Unlocking Value: Which Type of Coaching Will Accelerate Your Growth?

Executive coaching has exploded into a nearly $4.56 billion industry over the last few years. According to FMI’s 2019 survey, 87% of executives report significant returns from their coaching experiences. High-profile leaders, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who famously called coaching his “best professional decision,” Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates, reinforce its value. Yet, coaching styles vary dramatically—and choosing the right one can determine whether your experience is transformative or merely transactional.

Below, we clarify five distinct coaching styles, with a glimpse into what you might gain from each—and how to decide what's right for you.

1. Informal Mentorship: "Just give me advice."

When quick insights, casual advice, or mentorship meet your needs, informal coaching can be effective. This style offers direct feedback, often using a straightforward, advice-driven model.

• Great for: Quick insights or informal guidance.

• Watch out: Advice is typically experience-based and context-specific.

2. Coaching by the Book: "Give me structure."

Formal coaching methodologies, such as the popular GROW framework, provide structure, clear steps, and dedicated space for self-reflection. While helpful, coaching strictly by frameworks can sometimes feel mechanical unless your coach transcends the formula with their personal insight and presence.

• Great for: Structured reflection and clarity.

• Watch out: Risk of mechanical interactions if coach relies too rigidly on methodology.

3. Experience-Based Coaching: "Someone who’s walked my path."

Here, the coach draws directly from their past experiences—especially helpful if they’ve led similar businesses or navigated similar challenges. However, beware: insights from 10 years ago may not neatly align with today's complexities.

• Great for: Contextual advice based on shared experiences.

• Watch out: Can quickly become outdated or contextually mismatched.

4. Adaptive Coaching: "Help me navigate complexity."

Adaptive coaching is dynamic, blending structured reflection with in-the-moment practical guidance. This style is especially powerful in times of uncertainty, growth, or rapid change—situations common today, as indicated by the 54% rise in leadership coaches from 2019–2022 (International Coaching Federation, 2023).

Groove Management’s coaches often operate in this space, offering insights tailored directly to a leader's evolving needs, providing not just clarity but actionable strategies for complex situations.

• Great for: Leaders facing rapid growth, transition, or uncertainty.

• Watch out: Requires a highly skilled coach capable of flexible guidance.

5. Transformational Coaching: "I'm ready to truly change."

The deepest form of coaching, transformational coaching, goes beyond immediate business solutions. It challenges and reshapes your core beliefs, identity, and leadership style. This powerful process requires profound commitment and openness to growth—it's not just about changing your actions but evolving who you are as a leader.

Groove’s approach emphasizes transformational coaching as a form of "mental fitness," recognizing that, just as physical strength requires continuous effort, leadership growth requires ongoing practice, reflection, and coaching support.

• Great for: Leaders at critical junctures seeking deep growth.

• Watch out: Demands genuine readiness for personal transformation.

How to Choose Your Coaching Path

Ultimately, your best coaching experience depends on aligning the type of coaching with your current needs and personal readiness. Reflect honestly:

• Do I need quick guidance or structured reflection?

• Does my coach need relevant experience, or should they challenge me beyond my comfort zone?

• Am I ready to adapt to complexity or transform fundamentally?

Groove Insight: Great coaching isn't merely about picking the right style; it's also about choosing the right mindset. True leadership means shifting from individual heroics to empowering your team's collective success—an evolution achievable through the personal transformation of the leader.

The bottom line: Coaching works—but it works best when you choose consciously, aligning clearly with who you are now and who you aspire to become.