Running a business is as exciting as it is demanding.

Few leaders have been truly prepared to take on all facets of this role.

However, it requires mastering numerous skills: giving a vision, mobilizing your employees, deciding under uncertainty, defining a solid strategy or even knowing how to evolve in an environment that is constantly changing.

It is precisely to respond to these challenges that support is now essential as a valuable support.

In fact, coaching allows CEOs to take a step back, adjust the way they lead and develop leadership that is more assertive and more in line with their responsibilities.

But What does executive coaching really consist of?

What changes can it cause in the way you manage and more generally in your business?

In this article, we take stock of the benefits of coaching for CEOs, the forms it can take, and the criteria to remember when choosing an executive coach.

Definition and importance of executive coaching

Executive coaching is personalized support designed for executive leaders, business leaders and anyone in a leadership role.

What is executive coaching?

Its aim is simple: to help everyone develop their way of leading, to better manage complex situations and to achieve their professional goals with greater efficiency and serenity.

It is not about receiving ready-made solutions, but about exploring new ways of acting, communicating, deciding and, more broadly, positioning yourself as a leader.

Who is really an executive coach?

The coach accompanies CEOs on a wide variety of subjects, regardless of the size of the company or its sector of activity.

Thanks to his experience in human support, this professional adapts his approach to the personality and situation of each CEO: taking a position, rapid growth, internal tensions, the need to clarify a vision, managing a major change...

What is the role of an executive coach?

His role is not to judge or lead in the place of the CEO, but to help him see more clearly, to understand his own ways of operating, and to make decisions in accordance with his goals and values.

To do this, at each stage of the process, he provides feedback that helps the leader gain in performance.

The coach invites the CEO to think differently, question yourself and explore new paths.

The challenge is to help leaders gain impact and develop sustainable skills that will strengthen their leadership.

Unlike training or mentoring, a coach accompanies the leader so that he can build his own answers and gain autonomy in his decisions.

What coaching brings to a CEO

A coach can intervene in many aspects of the leadership role, including:

• Decision-making
• Stress management
• Communication.

Coaching can also be oriented more directly towards leadership development.

This is the case when the CEO wants to refine his way of leading, inspire his teams, install a strong corporate culture.

But its effects don't end there.

Coaching also helps leaders develop emotional intelligence and find a healthier balance between their professional and personal lives.

The different types of executive coaching

Coaching executive and managers can take several forms, depending on the situation of the company and the needs of CEOs.

Leadership-oriented executive coaching

Intended for CEOs, members of management committees or experienced managers, it aims to strengthen their leadership posture, their ability to decide and guide their employees.

It also helps to develop a clearer vision and to better manage complex everyday situations.

Strategic coaching oriented change

It supports CEOs facing a phase of significant change: growth, transformation, crisis...

The objective is to gain perspective, to clarify the direction to follow and to mobilize the teams around a common vision.

We work mainly on how to think about the future and how to give meaning, more than on individual skills.

Behavioral coaching focused on personal and interpersonal well-being

This type of support focuses on attitudes and reflexes that can slow down performance or create tension.

The work focuses on communication, cooperation and how to interact to gain impact and efficiency.

These different approaches often complement each other.

A CEO who is monitored as part of executive coaching may need, at certain times, strategic insight or more personal work on his behaviors.

The support is then adapted according to its objectives.

Why executive coaching is essential?

Many leaders reach key positions thanks to their technical skills or past results.

However, these assets are not always enough to embody a leadership role.

Expectations in Soft Skills are more demanding: listening, clarity, ability to create relationships and make decisions.

This is precisely where executive coaching makes sense.

It is not a miracle tool, but a transformative process which allows the CEO to take a break, to take a step back and to review his mode of operation.

This approach helps him to better understand his role, to strengthen his positive influence and to develop more sustainable leadership.

In other words, coaching offers CEos a rare space: a place to reflect, transform and experiment, in order to gain clarity and impact.

The impacts of coaching on leadership style and performance

Executive coaching has become a real lever for progress, as much for managers as for their teams and the company.

For the CEO: stronger and more conscious leadership

Individual support allows CEOs to take a step back from the way they operate and to identify what is holding back their impact.

This approach brings about changes in leadership styles that take place over time thanks to:

• Strengthened resilience : the CEO faces difficulties more consistently and regains his balance more quickly after a failure.
• More stable emotional management : he reacts less under impulse and maintains more composure in tense situations.
• Clearer vision : it more easily connects its daily decisions to long-term goals and better anticipates future challenges.
• Healthier relationships : he communicates more openly, adopts a more assertive posture and improves the quality of his exchanges.

Executive coaching therefore allows you to become a master inThe art of caring and impacting leadership.

For teams: a clearer and more peaceful framework

When a leader makes progress, his entire environment benefits. Its evolution has a rapid impact on the dynamics of the team.

• Communication is more fluid : messages get through better, feedback is more useful, everyone knows where they are going.
• Greater accountability : the CEO, who has more confidence, paves the way for stronger commitment.
• Fewer tensions : conflicts are dealt with more calmly and sooner, which reinforces cohesion.
• More inspiring leadership : a clear leader more easily leads his teams towards common goals.

For the company: performance, stability and innovation

Organizations that rely on coaching their leaders create a favourable environment for collective performance and innovation.

They benefit from:

• Decisions more aligned with strategy : managerial choices better serve company priorities.
• Strengthened collaboration : exchanges between services are becoming more fluid.
• Better change management : transformations happen more easily thanks to leaders who know how to mobilize talent.
• Culture of progress : the desire to learn and improve practices becomes natural.
• More agile organization : the company reacts more quickly to market changes.
• Fertile ground for innovation : a climate of trust encourages creativity and initiative.

