Leadership Coaching: There Must Be Proper Fit

Discover whether my approach will help you to become an indispensable leader.

In my work as a leadership coach and consultant, I often hear recurring questions from prospective clients who are eager to enhance their leadership skills and transform their lives.

These questions typically center around discerning "fit." Essentially, prospects want to get a feel for whether my coaching techniques will make them better leaders.

In this piece, I’ll address the top three questions I get asked most often and offer practical insights for leaders who are seeking coaching support in their quest to provide a lasting impact on the people whom they lead.

Question 1: What is your coaching philosophy?

My leadership coaching philosophy centers on helping people transform into indispensable leaders who engage and inspire their teams with integrity and decency.

I emphasize the importance of personal development and creating leaders who not only earn the admiration and respect of their peers but also are deeply committed to unlocking their potential and achieving professional ambitions.

I focus on building human skills, fostering a leadership style that prioritizes inspiring others to perform at their best while maintaining ethical leadership practices.

Indeed, my approach encourages leaders to bring authenticity and integrity back into the workplace, ensuring their teams are driven by trust, respect, and meaningful engagement.

Question 2: How do you tailor your coaching approach to fit individual needs?

I take the following actions to create bespoke coaching experiences for the people that I work with:

Conduct Personalized Assessments: I start with an in-depth understanding of each leader’s strengths, weaknesses, personality traits, and professional goals. This includes a couple of self-assessment and, when the situation allows, a small 360-degree feedback sample – all aimed at helping clients understand their baseline.

Co-Create Customized Development Plans: Based on the assessments, I create personalized development plans that target specific areas of growth. This could involve focusing on human skills, such as communication, emotional intelligence, or self-talk, among other possibilities, depending on the individual's unique needs.

Provide Contextual Relevance: From there, I align the coaching content with the individual’s role, industry, and organizational culture. Understanding the specific challenges they face in their leadership environment allows me to offer practical tools and insights tailored to their real-world situations.

Offer Adaptive Feedback: Unlike some less experienced coaches, I tend to deliver feedback—whether through direct challenges, reflective questioning, or supportive encouragement—based on what best motivates and inspires each individual.

Give Opportunities for Reflection and Adjustment: I check in regularly with each client to evaluate progress and recalibrate coaching strategies as needed. This ensures continuous alignment with the leader’s evolving needs and challenges.

Question 3: How do you measure and track progress with your clients?

Progress measurement begins immediately and continues throughout our time together. Here’s the approach that I follow:

1. Create A Baseline Assessment: As noted above, at the start of our coaching relationship, I use the self-assessments and the 360-degree feedback (whenever possible) to establish a baseline. This helps to identify strengths, areas for improvement, and overall leadership effectiveness.

2. Ensure That Clear Goal-Setting is Built into the Coaching Plan: I work with clients to break down their larger leadership objectives into manageable milestones to provide a clear roadmap, helping us to track small wins and adjustments over time.

3. Provide Regular Check-ins and Feedback Loops: On a monthly basis, I review progress toward the established goals, discussing what’s working, where challenges exist, and how to adjust strategies moving forward. This enables us to adjust our focus over time.

4. Make Note of Ongoing Behavioral Changes and Routinely Give Impact Assessments: Progress is often visible through behavioral changes—whether that’s improved communication, better decision-making, or increased team morale. I track these changes through client self-reports, third-party feedback, and my own observations during sessions.

5. Deliver End-of-Program Evaluation: As our time together comes to an end, I work with my clients to refine goals and identify new areas of development for continuous improvement. This sets the stage for further growth and transformation to happen.

For certain, my approach to measuring progress is holistic, helping clients see tangible improvements while staying aligned with their personal growth journey.

To close, it is important to recognize that indispensable leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about asking the right questions and being willing to grow. By addressing this through proper leadership coaching, you’re already one step closer to becoming the leader your team needs.

Remember, leadership is a journey, not a destination. Keep learning, keep adapting, and you'll continue to inspire and elevate those around you.

NOTE: I'm on a mission to create a leadership movement, an indispensable leadership community, if you will -- one that restores decency to the leadership equation. If you want to be part of it, check us out at the indispensable-coaching website...