The Career Upside Executive Coaching Process

#1 - Clarify the Leadership Challenge

Start with a strategy conversation:

• Discuss your current role, goals, pressures, and leadership challenges
• Identify what is working, what feels stuck, and where support is needed
• Review key relationships, team dynamics, communication issues, or decision-making challenges
• Determine whether executive coaching is the right fit
• Define what success should look like for the engagement

Outcome: You gain a clearer view of the leadership issue, the desired outcome, and the best coaching path forward.

#2 - Assess Your Leadership Style

Use data to understand how you lead:

• Complete the Birkman Method assessment
• Review your interests, usual behavior, needs, and stress behavior
• Understand your communication style, decision-making patterns, and leadership tendencies
• Identify strengths, blind spots, and potential overused strengths
• Explore how your style impacts your team, peers, manager, board, clients, or organization

Outcome: You gain objective insight into how you lead and how your natural style may be helping or limiting your effectiveness, given your internal wiring.

#3 - Define the Coaching Focus

Turn insight into a practical coaching plan:

• Identify the highest-value areas for development
• Prioritize leadership goals based on your role, challenges, and business context
• Focus on areas such as executive presence, communication, delegation, conflict, team leadership, decision-making, or career direction
• Connect Birkman insights to real leadership situations
• Set a practical rhythm for coaching, typically monthly or twice monthly depending on need

Outcome: You have a focused coaching plan tied to real leadership outcomes, not generic development advice.

#4 - Coach Through Real Situations

Use coaching sessions to work through current leadership challenges:

• Discuss real issues happening in your work right now
• Prepare for difficult conversations, presentations, decisions, or transitions
• Identify patterns in how you respond under pressure
• Build better communication strategies for different personalities and stakeholders
• Develop practical next steps you can apply immediately

Outcome: You leave each session with clearer thinking, practical actions, and stronger leadership self-awareness.

#5 - Apply, Adjust, and Grow

Use the coaching engagement to build lasting leadership effectiveness:

• Track progress against your leadership goals
• Adjust strategies as new situations and challenges emerge
• Revisit Birkman insights as your role, team, or responsibilities change
• Strengthen your ability to manage stress, pressure, and complex relationships
• Build a more intentional leadership style over time

Outcome: You become more aware, more adaptable, and more effective in how you lead yourself and others.

#6 - Recommended Executive Coaching Structure

Most executive coaching engagements begin with a six-month commitment. This gives enough time to assess your leadership style, identify patterns, apply new strategies, and adjust as real situations unfold.  

A typical engagement includes one 60–90-minute coaching session per month. Leaders navigating major transitions, team challenges, conflict, or accelerated growth may benefit from two sessions per month or additional support between sessions.

#7 - Who This Helps & What You Walk Away With

Executive coaching is designed for leaders who want to improve their communication, decision-making, pressure management, team leadership, and navigation of complex workplace relationships.

This process can help executives, business owners, marketing leaders, rising leaders, team leaders, and professionals preparing for greater responsibility.

You leave with a clearer understanding of your leadership style, strengths, blind spots, motivational needs, and stress patterns. You also gain practical tools to improve communication, decision-making, executive presence, team leadership, and your ability to lead through pressure.