What kind of coach does a CEO really need?

By Sandra Oliver, Impact Founder

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had two separate conversations with senior leaders about the difference between leadership and business coaching. It’s easy to see why. Some coaches position themselves as leadership coaches for executives, others say they’re business coaches for leaders, and increasingly, organizations have to choose between the two.

Leadership coaching focuses on the person

Leadership coaches help us answer questions, like how do we show up as leaders? How do we communicate, influence, and make decisions? Or manage conflict, build trust, and lead through uncertainty?

A great leadership coach can help us identify blind spots, challenge assumptions, and develop the courage to lead differently.

They also create space for reflection and accountability, and help us understand the patterns, habits, and beliefs that may be helping, or hindering, how effective we are.

For many leaders, especially those stepping into a new role or struggling with significant people-related challenges, this work is transformational, and often exactly what’s needed.

Business coaching centres around the organization

Business coaches help us understand if we have the right strategy, structure, team, priorities, and operating rhythm for our organization. A strong business coach helps us think through growth, execution, organizational design, succession, talent decisions, and the countless challenges that come with building a successful company.

Business coaches bring experience, perspective, and pattern recognition from having seen similar situations before. The conversations are often less about personal leadership development and more about making better business decisions.

Most CEOs need both

In our experience working with CEOs and senior executives, very few leaders fit neatly into one category. All of us as leaders have leadership gaps to work on and opportunities to become more effective communicators, better decision-makers, or more courageous leaders.

At the same time, we all wrestle with business challenges that require thoughtful guidance and a trusted sounding board, because we often make those decisions alone. The higher we rise as leaders, the fewer places we have to think out loud. That’s why confidentiality and trusted partnership become so valuable in a coaching relationship.

There are absolutely situations where pure leadership coaching is the best solution. For example, a first-time leader who needs to develop foundational leadership skills may benefit most from a coach with deep expertise in leadership development. Similarly, leaders facing significant interpersonal, behavioral, or emotional challenges may benefit from coaches with backgrounds in psychology, organizational behavior, or industrial-organizational psychology. These professionals often bring specialized tools and expertise that can be incredibly valuable.

But if the coaching relationship is going to include strategic thinking, organizational decisions, leadership-team dynamics, growth challenges, or difficult business trade-offs, experience matters.

That’s because business and leadership are deeply interconnected. A discussion about a difficult employee quickly can become a conversation about organizational structure. A strategy discussion can reveal a leadership blind spot. A succession challenge can expose a communication issue.

And while the coaching industry may create separate categories, leaders don’t experience their challenges that way. In the real world, the most effective coaches often help leaders grow personally, while simultaneously helping them navigate the practical challenges of building organizations that perform.