Leadership Coaching

Leadership Coaching for Senior Leaders and Their Teams

By the Stratos Coaching Team · Updated

Leadership coaching is a structured, confidential partnership that sharpens a senior leader’s judgment, communication, and decisions at the level they now operate. Stratos Coaching provides leadership coaching for Directors stepping into VP roles, VPs, SVPs, and C-suite executives, delivered by coaches who have held senior operating roles. Engagements run one to one and as team programs, all built on The Altitude Framework.

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The Real Challenge

The habits that earned you the role will not all carry over to the next one.

Each step up changes the job. The skills that made you the obvious choice for promotion (execution, expertise, having the answers) start to limit you at the next level. Many leaders make that adjustment without support.

Director to VP
You go from owning execution to owning strategy. New VPs often get little support for this step, and it is where they win or lose the team’s trust.
VP to SVP
You lead leaders, influence the ELT, and think enterprise-wide. The technical wins that got you here stop scaling.
Into the C-suite
Board-ready communication, enterprise strategy, and organizational awareness all ask for a different way of working.
How We Work

The Altitude Framework: a structured partnership with a defined goal.

Our coaches are current and former C-suite leaders with 25+ years of experience in board dynamics, peer politics, and difficult first 90 days. Every leadership coaching engagement runs on The Altitude Framework: we establish where you operate today, define where the role needs you, and build the cadence that turns insight into new behavior.

Assessment & baseline
A DISC or 360° assessment shows how you operate today (your Point A). We then set the goal the engagement is accountable for (your Point B).
Structured 1:1 sessions
Typically two 60-minute sessions a month on the live situations you face now. We coach the person as well as the problem.
Practice between sessions
You try new behavior where it counts (the board meeting, the skip-level, the hard conversation), then debrief it.
Measured against a baseline
A midpoint review and a close, both measured against the goal set before session one. Observable change typically appears in 60–90 days, with durable results by around 180.
Explore The Altitude Framework How an Engagement Works

Want the framework applied to your situation?

Thirty minutes is enough to map your Point A, your Point B, and the cadence to close the gap.

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Proof

Coaches with senior operating experience, and what their clients say.

Your coach has held a role at or above your level in an enterprise organization. You get a peer who can pressure-test your thinking, not a generalist working from theory.

“I was six weeks into the SVP role and still running my old job. My coach helped me see that the problem wasn’t workload — it was that I hadn’t built an operating model for the new altitude. Within two months, I had a completely different relationship with my time and my team.”
SVP of Engineering
“Two review cycles in a row, the feedback was ‘lacks executive presence.’ Vague and frustrating. Stratos Coaching broke it down into specific, observable behaviors I could actually work on. My CEO noticed the shift before I did.”
VP of Product
“I don’t use my coach for crises. I use them as a strategic thought partner. Before board meetings, before difficult conversations, before the decisions that don’t have clear answers. It’s the highest-value relationship in my professional life.”
Chief Operating Officer
See Our Results Meet Our Coaches
Engagement Formats

Scoped to what you need to change, and by when.

Each leadership coaching engagement is scoped to the transition you are making. Three common shapes:

Transition Engagement
Built for one role change: a new role, a first 90 days, or a mandate to prove. Assessment, a measurable goal, and a cadence over about six months.
Annual Partnership
Sustained development as the role evolves, over roughly twelve months. Suited to leaders who want continuous development over a full year.
C-Suite Advisory
A confidential thinking partner for chief executives and senior officers on board relationships, enterprise direction, and decisions with no easy appeal.

Engagements are custom-priced to the leader and the mandate, and you get the exact number in one 30-minute call. Industry ranges are in our cost of executive coaching guide.

Ready to work with a coach who has done a job like yours?

We match you with a coach who has operated at or above your level.

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What is leadership coaching?

Leadership coaching is a structured, confidential partnership that helps a senior leader lead people better: clearer communication, sharper judgment, and better decisions under pressure. It works forward from the leader's real situation toward specific outcomes. For the full definition, see our guide to what leadership coaching is.

Where It Fits

How is leadership coaching different from executive coaching, mentoring, management training, and therapy?

Leadership coaching is one of several development options: a one to one partnership that starts from your situation and builds judgment through practice, not a curriculum or clinical care.

Leadership coaching vs executive coaching
The two overlap heavily. Leadership coaching emphasizes how you lead others; executive coaching is the same partnership for people in executive roles. We compare them in executive coaching vs leadership coaching.
Coaching vs mentoring
A mentor tells you what they would do. A coach starts from your context and builds your judgment, so it holds up in situations your mentor never faced.
Coaching vs management training
Training teaches standard content to a group on a schedule. Coaching is tailored to one leader and one situation. Organizations often pair the two; see our leadership training programs for the group side.
Coaching vs therapy
Therapy treats mental health and often looks backward. Leadership coaching is not therapy or clinical care; it is a professional partnership focused on performance, judgment, and your next decisions.
Who It Is For

Who is leadership coaching for?

Leadership coaching at Stratos Coaching serves senior leaders and their organizations. The individual floor is a Director stepping into a VP role; senior managers can join company sponsored programs.

