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Executive Coaching

Coaching from people who have actually held the seat.

Most executive coaching comes from people who have never run the function they are coaching you on. Ours comes from operators who have built and scaled the kind of organization they are now coaching you through, and who can tell you what is about to go wrong before it does.

Three moments that call for it THREE MOMENTS THAT CALL FOR IT FOUNDER TO CEO PROMOTED TO THE C-SUITE NEXT GENERATION TO IN CHARGE Each one is a new job that looks like the old one.
Three moments that call for it
  • Founder toCEO
  • Promoted toThe C-suite
  • Next generation toIn charge
Each one is a new job that looks like the old one.

What Executive Coaching Is

Executive coaching is structured one-to-one development for a leader who is already in the role, built around the decisions and pressures in front of them right now rather than a generic curriculum. It sharpens judgment, surfaces blind spots, and prepares a leader for the moments that decide how their tenure goes.

It develops the person in the seat. That is the difference from a fractional executive engagement, which puts an experienced executive in the seat directly. Many companies need one, some need both, and part of the first conversation is working out which.

Ours is delivered by the same network of operators who run Mahdlo's fractional engagements, people who have held CEO, CRO and CMO titles and been accountable for the number.

Why Coaching From Operators Is Different

A career coach can help with confidence.

An operator can also tell you what is about to go wrong in your next board meeting.

Pattern recognition

They have seen this quarter before

A forecast that slips every Monday, a team that stopped escalating bad news, a board growing impatient. An operator recognizes the pattern early because they have lived it.

Honest feedback

A peer with no agenda

Your team has a stake in what they tell you. Your board has a stake too. A coach who has held the seat can say the uncomfortable thing plainly and has nothing to gain from softening it.

Decision support

High stakes, incomplete information

A sounding board for the calls that cannot be delegated, asking the right questions rather than handing over answers, and breaking a complex risk down to what actually matters.

Network

Doors a new leader does not have yet

Introductions to peers, partners and specialist advisors who have solved the problem you are facing, which shortens the time to an answer.

Who It Is For

Founders becoming CEOsThe company outgrew founder-led everything. The job is now building the team and the operating rhythm, not doing the work.
Newly promoted executivesStrong in the function, new to the leadership table, the board and the politics that come with it.
Next-generation leadersStepping into a role where every move is weighed against what came before, and credibility has to be earned again.
Leaders being prepared for bigger scopeEmerging talent the company intends to promote, developed before the promotion rather than after the first mistake.

How It Works

Four parts. It starts with a goal the leader and the business both sign up to, and it ends when that goal is met.

How an engagement runs MAHDLO · EXECUTIVE COACHING A GOAL, A RHYTHM, AND AN END 01 · SET THE GOAL WHAT HAS TO CHANGE Goals agreed with the leader and whoever sponsors it Input from the people who work with them Tied to the business priorities, not a workbook 02 · CADENCE REGULAR 1:1s Sessions built on the decisions in front of you Prep for board meetings and the first 90 days Hard conversations rehearsed before they happen 03 · BETWEEN SESSIONS WHEN IT CANNOT WAIT A call when a decision will not keep until Tuesday A second read on a board deck or an offer letter Honest, agenda-free peer-level feedback 04 · FINISH HAND IT BACK Progress read against the goal from step one Behaviors named, so they can be coached internally Ends when the leader no longer needs it COACHING IS NOT A SUBSCRIPTION The goal agreed at the start is the finish line. When the leader no longer needs it, the engagement ends. Coached by operators who have held CEO, CRO and CMO seats, not by people who have only studied them.
MAHDLO · EXECUTIVE COACHINGA GOAL, A RHYTHM, AND AN END
  1. 01 · SET THE GOALWHAT HAS TO CHANGE
    • Goals agreed with the leader and whoever sponsors it
    • Input from the people who work with them
    • Tied to the business priorities, not a workbook
  2. 02 · CADENCEREGULAR 1:1s
    • Sessions built on the decisions in front of you
    • Prep for board meetings and the first 90 days
    • Hard conversations rehearsed before they happen
  3. 03 · BETWEEN SESSIONSWHEN IT CANNOT WAIT
    • A call when a decision will not keep until Tuesday
    • A second read on a board deck or an offer letter
    • Honest, agenda-free peer-level feedback
  4. 04 · FINISHHAND IT BACK
    • Progress read against the goal from step one
    • Behaviors named, so they can be coached internally
    • Ends when the leader no longer needs it
COACHING IS NOT A SUBSCRIPTIONThe goal agreed at the start is the finish line. When the leader no longer needs it, the engagement ends.Coached by operators who have held CEO, CRO and CMO seats, not by people who have only studied them.
Most of the value arrives in parts two and three, in the week a real decision is being made, rather than in a program run alongside the job.

Coaching or a Fractional Executive?

Executive coaching

Develops the leader already in the seat.

The right answer when the person is right for the role and needs to grow into it faster than the business can wait for them to learn it alone.

A fractional executive

Puts an experienced executive in the seat directly.

The right answer when the seat is empty, or the work cannot wait for anyone to grow into it. See Fractional CMO and Fractional CRO.

Often it is both, in sequence. A fractional executive runs the function while mentoring the rising leader beneath them, so when the engagement ends the company is not starting from zero. When a permanent executive is hired, coaching carries them through the handoff, which is where Executive Recruiting and Onboarding picks up.

How It Gets Measured

Against the goal set in part one, and in behavior other people can see:

  • Progress against the agreed goals
  • Named behaviors observed by the team
  • Decisions made faster, and made to stick
  • Fewer issues escalated to the CEO
  • Sponsor and board confidence
  • Retention of the leader's direct reports

Where a company has a competency model, coaching works to its named behaviors at the named level, so development continues inside the business after the coaching stops.

Questions We Get

What is executive coaching?

Executive coaching is structured one-to-one development for a leader already in the role, built around the real decisions and pressures in front of them rather than a generic program. It sharpens judgment, surfaces blind spots and prepares a leader for high-stakes moments such as board meetings, a first ninety days, or a difficult restructuring.

What is the difference between executive coaching and leadership coaching?

The terms overlap. Executive coaching usually means coaching for senior leaders at or near the C-suite, focused on the decisions and stakeholders that come with that level. Leadership coaching is broader and can include managers earlier in their careers. This practice covers both, weighted toward executives and those being prepared to become one.

Who provides the coaching?

The same network of operators who run Mahdlo's fractional engagements: people who have held CEO, CRO and CMO titles and carried the number, matched to the leader by function and by the stage of company they are leading.

How is this different from hiring a fractional CMO or CRO?

Coaching develops the person already in your seat. A fractional engagement puts an experienced executive in the seat directly. When a seat is empty, or the work cannot wait, fractional is usually the answer. When the leader is right for the role and needs to grow into it faster, coaching is.

What is the typical format?

Regular one-to-one sessions, with the cadence scoped to the leader and the moment, plus support between sessions when a decision will not wait. It starts with goals agreed with the leader and whoever sponsors the engagement.

Is it confidential?

The goals of the engagement and progress against them are shared with whoever sponsors it. What is said in the sessions stays between the coach and the leader. That separation is what makes honest conversations possible.

What does it cost?

Cost depends on the cadence and how long the goal takes to reach. Thirty minutes on a call is usually enough to size it.

Ready to talk?

Thirty minutes is usually enough to know whether this is the right practice for you.

Schedule a conversation