How to choose an executive coach in the UK: a practical guide
Finding the right executive coach is one of the most personal professional decisions you will make. This guide explains what to look for, what questions to ask and how to make sure the person you choose is genuinely right for you.
Executive coaching has grown significantly across the UK in recent years. More leaders and organisations are investing in coaching as a serious tool for development, performance and navigating complexity. As a result, there are now a very large number of people offering coaching services — with widely varying levels of experience, training and approach.
That makes choosing the right coach more important than ever. The wrong choice means wasted time and money and, at worst, a process that feels unhelpful or frustrating. The right choice can be genuinely transformative - improving how you lead, how you make decisions and how you show up for your team.
This guide is for anyone considering executive or leadership coaching in the UK who wants to make a well-informed choice.
What is executive coaching and who is it for?
Executive coaching is a one-to-one professional relationship focused on your growth as a leader. It is not therapy, mentoring or consulting. A coach will not tell you what to do or give you the answers. Instead, they create the conditions for you to think more clearly, challenge your own assumptions and develop the insight and confidence to move forward.
Executive coaching is typically aimed at founders, CEOs, directors and senior leaders. Leadership coaching covers similar ground but is often used with emerging leaders and managers who are developing their capability and confidence.
People come to coaching at many different moments:
Stepping into a new leadership role or level of seniority
Navigating a period of growth, change or organisational complexity
Wanting to improve a specific aspect of how they lead — communication, delegation, difficult conversations
Feeling stuck, overwhelmed or uncertain about direction
Simply wanting dedicated space to think and reflect without the pressures of the day-to-day
Coaching is not only for leaders who are struggling. Many of the most effective coaching relationships involve highly capable people who want to operate at an even higher level.
The six things to look for when choosing an executive coach
1. Relevant qualifications and training
Coaching is an unregulated profession in the UK, which means anyone can call themselves a coach regardless of their training or experience. Qualifications matter — not because they guarantee a great coach, but because they provide a baseline of structured learning in coaching methodology, ethics and practice.
Look for coaches who hold recognised qualifications such as:
ILM Level 7 in Executive Coaching and Mentoring — a well-regarded UK qualification for senior-level coaching
ICF accreditation (International Coaching Federation) — ACC, PCC or MCC levels indicate increasing experience and rigour
EMCC accreditation (European Mentoring and Coaching Council) — another respected professional body
Ask any coach you are considering: what training have you completed? Are you accredited with a professional body? How do you continue your professional development?
A qualified, accredited coach is also likely to be working with a supervisor — a professional practice that ensures they are reflecting on their own work and maintaining high standards.
2. Relevant experience
Qualifications are necessary but not sufficient. Experience matters enormously in coaching, particularly at senior levels.
Consider: has this person worked with leaders facing similar challenges to yours? Do they have experience of the business context you operate in — whether that is a fast-growth SME, a not-for-profit, a corporate environment or a founder-led business?
A coach who has only ever worked with one type of organisation may bring a narrow lens. Equally, a coach with a background in your sector or at your level of leadership will often understand your context more quickly and challenge you more effectively.
Ask directly: who do you typically work with? What kinds of challenges come up most in your coaching conversations? Can you share examples of the work you do — without breaking confidentiality?
3. Chemistry and personal fit
This is not a nice-to-have - it is arguably the most important factor of all.
Coaching only works when there is genuine trust between coach and client. You need to feel safe enough to be honest, to say things you would not say in most professional settings and to sit with uncertainty without feeling judged. That level of openness requires real connection.
Most good coaches offer an initial exploratory or chemistry call before any commitment is made. Use it. Notice how you feel during the conversation — not just whether the person seems competent, but whether you feel genuinely heard, whether their questions land in an interesting way, whether you leave the call thinking differently about something.
If the chemistry is not there, move on. A technically excellent coach who you do not connect with will deliver far less than someone you genuinely trust, even if their credentials are slightly less impressive on paper.
4. A clear coaching methodology
Ask any coach to describe how they work. Good coaches can explain their approach clearly — how they structure sessions, what models or frameworks they draw on, how they balance support with challenge, and how they measure progress.
Be wary of coaches who are vague about their methodology. "I just go where you need to go" sounds appealing but can mean the work lacks rigour or direction. Equally, a coach who relies entirely on one tool or framework and applies it to everyone is not tailoring the work to you.
