Why the Coaching Format Matters as Much as the Coach
By the time you reach this step, you should be clear on two things:
- The outcomes you want executive coaching to achieve.
- Who coaching is for, and the context they are leading in.
The next decision is how coaching should actually be delivered.
Too often, organisations jump straight to 1:1 executive coaching for a handful of senior people because that feels like the “proper” option. In reality, you have a toolkit of different formats – 1:1, team, group and blended – and the combination you choose will have a big impact on reach, cost, pace and depth of change.
In this article we explore how to choose the right type of executive coaching service for your revenue organisation – and how this connects to the wider process in our pillar guide on how to choose executive coaching services.
The Four Main Types of Executive Coaching Services
Most commercial coaching offers fall into one or more of four broad types:
- 1:1 Executive Coaching
A confidential relationship between an individual leader and a coach, typically focused on high-stakes roles such as CROs, CSOs, regional VPs or heads of critical functions.
- Team Coaching
Coaching for an intact leadership team – for example, the revenue leadership team, a regional leadership team, or a cross-functional go-to-market council – focused on how they decide, debate and execute together.
- Group or Cohort Coaching
Coaching for a group of leaders who share similar challenges but don’t necessarily work as a tight unit, such as new Sales Managers, recently promoted directors, or a high-potential talent cohort.
- Blended Coaching as Part of a Programme
Coaching integrated with other elements such as training, practice tools and operating cadences. Here, coaching isn’t a standalone intervention; it’s part of a designed journey to change how leaders think and act in the moments that matter.
Each type has strengths and limitations. The real power comes from choosing formats deliberately, rather than by habit, and combining them in a way that fits your outcomes, audience and context.
When 1:1 Executive Coaching Is the Right Choice
1:1 coaching is typically the most resource-intensive format, so it should be reserved for situations where deep, individual work will have a disproportionate impact.
It is usually the right choice when:
- The role carries high organisational risk and visibility
For example, a CRO who regularly presents to the board and investors, or a regional VP accountable for a critical growth market.
- The leader is at a key inflection point
Stepping into a new role, leading a major transformation, taking on an unfamiliar region or segment, or returning from a significant career break.
- There are nuanced personal dynamics to explore
For example, confidence, influence, decision-making under pressure, or relationship patterns with peers and stakeholders.
- The leader needs a high level of psychological safety
Some topics are best explored in a fully confidential 1:1 environment before being brought into the team.
Strengths of 1:1 coaching include depth, personalisation and flexibility. However, it can be slow to scale, and if used in isolation it may not shift systemic issues in how teams or functions operate.
When Team Coaching Creates More Value
Team coaching focuses on the leadership “unit” rather than the individual. It can be especially powerful in revenue organisations where misalignment and friction between senior leaders can quietly erode value.
Team coaching is often the best option when:
- The problem sits between people, not within them
For example, Sales, Marketing, Finance and Product all have smart leaders, but decisions are slow, conflict is unresolved, and initiatives stall.
- You want to improve the quality of collective decisions
The revenue leadership team needs to make faster, better calls on pricing, opportunity selection, resource allocation and GTM strategy.
- You are integrating teams after a restructure or acquisition
Bringing together leaders from different regions, legacy organisations or cultures.
- There is a need to reset norms and operating rhythm
For example, shifting from ad hoc crisis meetings to disciplined, evidence-based cadences.
Strengths of team coaching include visible shifts in how leaders show up together, stronger alignment and clearer accountability. The main watch-out is that it requires enough psychological safety and sponsorship for the team to do real work, not just surface-level workshops.
Where Group or Cohort Coaching Fits In
Group or cohort coaching brings together leaders who are not an intact team but share similar development needs or are at a similar career stage.
It is a strong option when:
- You want to build a pipeline of future leadership capability
For example, preparing high-potential Sales Managers or regional directors for bigger roles.
- Leaders face similar challenges in different parts of the organisation
Such as coaching frontline teams, running better pipeline reviews or leading in ambiguity.
- You want to create cross-regional or cross-functional connections
A cohort model can break down silos and build informal networks.
