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    What is executive coaching?

    Executive coaching is a confidential one-to-one working relationship for leaders in consequential roles. The point is not to hand you ready-made answers, but to improve the quality of thinking: clarify the real question, notice blind spots and expand your options when complexity and responsibility are high.

    Unlike consulting or training, executive coaching starts with the leader and the leadership situation rather than a technical subject. The coach acts as an independent thinking partner: direct, confidential and without an internal agenda.

    Coaching vs. consulting vs. mentoring vs. therapy

    The terms overlap in everyday language, but their professional contribution is different:

    Executive coaching

    Confidential one-to-one reflection and sparring for leaders. Focus on decisions, behavior and leadership situations. Responsibility remains with you.

    For: CEOs, managing directors, VPs and senior leaders

    Consulting

    Subject-matter expertise and recommendations for a specific problem. The consultant provides analysis and proposed solutions.

    For: Organizations with a defined technical or business question

    Mentoring

    Experience-based guidance from someone who has travelled a similar path. The emphasis is knowledge and experience transfer.

    For: Emerging leaders and people navigating a familiar career path

    Psychotherapy

    Professional diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders. Coaching is not therapy and does not replace it.

    For: People who need a clinical treatment setting

    When is executive coaching useful?

    It is particularly useful when the challenge extends beyond ordinary day-to-day management:

    • —Decisions under pressure: When the information is incomplete but a consequential decision still has to be made.
    • —Leadership-team conflict: When tension is reducing the quality of collaboration and decision-making.
    • —A new leadership role: When mandate, relationships and early priorities need to be established deliberately.
    • —Change & transformation: When you need to steer change while maintaining orientation and working relationships.
    • —Self-leadership: When you want to notice your own patterns earlier and remain more deliberate under pressure.

    How does executive coaching work?

    1. Intro call

    15–20 minutes to understand the issue, assess mutual fit and clarify whether coaching or sparring is the right format.

    2. Define focus and useful outcomes

    Clarify what should become different and what observable progress would look like before starting.

    3. Coaching sessions

    Usually 60–90 minutes, online or in person. The structure remains clear while the agenda follows the leadership reality you actually need to handle.

    4. Review and transfer

    Test what changed between sessions and adjust the work accordingly. The goal is greater independent capability, not ongoing dependency.

    Explore the approach

    Frequently asked questions about executive coaching

    Fit is easier to assess around a real question.

    Bring one concrete leadership situation to the confidential intro call. We can then judge whether coaching or sparring is the right frame.

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