Many leaders also testify to a very clear before and after executive coaching which has allowed them in particular to develop a transformational leadership particularly beneficial for their organization.

Executive coaching methods and approaches

Professional coaching accompanies individuals or teams to help them develop their skills and achieve their goals.

Among the different types of coaching, executive coaching is more specifically aimed at leaders, entrepreneurs, executive officers or talents at high potential.

It helps them to progress in three key dimensions: their personal balance, their effectiveness within their organization, and the influence they want to have in their environment.

To support this evolution, coaches rely on various references and tools from recognized practices such as SOSAC, Gestalt or even NLP.

These methods give structure to in-session work while leaving room for humans.

For example, the SOSAC model helps to clarify situations and to move more quickly towards solid decisions.

Gestalt, on the other hand, focuses on what the person experiences “here and now”, which promotes better stress management and a more assertive presence.

NLP makes it possible to identify relational or behavioral habits and to make them evolve in order to gain an impact in communication.

Executive coaching is also distinguished by a very concrete pedagogy.

CEOs alternate between substantive exchanges and practical exercises, sometimes in the form of scenarios observed by the group.

These immersive sessions, often called an “aquarium,” provide a safe space to test new ways of doing things, receive accurate feedback, and adjust your posture.

This dynamic accelerates learning: it reinforces the ability to navigate complex situations, to better understand one's reactions and to develop leadership skills more assertive.

Testimonies and case studies

To understand more concretely what executive coaching can bring to CEOs and their organizations, there is nothing like discovering some case studies or testimonies of CEOs who have used this type of support.

VISCONTI Partners, specialized in executive coaching, regularly publishes interviews or podcasts where leaders look back on their journey, the challenges they have faced and how Visconti coaching has helped them in the development of their leadership.

Here is a selection:

1. Sophie Pignères: growing her leadership at the pace of her business

When Sophie Pignères created Weturn, her ambition was clear: to fight against textile waste and to give a second life to materials, which are particularly essential in the fashion sector.

But the exponential growth of her company quickly confronted her with new challenges: setting a clear vision, recruiting, and structuring the culture of her company.

That's when she decided to ask for support.

Coaching gave her moments where she was able to take a step back and look at her leadership from a different perspective.

Over the sessions, she learned to decide more calmly, to better manage intense periods and to transmit a clear strategy to her team.

The support also allowed him to establish his position as CEO on a sustainable basis: assume his beliefs, share them and develop a corporate culture consistent with Weturn's environmental mission.

Discover the podcast where Sophie Pignières talks about her adventure and the benefits of Visconti Partners executive coaching.

2. Hervé Varillon: clarifying your leadership to deal with turbulence

At the head of a major player in financing and leasing, Hervé Varillon took up his duties in a context of crisis: economic uncertainties, remote work, high expectations from teams.

The pressure was immediate.

In order not to let the emergency dictate his decisions and take on his new role head-on, he chose to be supported.

Coaching allowed him to redefine the contours of his role.

It was no longer just a question of deciding or arbitrating, but of giving meaning, bringing coherence and staying the course despite the context.

The sessions helped him identify blind spots, refine his communication, and set up a clearer leadership style for the entire organization.

Gradually, he put in place an operation that was more in line with his personality and his beliefs: more fluid governance and management that made his teams more responsible.

In short, a way of managing the activity that inspired stability and clarity, two essential points of reference for making an organization perform over time.

Find his testimony in our Professional coaching podcast dedicated to his profile.

How to choose a coach adapted to your needs?

Finding the right coach is a key step in helping a CEO improve your leadership.

But how do you choose a coach who can meet the specific needs of your CEOs?

Here are some tips to guide your choice.

1. Identify needs

To begin with, it is important to identify the precise expectations of the mleader: does he want to better manage a team, strengthen his decision-making, take a step back, prepare for a new phase of growth...?

This step makes it possible to target the most appropriate type of coaching.

2. Selecting the right professional

Once the first step has been taken, it is time to meet several coaches.

These exchanges make it possible to assess their experience, the quality of human contact and compatibility, which play an essential role in the success of support.

3. Verify the coach's experience and qualifications

To benefit from serious support, choose a trained and certified coach.

Certificates recognized by the State, such as those registered with the RNCP, ensure that the coach masters the essential skills of the job.

Some specialized training courses, for example those dedicated to coaching managers and directors, provide valuable expertise to support the problems specific to the function of CEO.

Coaching provided by people who have experienced the same responsibilities and who have needed to take on similar challenges is also very stimulating.

4. Examine the coach's approach and methodology

It is important that the coach applies a rigorous methodology and respects professional ethics.

Membership in a recognized association or federation, such as EMCC France, is a guarantee of seriousness and compliance with the best practices in the sector.

5. Ensure good compatibility

The success of leadership coaching depends heavily on the relationship between the coach and the coachee.

Choose someone that your leaders feel comfortable, confident, and able to deliver with.

The quality of this relationship is a key success factor.

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In conclusion, call on a executive coach represents a real asset for any CEO wishing to develop his leadership.

VISCONTI Partners stands out as a trusted partner thanks to a fully personalized approach and the experience of its coaches, all former executive managers or CEOs of medium and large companies.

To discover the concrete advantages of VISCONTI Partners strategic support on your leadership, Get in touch to tell us about your challenges and discover our approach.