Diverse leadership team in a collaborative meeting
Directors Moving Into VP Roles
The move from Director to VP is a large step, because leading an organization takes different skills than managing a team. See VP and SVP coaching for that transition.
VPs, SVPs, and C-Suite Leaders
At the top, the work gets lonelier and the stakes higher: board dynamics, politics, strategic pivots. See C-suite coaching for work at that level.
Organizations and Leadership Teams
For companies developing senior leaders for the next level. We deliver group and team coaching alongside individual engagements for organizations.
How It Works

What does leadership coaching involve, and how does it work?

Leadership coaching engagements run for several months on The Altitude Framework. We assess where you are and where you need to be, then coach the areas where senior leaders most often stall. Most run virtually.

Executive reviewing a leadership development plan
Communication and How You Show Up
How you lead a meeting, deliver a point of view, and make people feel heard under pressure, so your message lands as intended.
The Operator to Leader Shift
Each level up means releasing the work that earned the last promotion: new VPs stop being the best problem solver, new SVPs stop owning one function. We coach that shift.
Stakeholder and Organizational Judgment
Each level up is more complex than it looked from below. We coach you to read real power and build coalitions before you need them.
Decision Quality Under Pressure
Senior roles are judgment work. We coach how you frame choices, weigh trade offs, and commit, so important calls improve and come faster.
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A 30-minute virtual call with no pitch.

The Evidence

What results does leadership coaching deliver?

Leadership coaching has a well documented return. In the ICF Global Coaching Client Study, companies reported a median return of about seven times their investment. About 70% of clients said coaching improved their performance, communication, and relationships (ICF ROI data).

The transition case is just as clear. McKinsey finds that 27% to 46% of executive transitions are seen as failures or disappointments within two years. Tailored executive coaching has been shown to double the odds of success, yet only about a third of organizations use it.

Key Takeaways

  • Leadership coaching is a structured, confidential, forward looking partnership that builds a senior leader's communication, judgment, and decisions.
  • It differs from mentoring (advice), management training (standard group content), and therapy (mental health care).
  • Stratos Coaching serves Directors moving into VP roles, VPs, SVPs, and C-suite executives one to one, and organizations through team programs.
  • The evidence: a median company return of about seven times investment (ICF), and coaching that can double the odds of a successful transition (McKinsey).
Leadership team working together in a bright office
For Organizations

Leadership coaching for teams and organizations.

Stratos Coaching offers leadership coaching to companies as well as individuals. We coach whole leadership teams, run cohort programs for rising leaders, and pair one to one coaching with team coaching. Senior managers can join company sponsored programs alongside VPs and above.

Group and Team Coaching
Coaching a leadership team together so it builds shared judgment. See group coaching for leadership teams.
Corporate Coaching Programs
Annual programs that develop a company's Directors, VPs, and above, usually funded from existing learning and development budgets. Explore corporate coaching programs.
Part of the Full Offering
Leadership coaching sits alongside our other executive coaching services, often combined with training. See how to choose a coaching firm.
Format

Is leadership coaching available virtually?

Yes. Stratos Coaching delivers leadership coaching virtually nationwide, which is now the standard format for senior leaders. Video removes travel and lets a leader work with the best-fit coach for their level and industry, wherever both are based.

Investment

What does leadership coaching cost?

Industry wide, leadership coaching for senior leaders runs $300 to $1,000+ per session, with full engagements of $7,500 to $30,000 over 6 to 12 months. Stratos Coaching prices per engagement, not by the hour, and includes a behavioral assessment. For rates by level and funding, see our executive coaching cost guide.

Who you will be working with

Every Stratos Coaching engagement is led by a former C-suite or SVP operator with 25+ years of enterprise leadership experience. Each coach holds the Certified Executive Coach (CEC) credential and has made promotion decisions as an executive.

There is no associate handoff and no rotating roster. The coach you meet on the complimentary Altitude Call coaches you from the first session to the last.

See our documented engagement outcomes →

A leader and coach reviewing a development plan in a coaching session
FAQ

Frequently asked questions about leadership coaching.

What is leadership coaching?

Leadership coaching is a structured, confidential partnership that sharpens a senior leader's judgment, communication, and decisions at the level they now operate. It is forward looking and performance focused, working from the leader's real situation toward specific outcomes.

How is leadership coaching different from executive coaching?

The two overlap heavily. Leadership coaching emphasizes how a person leads others: communication, judgment, and the shift from operator to leader. Executive coaching is the same partnership for people in executive roles. We compare them in executive coaching vs leadership coaching.

How is leadership coaching different from mentoring, management training, and therapy?

A mentor gives advice from their own path. Management training teaches standard content to a group. Therapy treats mental health and often looks backward. Leadership coaching starts from your situation, stays forward looking, and builds judgment through practice.

Who is leadership coaching for?

Stratos Coaching provides leadership coaching for Directors stepping into VP roles, VPs, SVPs, and C-suite executives. It also serves organizations developing their leadership teams, where company sponsored programs can include senior managers.

How does leadership coaching work?

Engagements run for several months on The Altitude Framework. Work starts with a read of where the leader is and needs to be. Focused sessions then cover communication, stakeholder judgment, and decision quality, with practice and accountability between sessions. Most run virtually.

What does leadership coaching cost?

Industry wide, leadership coaching for senior leaders runs $300 to $1,000+ per session, with full engagements of $7,500 to $30,000 over 6 to 12 months. Stratos Coaching engagements are priced per engagement and include a behavioral assessment. See the full cost guide or contact us to discuss fit.

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