What you are looking for is a coach who brings a structured approach with genuine flexibility — someone who has a clear way of working but adapts it to your specific context and what you need in any given session.
5. Honest challenge as well as support
The best coaching relationships are warm and supportive — but they are also genuinely challenging. A coach who only validates what you already think, agrees with your interpretation of every situation or avoids uncomfortable questions is not helping you grow.
In your initial conversation, notice whether the coach asks questions that make you think, pushes back gently on assumptions or offers a perspective you had not considered. These are signs of a coach who will be genuinely useful to you.
Support without challenge tends to feel good in the moment but produces limited change. The coaches who make the most lasting difference are those who create enough safety for you to be honest, and enough challenge to help you see things differently.
6. Clarity on how the work is structured
Before committing to a coaching programme, you should be clear on the practical arrangements. Ask:
How long are sessions and how frequently do we meet?
How many sessions would you recommend and why?
Where does coaching take place — online, in person or a mix?
What happens between sessions?
How do we know if the coaching is working?
What is the investment and what does it include?
A good coach will be transparent about all of this and will help you think through what structure makes sense for your goals and circumstances rather than simply selling you the longest programme available.
Questions to ask an executive coach before you commit
About their background:
What coaching qualifications do you hold and are you accredited with a professional body?
Do you work with a supervisor?
Who do you typically work with and at what level?
What is your professional background before coaching?
About their approach:
How do you structure a typical coaching engagement?
How do you balance support with challenge?
What frameworks or models do you draw on?
How do you track progress and know the coaching is working?
About practical arrangements:
How long are sessions and how often would we meet?
How many sessions would you recommend for my goals?
What is your fee and what does it include?
What happens if I feel the coaching is not working?
About fit:
Have you worked with leaders facing similar challenges to mine?
What do you need from me to make the coaching as effective as possible?
Is there anything about my situation that would change how you approach the work?
Red flags to watch out for
No clear qualifications or accreditation. In an unregulated profession, credentials matter. If a coach cannot name their training or professional body, treat that as a significant concern.
They do most of the talking. Good coaches listen far more than they speak. If an introductory call feels more like a sales pitch or lecture than a genuine conversation, that is a telling sign.
They promise specific outcomes. Coaching creates conditions for change — it does not guarantee results. Coaches who promise you will achieve particular outcomes are either overselling or misunderstanding what coaching is.
They seem reluctant to discuss their approach. If a coach cannot articulate how they work and why, that suggests either limited training or limited self-awareness — neither of which is helpful.
The price is surprisingly low. Experienced coaches who work at senior levels charge accordingly. A very low fee often signals limited experience or a high-volume, low-touch approach that will not serve you well.
How much does executive coaching cost in the UK?
Coaching fees vary considerably depending on the coach's experience, qualifications and the level of seniority they work with. As a rough guide, experienced executive coaches working with senior leaders in the UK typically charge between £200 and £500 per session, with some highly experienced coaches charging more.
Most coaching programmes involve an initial chemistry call at no cost, followed by a series of sessions over several months. Rather than focusing on the headline rate, consider what is included — how much preparation the coach does, whether they offer support between sessions and how they structure the programme around your goals.
It is also worth considering the return. The cost of coaching is modest compared to the value of clearer decisions, stronger leadership and a more capable, confident leader — particularly at senior levels where the impact of leadership is felt across the whole organisation.
What good looks like
When you have found the right coach, the exploratory call will feel different from a sales conversation. They will have asked you more questions than you asked them. Something they said will have stayed with you. You will have a sense that this person genuinely understands your situation — and that they have both the capability and the character to help you navigate it.
Trust that instinct. Chemistry is not a soft consideration — it is the foundation on which everything else in a coaching relationship is built.
Polly Robinson, Executive & Leadership Coach
Executive and leadership coaching with Growth Space
At Growth Space, we work with founders, senior leaders and managers across the UK who want to develop as leaders, navigate complexity and perform at their best.
Polly Robinson is an ILM Level 7 qualified Executive Coach and Mentor with over 25 years' experience working with leaders across a wide range of sectors and organisation types. Coaching with Polly is warm, practical and genuinely challenging — focused on building the clarity, confidence and capability to lead effectively.
We offer a complimentary 30-minute exploratory call so you can get a sense of how we work before making any commitment.
Polly Robinson — Executive Coach & Leadership Specialist
Get in touch to set up an exploratory call. Email Polly: polly@growth-space.co.uk or call 07966 475195.
