Start with what you actually need
Before you evaluate coaches, get clear on why you want one. Are you navigating a leadership transition? Burning out? Sensing that something needs to shift but you cannot name it?
The more honest you are about what you need, the easier it becomes to find the right person. Vague goals lead to vague coaching. Specific challenges lead to specific breakthroughs.
Experience matters more than anything on paper
Has this person led, built, or worked inside organizations at a meaningful level? Do they understand the pressures you face from lived experience, not just textbooks? Have they done their own deep work?
The best coaches are not the ones with the most letters after their name. They are the ones who have been in the arena, done the inner work themselves, and can meet you at the level you actually operate.
Questions to ask a potential coach
A discovery call should feel like a real conversation, not a sales pitch. If the coach is selling harder than listening, that tells you everything.
- What is your approach to coaching? Not the pitch. The actual philosophy.
- Who do you typically work with? What level, what challenges?
- What happens when a client gets stuck?
- How do you handle it when coaching surfaces issues that go beyond your scope?
- Can you describe a transformation you have seen without breaking confidentiality?
Chemistry is not optional
You will share things with your coach that you do not share with anyone else. If you do not feel safe, challenged, and respected in the first conversation, it will not improve with time.
Trust your gut. The right coach makes you feel slightly uncomfortable in a productive way. Not unsafe. Not judged. Just honestly seen.
Red flags to watch for
Some coaches are better at marketing than coaching. Watch for these signals.
- They promise specific outcomes or guarantees
- They talk more about themselves than they ask about you
- They have a rigid program that every client goes through regardless of need
- They are uncomfortable with silence or uncertainty
- They avoid answering direct questions about their methodology