What is Leadership Coaching?
- Fern Beauchamp
- Apr 23
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 24
Forbes reports that according to a MetrixGlobal study, executive coaching has a 788% ROI based on factors such as productivity and employee retention.
The need for strong, adaptable, emotionally intelligent and collaborative leaders is increasingly important as organisations face rapid change and growing complexity. When evaluating strategies for leadership development, leadership coaching stands out as a powerful tool, helping leaders better support their teams and drive meaningful change.
But what exactly is leadership coaching, and why does it matter so much in business?
Contents
What Is Leadership Coaching?
Leadership coaching typically involves regular one-on-one coaching or group coaching sessions, where leaders reflect on their experiences, set specific and actionable goals, and develop strategies to overcome challenges.
Rooted in behavioural and psychological science: Leadership coaching is grounded in behavioural and psychological science, aiming to create lasting, positive change by increasing self-awareness and fostering new perspectives and behaviours. It’s about unlocking a leader’s potential (rather than “fixing” them) to maximise their impact – a benefit both for themselves and their organisations.
Tailored: Leadership coaching is a tailored process designed to enhance a leader’s skills, self-awareness, wellbeing and impact. You may hear the terms "executive coaching" or "coaching". They are the same; the difference lies in the audience - executive or not.
Non-directive: Leadership coaching is a non-directive, collaborative space co-created by the coach and the leader. Unlike leadership training, which follows a curriculum to teach a leadership theory.
Solution-focused: Solution-focused processes are used by leadership coaches to explore and develop leadership styles, strengths, and address real-time challenges and goals. Coaches work from the belief that the coachee (the leader) is capable and supports them in finding their solutions. Coaches have a varying toolkit of techniques and frameworks, depending on their training. These are used to help the leader clarify their thoughts, assumptions and perspectives on the leader's selected topic.
Drives self-discovery: The coach facilitates the leader's self-discovery and action planning, ensuring the leader takes ownership of their development. The coach's role is to guide the leader in identifying actions to take after the session, while the leader is responsible for taking those actions.
Why Is Leadership Coaching Important?
Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace report found that global employee engagement fell from 23% to 21%, AND manager engagement has taken the biggest hit.
No other worker category — male or female, young or old — experienced as significant a decline.
- Global manager engagement: Dropped from 30% to 27%
- Young managers (under 35): Dropped from 32% to 27%
- Female managers: Dropped from 34% to 27%
🤨 Yet, only 44% of the world's managers report receiving management training.
Research finds that coaching significantly impacts leaders' emotional and social intelligence competencies, including emotional quotient (EQ), intrapersonal competency, stress management and empathy.
How Leadership Coaching Differs From Traditional Training
Navigating complex work environments: As organisations become more complex, with hybrid or fully remote working environments and distributed teams, leaders are expected to navigate uncertainty, drive innovation, and drive employee engagement via Zoom meetings. Unlike traditional training, which often delivers standardised content, leadership coaching provides personalised, ongoing support helping leaders develop the adaptability, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking needed to effectively lead through uncertainty and engage remote or distributed teams.
Tailored: Traditional leadership development programmes and leadership training can fall short in delivering the individualised attention and real-world applicability leaders need. Leadership coaching is unique because it addresses real-time and evolving challenges that leaders face.
Confidential: Leadership coaching offers a confidential space for leaders to be vulnerable in a non-judgemental environment. Leaders can explore different types of leadership styles, values, and strengths, and experiment with new approaches. They can also be gently challenged to reconsider entrenched ways of thinking that may no longer serve them.
Time to think: Many leaders have little time to pause and reflect, constantly switching between contexts in dynamic environments. The leadership coaching process promotes reflection, continuous learning, helping leaders adapt to change, make better decisions, and align their actions with both personal values and organisational values and goals. A one-hour leadership coaching session each month, may be the only time they have to pause and explore their challenges with an external thinking partner.
