Looking to learn about the executive coaching process? Or maybe you’re ready to hire an executive coach. Either way, you’ve landed in the right place. This is our Ultimate Guide to Hiring an Executive Coach in 2025, where we will explain what executive coaching is and what it’s not. We will give you insider tips on selecting a great coach. You have the step-by-step executive coaching process, so you know how to get started and what to expect.
What Is Executive Coaching?
First, let’s start by defining what executive coaching is and what it’s not, before talking about the executive coaching process. Executive coaching is a tailored, ongoing developmental relationship focused on strengthening your leadership capacity. It’s ideal for mid- to senior-level executives navigating change, complexity, and organizational growth. Executive coaching aims to deepen emotional intelligence and decision-making.
Executive Coaches often use structured models, such as SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact), and tools like Stratavize’s new 4S Personality Assessment. These models are tools you can take back to the workplace, and we even encourage you to share with your team.
Now, let’s break down executive coaching versus: leadership training, business coaching, mentoring, life coaching, or therapy.
Executive Coaching Versus:
- Leadership training targets skill-building, while coaching is one-on-one and fully personalized. Training is ideal for learning about specific topics, but to navigate the complex landscape of leadership, coaching is a better fit.
- Mentorship: Mentors share their experience and advice; coaches draw out your thinking and empower self-discovery. Mentors often share their experiences, while, as a coach, I inquire about yours.
- Business Coaching: This type of coaching focuses primarily on process improvement and operational efficiency. It’s about the numbers, not the people.
- Therapy: Therapy can help you overcome anxiety or aid in the treatment of mental illness. Additionally, it enables you to unpack childhood trauma or navigate familial relationships.
- Life: Life coaches can help you discern your way forward, or encourage you to take a big leap of traveling abroad for a year!
Top 5 Reasons to Hire an Executive Coach
Drawing from one of our most popular posts, “Top 5 Reasons to Hire an Executive Coach,” here’s why many senior leaders invest in coaching:
- Long‑Term Vision – Coachees develop bigger-picture thinking, contributing to strategic alignment.
- Measurable Impact – Coaches help you set performance checkpoints tied to KPIs and ROI.
- Navigating Change – During restructuring, mergers, or scale-ups, coaching minimizes disruption.
- Employee Engagement – Stronger leaders foster higher morale and retention.
- Succession Planning – Focus coaching on rising managers to build a healthy leadership pipeline.
Additionally, coaching supports stress management, burnout prevention, and enhanced self-awareness, ultimately benefiting both the individual and their team.
The Executive Coaching Process
The Executive Coaching process is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but here’s how we do it. We believe our process helps ensure you achieve the success you seek. Here’s our executive coaching engagement 5 step process:
- Discovery & Readiness Assessment – Before hiring an Executive Coach, ensure it’s what you need. Often, people start with Executive Coaching only to realize they need a Life Coach or even a therapist. Stratavize’s free Executive Coaching Readiness Assessment benchmarks your openness and mindset to ensure you’re primed for growth.
- Goal-Setting & Commitment – Together, the coach and leader define goals that are aligned with the organization’s needs and what you want to accomplish as a leader.
- Coaching Sessions & Framework – Regular 1:1 sessions—with tools like SBI, Eisenhower Matrix, and 4S—drive focused action and reflection.
- Feedback & Adjustment – Leveraging 360° feedback and leadership assessments ensures alignment and facilitates course correction. We offer a range of methods to gather input, helping you improve.
- Measuring Success – As Metrix Global and American University note, executive coaching can yield up to 788% ROI, including dramatic gains in productivity, team performance, and retention. Again, together we can set personalized metrics for your coaching.
How to Choose the Right Executive Coach
So, now that you know the process for engaging with an Executive Coach, it’s time to select the right partner for you.
Use this checklist:
- Chemistry & Trust: The coaching relationship is a deep personal partnership—fit matters. Talk with the coach before making a decision. You must have chemistry and connection. Not like dating chemistry, but you feel you can trust them. It’s less about, “Would I have a glass of wine with this person?” and more “Will this person hold me accountable and say what I need to hear and not what I want to hear?“
- Approach: Learn their approach to coaching. Every coach should have a straightforward approach to helping their coachee achieve their goals.
- Framework & Tools: Ask about the tools and frameworks they use to help you overcome your biggest challenges as an executive leader.
- Style: What is their coaching style? If the coach makes every conversation about themselves – RUN! Seriously, run and run fast. You are not paying a coach to make statements instead of asking questions. Nor are you paying someone to go on and on about their success.
- Clarity on Fees: Understand whether coaching is hourly, fixed-term, or retainer-based. There are various ways coaches charge, and you want to find the right fit for you, your needs, and your budget.
Ready to Level Up Your Leadership?
Executive coaching isn’t just for CEOs and Fortune 500s—it’s for leaders who want to grow with intention, lead with clarity, and create real impact. If you’re navigating change, preparing for your next big move, or simply want to sharpen your edge as a leader, now is the perfect time to start. The results speak for themselves—and so do the leaders we’ve helped transform.
Take the next step: Complete our free Executive Coaching Readiness Assessment to see if you’re ready—and if we’re the right partner to help you unlock what’s next.
Your future team—and your future self—will thank you.
Never Miss a Story
Want to hear more from the Stratavize Team? Sign up to join our Monthly Insights & Spotlights for a monthly email.
Follow Stratavize on the Stratavize’s LinkedIn business page.
