Why Executive Coaching is a Vital Tool for Career Development

Across the world, coaching is a booming business.

iPEC Coaching discovered that professionals made more than 1.5 million searches a month searching for career, life, and executive coaching. In 2019, the coaching industry made nearly three billion in revenue.

On the whole, clients were also satisfied with their coaches. In 2020, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) said that 99 percent of coaching clients were “satisfied or very satisfied,” with 96 percent reporting that they would hire a coach a second time. 

Though there are several types of coaching, the type of coaching that many high-level professionals seek to advance their careers is executive coaching. This type of coaching helps business leaders make strategic moves at work, plan their career futures, and improve their own self-awareness. A coach differs from a consultant in that they focus on improving individuals rather than on improving problems. 

“Coaching provides a confidential forum to develop leadership qualities, strengthen decision-making and build confidence. Sometimes the goals may center around career advancement, while at other times they may focus on enhancing soft skills or personal development to enable an employee to perform their role with greater effectiveness and confidence,” said career development coach Wendy Braitman, PCC.

Many professionals turn to executive coaches before taking the next steps in their careers. Here’s why executive coaching is such a vital tool for career development. 

 

✅ Executive coaching can provide pathways to career development.

After a long and successful career, you might start feeling demotivated.

Perhaps your work is no longer challenging or fulfilling. Maybe you’ve advanced as far as you can in your current field. Or maybe you’re not sure exactly what’s wrong in your professional life. 

Executive coaches provide directions to professionals who have reached crossroads in their careers.

“A career coach can help you understand what is getting in the way of progress, what aspect of your current role is dissatisfying, what type of career change you’re looking for, or how to define what a fulfilling career looks like for you,” said Leang Chung, a coach for mid-career womxn.

 

✅ Executive coaching helps professionals devise their own processes and methods.

If they don’t like receiving “advice,” some executives may not think coaching is what they need.

But coaching isn’t about learning tips or tricks that work for someone else; rather, coaches help clients develop the practices and processes that work for them. 

Executive coaches are not mentors, iPEC Coaching explains. 

“Unlike mentoring, where the mentee attempts to follow in the mentor’s footsteps and emulate their decisions and style, coaching techniques are designed to help individuals find their own path and discover their own strengths, skills, and blind spots. After all, just because one person was successful doing something one way, it does not guarantee that everyone will be equally successful following the same path, the same way,” they write.

 

✅ Executive coaching ensures professionals develop the qualities they lack.

One of the most frustrating elements of a professional career is knowing that you need to develop a particular quality but not knowing how to do it.

Executive coaches help clients figure out skills they need to advance and then make plans to help them build those skills. 

Braitman talks about one of her clients, a senior producer at a tech firm who struggled to communicate calmly. 

“On our first call together, my client shared one of his career goals, which was to enhance his ‘executive intelligence’ so that one day he’d be able to move into people management. We developed a customized plan with achievable action steps he could take in between each of our sessions. And by achievable, I mean steps he could actually complete given the demands of his full-time job and family,” she said.

 

✅ Executive coaches help you make decisions.

Many of the important people in your personal and professional lives have stakes in your decision-making.

Perhaps one of your mentors at work wants you to follow in her footsteps. Or maybe your spouse is wary of you making a risky career decision. 

So, executive coaches can help you evaluate career decisions, determining how they fit into your values and objectives. 

“Maybe you’re deciding whether to pivot into management or stay on the individual contributor track. Perhaps you’re considering a few options to bring your skills into a new industry altogether. A neutral perspective from a career coach can help you weigh your options objectively and help you make a decision that aligns with your short-term and/or long-term goals,” Chung said. 

 

Why Career Coaching Is a Vital Tool for Career Development

 

At the executive level, it can be difficult to seek the feedback we need from our team members or even superiors.

Many of the people around us can have their own biases and perspectives, which prevent us from receiving the feedback we need. What’s more, no matter accurately we believe we can self-assess, we will always have our own blind spots. 

That’s why executive coaches are such a vital tool for career development. Whether you seek out a coach to develop a skill you need for your current role or to plan your next career move, they can provide the perspective and advice executives need to advance. 

Ready to seek feedback from an executive coach? Whether you want to revamp your LinkedIn page or boost your interview skills, Ivy Exec will partner you with a coach based on your needs.