Benefits of Leadership Coaching
Leadership coaching offers a wide range of benefits for leaders, their teams, and their organisations. It can enhance:
Self-awareness. Leaders gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, blind spots, and the impact of their behaviour on others.
Decision-making. Coaching sharpens critical thinking and helps leaders consider multiple perspectives before making choices.
Emotional intelligence. Leaders develop empathy, improve communication, and build stronger relationships with their teams.
Adaptability. Coaching equips leaders to navigate change and uncertainty with confidence.
Goal setting and accountability. Leaders can set measurable goals, and regular coaching sessions help them drive progress, ensuring sustained growth. In fact, a meta-analysis found that coaching has significant positive effects on goal-directed self-regulation (Theebom et al., 2013).
Personal and professional growth. Leaders experience increased job satisfaction, resilience, and overall wellbeing. A 2020 CoachHub survey revealed that 85% of managers receiving coaching outperform their peers in critical soft skills including agility and resilience.
Practical tools and strategies: Coaching provides actionable techniques for managing conflict, giving and receiving feedback, building teams, and driving performance.
Ripple effect: Leadership coaching doesn’t just benefit the individual – it creates a ripple effect throughout the organisation. Gallup reports that leaders are responsible for 70% of employee engagement. Effective leadership and leadership coaching lead to higher employee engagement, retention, and productivity.
Leadership Coaching Style
Leadership coaching is not a one-size-fits-all approach. There are several styles and formats, each catering to different needs and preferences. The most common are:
1:1 Leadership Coaching
One-on-one coaching offers highly personalised attention, tailored to the individual leader’s goals, challenges, and pace. Sessions are confidential, allowing for open discussion of sensitive topics and deep self-reflection. This bespoke approach ensures that every session addresses the leader’s immediate needs, making it especially effective for those seeking targeted development and rapid growth.
Group Leadership Coaching Programme
Leadership group coaching brings together leaders from diverse backgrounds (but with commonality) creating a collaborative learning environment. Participants share experiences, exchange ideas, and support each other through collective problem-solving. This format encourages peer learning, broadens perspectives, and helps leaders build valuable professional networks. It also helps build trust by creating a safe, confidential environment for leaders to be vulnerable.
Group sessions (Kinkajou's tend to consist of 4-6 leaders) offer great opportunity for shared growth and innovation. They also help boost accountability - leaders are accountable to the whole group. Group coaching also cultivates a coaching leadership culture, which starts within the coaching group - a safe place to practice - and is often then applied to teams and the wider business.
Group and 1:1 Coaching Programme
Some programmes blend group and individual coaching, offering the best of both worlds. Kinkajou's signature EMPOWER Leadership Group Coaching programme does just this. Leaders benefit from personalised support in 1:1 sessions while also engaging in group discussions and activities that promote collective learning and accountability. Our programme is tailored to organisations' specific contexts and participant needs and complemented by reading, tools and assessment surveys. This hybrid approach is particularly effective for organisations seeking to build leadership and coaching skills across teams while still addressing individual development needs.
Why Is Leadership Coaching So Impactful?
Leadership coaching is so impactful because it creates lasting behavioural change and drives real-world results. Unlike traditional training, which often focuses on theory, coaching is action-oriented and tailored to the leader’s current challenges. Leaders are empowered to apply new insights immediately, accelerating their development and delivering measurable impact.
Research shows that coaching significantly boosts productivity, engagement, and retention. For example, research finds that organisations with a strong coaching culture are more likely to have engaged employees compared to other organisations - 61% vs 53%, respectively. Coaching also builds emotional intelligence – a key driver of effective leadership – and helps align leaders with organisational values and strategy.
Ultimately, leadership coaching transforms not just the individual leader but the entire organisation, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, employee engagement, collaboration, and high performance.
Who Benefits From Leadership Coaching?
