Frequently Asked Questions for Senior Leaders and Organizations
Executive coaching is no longer just an individual development tool — it’s a strategic investment in organizational performance. For boards, CHROs, and senior leaders, the question isn’t if coaching works, but how it can best accelerate leadership growth, strengthen succession pipelines, and ensure C-suite leaders are equipped to navigate today’s complexity. These FAQs are designed to help organizations and executives understand how our engagements work, what makes them successful, and how to maximize their impact—so leadership growth translates directly into stronger business outcomes.
Leaders By Design (LBD) is a research-driven leadership development and executive coaching firm dedicated to helping C-suite executives succeed at the highest level. We’ve partnered with more than 300 Blue-Chip companies in the U.S. and around the world, working with thousands of executives from some of the most respected organizations across various industries.
What sets LBD apart is our ability to blend rigorous research, business alignment, and accountability into coaching engagements that drive measurable, lasting impact — we help organizations create the conditions for leadership excellence to thrive and last.
Executive coaching helps senior leaders unlock their highest potential to deliver stronger results. LBD designs engagements that shift both mindset and behavior, concluding in a strategic development plan tied to business outcomes. While each leader enjoys confidentiality, key progress milestones are shared with organizational sponsors to ensure continued alignment.
At the close of the engagement, we conduct a thorough debrief with both the leader and organizational sponsors. This ensures alignment on progress, confirms measurable outcomes, and identifies the right structures to sustain growth well beyond the coaching process.
Leaders By Design serves two audiences:
- C-suite executives — CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CHROs — who lead through complexity and high visibility, gaining strategic clarity, executive presence, and adaptation to board-facing roles.
- Organizational sponsors, like HR or Boards, who invest in coaching to retain high-performers, prepare leaders for expanded scope, and support successful transitions.
We serve as both a strategic thought partner and a facilitator of leadership evolution. LBD begins with a comprehensive assessment (including 360 feedback) to translate data into insights that align with organizational goals. We support our clients in enhancing self-awareness, refining capabilities, and practicing behaviors in service of both personal and institutional advancement
The role is not prescriptive — it’s collaborative. We offer perspective, proven tools, and trusted guidance that enable leaders to navigate successes, challenges, and opportunities with greater clarity and confidence — fueling team performance and contributing to a healthier, more resilient organizational culture.
Coaching is flexible — available in person, via Zoom, or by phone — always maintaining confidentiality. Each engagement is tailored to a client’s developmental priorities and organizational goals. Sessions conclude with actionable insights and sustained support to ensure long-term impact beyond the immediate engagement.
Regardless of the format, every conversation is confidential, providing a trusted space to work through sensitive issues and make high-stakes decisions.
Ideal candidates include:
- High-potential or high-performing executives poised for retention or advancement.
- Those needing to sharpen executive presence, strategic thinking, or organizational savvy.
- Those needing to enhance overall effectiveness as business leaders and motivators.
- Those navigating new responsibilities or higher complexity — especially newly promoted or in transition.
Coachability is key — success follows leaders who welcome feedback, can reflect openly, and experiment with new approaches. A coachable leader enters the process with curiosity and a willingness to try out new behaviors, reflect on the results, and remain receptive to feedback along the way. The more they view the process as an opportunity for growth — for themselves, their teams, and the organization — the more profound the impact.
Beyond credentials, look for seasoned business leaders with a depth of experience and recognized certifications — and who skillfully gather and interpret insights from 360 stakeholder interviews, leadership assessment tools, and confidential discussions with the executive. This combination ensures the engagement is both insightful and aligned with executive and organizational needs.
Organizational return depends on:
- Support from the leader’s manager or sponsor, ideally involved through the process.
- Strong chemistry between coach and leader.
- A culture where growth and development are valued and seen as advancement — not remedial.
- Alignment between new leadership behaviors and the organization’s business goals.
LBD ensures continuity by debriefing with sponsors at the engagement’s close and staying aligned with evolving business objectives. This approach helps maintain momentum and embeds growth into both leadership and organizational culture.
Leadership development is the organization’s infrastructure — much like a city’s roads support movement, coaching fortifies leadership systems. Addressing small leadership gaps before they escalate into system-wide issues enhances trust, retention, and performance. Coaching transforms isolated shifts into holistic organizational resilience.