What’s happening in the world of executive coaching – January 2026

2026 – the year didn’t start – it launched! Pure ‘lift off’ energy and a schedule full of executive coaching for leaders and teams who are doing the real work to lead at their best. Just brilliant, I hope yours has started brilliantly too. 

What my clients have been talking about 

People often ask me what we talk about in coaching.  Every client is different with their own focus. whatever their focus is, it’s my job to help them set “best” as their default. I want to unlock transformational change - career and life affirming changes that mean the world to my client. When clients work with me, they get a thinking partner and they move forward. That’s what it’s all about—positive change and movement.  

So, what kind of things do clients bring to the coaching session? Here are few phrases I’ve heard this month: 

• Client 1: “I’m stepping into a deputy CEO role later this year. How do I do that as my best?”   

• Client 2: “I need to bring the board closer to the business. How do I work with them to enable that?” 

• Client 3: “2026 is such an opportunity help me stay in the exec space and not get dragged down into the weeds.” 

• Client 4: “Her behaviour is inappropriate and ruining my team. Help me have the conversation I need to have.” 

• Client 5: “I don’t fit in the exec team, help me to build myself so I do.” 

  
  

Planes, trains and lots of bicycles. 

I began the month near Amsterdam with the senior leadership team at HG International.  

When leadership teams share a clear and compelling vision—and know their part in leading it together—they thrive. This was a day of curating clarity for the future and exploring how to lead it collectively, as a high-performing team, underpinned by the transformative power of PRINT®. 

I love working with leadership teams like this. It was a joy to facilitate and coach. Huge thanks to Karel Vandamme and the team for having me back. What a clear, compelling (and exciting) future lies ahead. 

We go again with Lhasa 

Moving on to Lhasa Limited. We kicked off year two of Being Our Best. Over two energising days, year two of this transformation programme launched with Gillian and me, introducing the Lhasa teams to PRINT® – The Why of You, combined with offsites and coaching infused with master-level coaching approaches and NLP. 

Forty-five people were introduced to their PRINT® over those two days, exploring what it means for them—and how they show up in their roles as their best. It was deep and energising work. Huge thanks to the Lhasa team for having us back, and for bringing such openness and energy into the room. I love it. We love it. It’s us at our best, too. The next step is for me and my team to connect with them and provide a 121 coaching space to help them make the offsite’s content live and breathe! 

Executive coaching for the future of leadership  

That theme carried strongly into conversations at the British Chambers of Commerce leadership conference. Two comments stood out—both capturing exactly why executive coaching matters right now: 

“You are describing me. I’ve done this work, and I’m so very grateful for it—for how I experience myself in my role today.” 

And: 

“Gosh, this stuff is uncomfortable, isn’t it. Totally unnatural and totally brilliant. I need this for my next chapter.” 

It’s true. If you’re a leader and you aren’t working with yourself, how do you really know you’re leading as your best? You might know your ‘secret sauce’, and yet there’s always more. The leaders who do this work know how to show up for themselves, those they work with and those they lead. It matters. It shapes outcomes. The best lead with self-awareness and conscious strategies to be it. 

So much is changing so quickly. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it era. But one thing hasn’t changed at all: people leadership. People are still people. And they want to follow leaders they respect and feel “safe” with. At the same time, leadership has become more demanding and layered. Decisions need broader perspectives. Contexts shift quickly. Expectations keep growing. 

So, when an executive tells me they don’t have a coach, my first thought is often, “Wow 😲—how has that been for you?”—usually met with a knowing, slightly knackered smile. My second thought? “You are in for a treat…and breathe!” 🤩 

Because coaching isn’t about advice or answers. It’s about partnership. A place to get clear, test ideas out loud, explore decisions without judgement, define direction, gather insight and build internal resources. At its best, executive coaching is about potential and unlocking it. 

If one-to-one executive coaching sounds like something you’d benefit from, then please get in touch. The same maybe usefu lfor your executive team coaching too.