Leadership coaching is valuable for leaders at all levels, from first-time managers to seasoned executives. It also supports the unique needs of diverse leadership populations.
Leadership Coaching for First-Time Managers
First-time managers often face a steep learning curve as they transition from individual contributors to team leaders. Coaching helps them build foundational leadership and coaching skills, develop confidence, and navigate common challenges such as delegation, feedback, and team dynamics. Early coaching support sets new managers up for long-term success.
Leadership Coaching for Middle Managers
Middle managers are the linchpin of any organisation, balancing strategic goals with day-to-day operations. Coaching helps them develop advanced leadership skills, manage up and down the hierarchy, and drive cross-functional collaboration. It also supports resilience and adaptability as they juggle competing priorities and lead through change.
Leadership Coaching for Executives
Executives operate in high-stakes environments, where their decisions have far-reaching consequences. Leadership coaching provides a confidential sounding board, helping them refine their vision, sharpen strategic thinking, and lead with authenticity.
Leadership Coaching for Inclusive Leaders
Inclusive leadership is essential for building diverse, high-performing teams. Coaching supports leaders in developing cultural competence, recognising unconscious bias, and fostering environments where all voices are heard. Inclusive leaders can also adopt a coaching style leadership approach to enhance their ability to connect with and empower people from all backgrounds.
Leadership Coaching for Women
Women leaders often face unique challenges, including gender bias and underrepresentation in senior roles or industries like tech. Coaching provides targeted support to help women recognise and navigate systemic challenges and advocate for themselves and others.
Leadership Coaching for Neurodivergent Leaders
Neurodivergent leaders bring valuable perspectives and strengths to organisations. Coaching helps them leverage these strengths, develop effective communication strategies, and navigate workplace dynamics. It also supports organisations in creating more inclusive environments that recognise and celebrate neurodiversity.
How to Choose the Right Leadership Coaching Programme
With increasing numbers of leadership coaching programmes available, it’s important to find one that is effective, and suitable to the leader and their organisation. There are various elements to consider to help choose the right one.
Align with organisational objectives: Start by considering the leader’s and organisation’s objectives – what does the leadership coaching programme need to achieve? This will aid conversations with prospective coaches to ensure needs align with coaching programme offerings.
Partner with a coaching provider:
Work with a provider that will tailor or design a programme to fit your needs in terms of structure, cadence, resources and duration. Kinkajou tailors all programmes to the organisation and department's needs - see our case study, Leadership Development Global Tech.
An important element of any coaching programme is the coach. Companies like Kinkajou have coaches with leadership experience, qualifications, and accreditations from recognised bodies such as the International Coaching Federation (ICF) or the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). This ensures the leadership coach adheres to ethical standards and evidence-based methodologies.
Programme duration and structure: Short-term sessions often lack depth, whereas programmes spanning 6 months or more allow for sustained growth. While programmes that offer a blend of 1:1 and group sessions create a practical, balanced approach.
Programme resources: Additional resources, such as recommended readings, assessments (e.g. 360-degree feedback or strengths profiling), and post-programme support, will also amplify the programme’s impact.
Measuring the Impact of Leadership Coaching
The impact of leadership coaching can be measured through improvements in individual performance, team engagement, and organisational outcomes. Tracking progress against defined goals ensures coaching delivers tangible, lasting value. At Kinkajou, we measure impact both during and after the programme. Dive deep into this topic in our article: How to Measure the Impact of Leadership Coaching.
Summing Up
Leadership coaching can be a transformative approach to leadership development, empowering individuals and organisations to thrive. Leadership coaching helps leaders build self-awareness, enhance their decision-making skills, and foster stronger relationships within their teams. By investing in leaders, you invest in employee engagement, and employee engagement ultimately impacts the bottom line.
➡️ Learn more about our leadership development services for organisations which includes leadership group coaching and leadership 1:1 coaching for first-time managers, middle managers, women, neurodiverse and senior leaders.
