest predictor of a successful engagement I've seen isn't seniority, industry or even the challenge at hand. It's readiness.
When coaching fails, it's most often because the leader wasn't ready or willing, especially when they were sent to coaching by someone else. So before you invest in coaching for a leader, it's worth looking for these signs. Leaders can use them to check in with themselves, too.
Five Signs You're Ready
1. Willingness
They're choosing this, not just complying with it. Sponsored coaching can work beautifully, but only when the leader owns it.
2. Openness, Honesty and Vulnerability
They're prepared to say what's really going on, including the parts they don't say in the boardroom.
3. Curiosity
They're interested in what they might discover about themselves, not just in fixing a problem.
4. Positive Expectation
They believe something good can come out of the conversation. That expectation shapes what they notice and act on.
5. Courage
Coaches ask hard questions. A growth mindset, and the courage to sit with those questions, turns insight into change.
When Coaching Isn't the Answer
Being honest about this matters just as much. A leader may need something else if they need:
- Guidance from experience: that's mentoring.
- Information, data or technical orientation: that's training or briefing.
- Help understanding a new culture and its people: that's onboarding.
- An urgent, high-impact problem solved now: that's a crisis team.
Coaching also isn't a fix for a "difficult talent" someone else wants changed, and it's hard to do well when the timing competes with bigger priorities.
Not sure whether coaching is the right investment for a leader? That's a perfectly good reason to have a first conversation. Reach out.