Executive and Leadership Coaching

What to Expect and How to Prepare

Coaching works better when you know what you are walking into. This page tells you plainly what these conversations are like, and what you can do to get the most from them.

Read it once before we begin. It will take a few minutes and it will save us both time later.

What to Expect

Five things that are true of nearly every coaching engagement I run.

Expect to focus

Most conversations kind of wander along. Coaching does not. Coaching is more like a meeting with a clear purpose and an agenda. A successful coaching conversation focuses on a topic that is important to you and moves through four focused phases.

  • Goal We focus on what you want in relation to your topic. How do you want things to be?
  • Reality We get clear about the gap between how things are and how you want them to be.
  • Options We focus on possible paths for closing the gap. We brainstorm options, then pick the best ones for moving forward.
  • What We turn your options into action and get crystal clear on what you are going to do, when you are going to do it, and whether you have the willpower to make it happen.

Expect to be asked discovery questions

There are two kinds of questions, recall and discovery. A discovery question prompts you to think and to create. A recall question prompts you to sort through your mental file folders in search of a correct answer.

My questions are not intended to have you explain things to me or get me up to speed. Instead, you should respond in ways that reveal new insights for you.

Expect to work

Coaching makes you think, which is work. Your brain is an incredible calorie-burning machine. Thinking takes energy, and lots of it.

If you mistakenly expect the coaching relationship to be a walk in the park, you will tend to resist climbing mountains. Adjust your expectations and embrace the fact that rewards come in proportion to effort. Your willingness to work hard will pay off.

Expect to be uncomfortable

This one can be especially challenging for all of us. Learning means change, moving away from the status quo.

I sincerely like my clients and deeply respect where they are in their personal and professional journeys, and from that deep respect, I will often need to challenge you and make you uncomfortable to best serve you. Please do not misinterpret the discomfort as something coming from a place of malintent or judgment. Discomfort is the pathway to growth, and we will experience it together.

Expect to change

Coaching is mostly talk, but please know this. Words are not enough. We use words in order to create action and change.

You can have what you choose to want. Just be clear about what you want, find out the cost, and pay the cost. The cost will always involve change.

One thing worth saying plainly. Power is granted to the relationship, not the coach. You play a critical role in deciding how you want to be coached, and in making sure you are getting full value from it. This relationship is tailored to fit you.

How to Prepare

Practical, and worth more than it looks. The leaders who get the most from coaching are rarely the ones with the most time. They are the ones who show up ready.

Before we begin

Arrive with a point of view rather than a blank page.

  • Reflect on where you feel strongest and where you feel least sure.
  • Name the challenges you are actually facing in the role right now, not the ones you think you should mention.
  • Consider the impact you want to have on your team and your organization.
  • Complete the questionnaire and any assessments thoroughly. Rushed answers produce a rushed start.

In our sessions

Presence is the whole investment. A distracted hour is a wasted one.

  • Come with specific topics rather than a general sense of unease.
  • Be on time and fully present. Close the laptop.
  • Share the context I would not otherwise know about your environment and constraints.
  • Be honest about struggles, failures, and uncertainty. Nothing useful happens in the polished version.
  • Ask when something is unclear, including when you disagree with me.

Between sessions

This is where coaching actually becomes results. The hour is the smallest part.

  • Block time for the work, not just for the session.
  • Follow through on what you committed to, and notice what happens when you do.
  • Practice new behavior consistently rather than once.
  • Keep track of what you are learning, in whatever form works for you.

In the partnership

You shape how this works. Tell me when it is not working.

  • Be direct about what is helping and what is not.
  • Tell me how you prefer to receive feedback and to be challenged.
  • Report back on how your actions actually turned out, including the ones that failed.
  • Ask for more support when you need it. That is not an imposition, it is the point.

Keep perspective

The arc is longer than any single conversation.

  • Change takes time and patience.
  • Small improvements compound.
  • Setbacks are normal and often the most useful material we have.

Ready when you are

If you have not completed your Leader Profile yet, that is the next step. The questionnaire that sets our focus comes after it.

© 2026 Burns Leadership Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.