What Does a Leadership Coach Do?

Not what you probably think. And the coaches who explain it badly are part of the reason there's so much confusion.

I've had people assume I'm an executive assistant who gives pep talks. I've had people assume I'm a therapist with a business background. I've had a CFO tell me, with complete sincerity, that he didn't think he needed coaching because he already had a good mentor.

None of those are wrong — they're just different things.

The actual job

A leadership coach helps a leader close the gap between where they are and where they need to be. That gap is sometimes strategic — clarity on direction, priorities, or structure. It's sometimes relational — dynamics with a partner, a board, a team. And it's sometimes internal — the stories a leader is running about their own capacity, worth, or identity.

Usually it's some combination of all three, because leaders are people and people are complicated.

What a coach does in that work is: ask better questions than the leader is asking themselves. Hold the frame when the leader gets lost in the details. Create a structure for accountability that the leader can't negotiate their way out of. And sometimes — when the situation calls for it — tell the leader what they don't want to hear in a way that lands.

That last one is underrated. Most people in a leader's life have a reason to soften the truth. A coach doesn't.

The formats vary

I want to be clear about this: coaching isn't only one-to-one. I work with individual executives, but I also work with full leadership teams through EOS implementation, and I facilitate peer masterminds where a cohort of leaders coach each other inside a structured format.

The format changes the delivery. The core work doesn't change: clarity, accountability, honest feedback.

Some leaders thrive in the one-to-one structure because the work is personal and private. Others get more from peer accountability because they're motivated by learning what other leaders at their level are navigating. Some need both at different seasons.

What a coach can't do

A coach can't want it for you. Can't make decisions for you. Can't substitute for leadership — can only support it.

I've also found that some people aren't ready for coaching at the moment they show up. They want validation for a decision they've already made, or they want someone to tell them what to do, or the timing is wrong. When that's the case, I'll usually say so. Starting a coaching engagement before someone is ready wastes both people's time.

The question worth asking before you hire anyone: what specifically are you trying to get clear on, and what's prevented you from getting there on your own?

If you can answer that clearly, you're probably ready. If you can't, that might be the first thing to work on.