Advancing Executive Coaching: Setting the Course for Successful Leadership Coaching

Toward a Definition of Leadership Coaching

There is no single definition of leadership coaching, nor should there be. However, clients and stakeholders often ask coaches to describe coaching, so defining it should be carefully considered. Coaches need to articulate their own definition of coaching, realizing it can evolve over time. Reviewing published definitions can be useful in considering how to describe coaching. These definitions often reflect particular theoretical lenses of practitioners and can be counterpoints to a coach’s own ideas. Other variables may include the relative emphasis of personal versus professional growth, how much leadership content to include in the coaching, and clients’ field or organizational level. The process ...