CEO Coaching Reviews

Is CEO coaching only for struggling CEOs?

No. Most of my clients are doing well by any external measure. The company is growing, the numbers are there, the team is functional.

What brings them here is something harder to name — a sense that they're operating without a real sounding board, or that the decisions they're making now carry more weight than anything they've navigated before, or that winning keeps moving the goalposts and nobody around them seems to notice.

Struggling is not a prerequisite. Wanting to think more clearly is.

How is CEO Coaching different from an executive coach or business coach?

Mostly: who I work with and what we actually talk about.

Executive coaches often work with people on their way up: developing skills, managing stakeholders, navigating corporate structures. Business coaches frequently focus on systems, revenue – ultimately they’re consultants using the word “coach” for marketing purposes.

I work with the person at the top. Not the company, the CEO. And the conversations tend to be less about what to do and more about how to think, what you actually want, and whether the way you're leading reflects that.

If you're looking for someone to audit your org chart or build your sales process, I'm not the right fit. If you're looking for someone to help you think through what's actually going on, that's what this is.

I've tried coaching before and didn't get much out of it. Why would this be different?

Possibly it won't be. That's worth saying honestly.

But a few things distinguish this from what most people experience when they say "coaching": I don't use frameworks or assessments. I don't assign exercises. I'm not going to ask you to visualize your ideal future or identify your top five strengths.

What I do is ask questions, listen carefully, and reflect back what I'm actually hearing — including the things you might not be saying directly. Whether that's different enough from what you've tried before is something you'd know within the first conversation.

The discovery call exists for exactly that reason–for us to find out if it makes sense.

What makes a CEO not a good fit?

A few things.

If you're looking for someone to give you answers — a strategy, a decision, a prescription — this isn't the right relationship. I'll help you think more clearly, but I'm not a consultant and I don't tell people what to do.

If you're not willing to be honest about what's actually happening with yourself, not just with me, the work won't go anywhere. The conversations only have value if there's real material to work with.

And if you're primarily looking for validation, there are easier ways to get it. What I offer tends to work best for people who are more interested in clarity than in being told they're right.

My situation is unusual. Does this still apply to me?

Honestly? I don't know.

What I do know is that it costs you about 45 minutes to find out. The clarity call is a real conversation — not a sales pitch — and by the end of it, one of us will have a clear sense of whether this makes sense. If it doesn't, I'll tell you, and if I can point you toward someone better suited, I will.

The situations I've worked with over 20 years are varied enough that I've learned not to assume much in either direction before that first conversation. So: reach out, and we'll figure it out together.