- Budget needs to go further
Group coaching can extend the reach of a coaching investment across more leaders while still providing meaningful individual attention.
Group coaching works particularly well when combined with focused assignments, practical tools and follow-up support from line managers.
Blended Coaching: Making Coaching Part of a System, Not a Perk
Blended coaching integrates coaching into a broader change programme. For revenue organisations, this might mean:
- A leadership development journey where coaching sits alongside workshops, digital learning and practice tools.
- A sales transformation where deal and pipeline coaching are woven into new operating cadences.
- A management excellence programme that combines skills training with ongoing coaching on real situations.
Blended approaches are usually the best choice when:
- You are targeting behaviour change at scale, not just insight for a few individuals.
- You need coaching to reinforce new skills, frameworks or tools introduced through training.
- You want line managers to play an active role in reinforcing change, with coaching acting as a catalyst.
The key success factor is integration. Coaching should be explicitly connected to the rest of the programme, not positioned as an optional extra.
Matching Coaching Type to Outcomes, Audience and Context
To choose the right type of executive coaching service, bring together the work you did in Steps 1 and 2:
- Outcomes (Step 1) – What needs to change in behaviour and business results?
- Audience and Context (Step 2) – Who is in scope, and what pressures and realities are they facing?
Then ask, for each target group:
- What kind of work needs to happen?
Deep personal work, collective alignment, peer learning, or reinforcement of specific skills and frameworks?
- Where does the problem actually live?
Mostly within individuals, between specific people, across a whole layer of leadership, or in the system itself?
- What is the fastest route to meaningful change?
Considering budget, time, and the risk of doing nothing.
For example:
- CRO + Revenue Leadership Team
- 1:1 coaching for the CRO to work on board presence, decision-making and stakeholder influence.
- Team coaching for the revenue leadership team to improve collective decisions, alignment and operating rhythm.
- Regional VPs in Growth Markets
- 1:1 coaching for high-impact regional leaders.
- Group coaching to build a peer community around common challenges and opportunities.
- First-Line Sales Managers
- Group or cohort coaching integrated into a management excellence programme, with a strong focus on practising coaching conversations and deal reviews.
This mix is likely to create more impact than a single-format approach.
Budget, Scale and Practical Constraints
Of course, coaching design doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You will need to work within practical constraints such as:
- Budget – How much can you invest, and over what timeframe?
- Time – How many sessions are realistic for busy leaders? Over what period?
- Availability of coaches – Does your chosen provider have the bench to deliver 1:1 and team work at the scale you need, in relevant time zones and languages?
- Technology and data – Will any blended or digital elements work with your existing stack and policies?
Rather than letting constraints quietly dictate your design, make them explicit. This allows you and your coaching partner to make conscious trade-offs – for example, using group coaching and a digital layer to extend the reach of 1:1 work.
Questions to Ask Providers About Coaching Format
When you speak to potential coaching partners, use your thinking from this step to ask more precise questions such as:
- Which formats (1:1, team, group, blended) do you work with most often for organisations like ours?
- How do you decide which format is right for a particular leader, team or challenge?
- How do you combine formats to create a coherent journey, rather than a collection of disconnected interventions?
- Can you share examples where you shifted from purely 1:1 coaching to a blended or team-based approach – and what changed as a result?
- How do you handle scale – for example, coaching across multiple regions, time zones or languages?
The answers will tell you a lot about whether a provider is simply selling hours, or truly designing for impact.
How This Step Feeds the Rest of the Decision Process
Getting clear on the right types of executive coaching services for your context is not just a design exercise. It will:
- Influence pricing models and commercial terms.
- Shape how you run pilots and evaluate impact.
- Affect the mix of coaches and specialists your provider needs to field.
Combined with clear outcomes (Step 1) and a defined audience and context (Step 2), this step gives you the foundation to make better choices on methodology, governance, ROI and piloting.
For a full overview of the nine-step process – and how this decision fits alongside others – read our pillar guide on how to choose executive coaching services, then use this article to stress-test your assumptions about format before you commit.