Why Executives Say They Don’t Have Time for Coaching, And Why That Belief Holds Them Back

Setting the Scene: What Leaders Are Really Up Against

A senior leader, I’ll call Mark, arrived carrying a pace and pressure many executives recognise. His shoulders were tight, his thinking accelerated, shaped by the quiet fear that one wrong move could unravel everything he was holding together.
He didn’t begin with the details of the challenge. He began with a line I hear often:

“I’m not sure I can justify the time for this.”

As the conversation slowed, it became clear that the barrier wasn’t the calendar, it was the internal world he was standing in.

Doug Silsbee’s presence‑based work reminds us that the difficulty in most challenges comes less from the facts and more from our internal reactions to them, a view supported by psychological research. Studies show that stress impairs cognitive flexibility, creativity, and decision‑making under pressure (APA, 2022).

Coaching creates the conditions for leaders to step into a different internal world, one spacious enough for clarity to emerge.

Why Executives Believe Coaching Isn’t Worth It

  1. “Reflection slows me down.” Research consistently shows that stress narrows cognitive capacity, reduces creativity, and leads to more rigid decision‑making, especially in high‑pressure leadership environments (APA, 2022).
  2. “I’m supposed to be the one with the answers.” Meta‑analytic studies demonstrate that executive coaching significantly improves self‑efficacy, psychological resilience, and cognitive behavioural outcomes, all foundational to modern leadership effectiveness (Nicolau et al., 2023).
  3. “Coaching feels too intangible.” Systematic reviews show strong evidence of behavioural and performance shifts resulting from executive coaching, including improvements linked to coaching approaches, the coach, coachee relationship, and organisational context (Plotkina & Sri Ramalu, 2024). Leadership effectiveness research further confirms that coaching strengthens authentic leadership behaviour and change‑oriented leadership capacity, two predictors of overall leader effectiveness (Halliwell et al., 2023).
  4. “The ROI isn’t clear enough.” Peer‑reviewed studies examining executive coaching ROI highlight measurable organisational impacts, including goal attainment, performance improvements, and behavioural change (Seay & Muscarella, 2024). Classic work on coaching ROI methodology also demonstrates how organisations quantify financial and behavioural returns from coaching engagements (Phillips & Phillips, 2005).
These beliefs are human, but they constrain leaders’ ability to see the value coaching creates.

What My Experience Has Taught Me

Across years of working with executives, I’ve learned:
  • Leaders don’t seek coaching because they have time. They seek it because they can’t afford the cost of staying the same.
  • The research aligns: stress reduces perspective, creativity, strategic capacity, and relational effectiveness, all core components of senior leadership (APA, 2022).
  • Coaching expands the inner landscape so leaders can meet complexity with discernment instead of urgency.

Why These Assumptions Hold Leaders Back

  1. Coaching doesn’t take time, it returns it. A meta‑analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) found that executive coaching significantly improves behavioural outcomes, self‑efficacy, psychological capital, and resilience, all of which reduce reactive decisions and rework (Nicolau et al., 2023).
  2. No leader can meet today’s demands alone. A 2024 systematic review confirms that coaching effectiveness depends on the coach–coachee relationship, organisational context, and the coach’s methods, factors leaders cannot access through self‑reflection alone (Plotkina & Sri Ramalu, 2024).
  3. The so‑called “soft stuff” is actually what drives leadership effectiveness. Leadership coaching has been shown to increase authentic leadership behaviour, change‑oriented leadership, and overall effectiveness, variables directly correlated with organisational performance (Halliwell et al., 2023).
  4. ROI begins within the leader, then scales across the organisation. Evidence shows coaching drives improved performance, better communication, productivity gains, and retention, all measurable outcomes that contribute to organisational value (Phillips & Phillips, 2005; Seay & Muscarella, 2024).

The Additional Value of an External Coach

One of the most underestimated advantages of coaching is the power of working with someone outside the world where the problem exists. Internal cultures shape thinking. They normalise certain stress patterns, reinforce assumptions, and make constraints feel immovable. External coaches offer something internal systems cannot:
  • Psychological distance: a key determinant of coaching effectiveness (Plotkina & Sri Ramalu, 2024).
  • Freedom from organisational politics, dynamics, and history.
  • Capacity to challenge assumptions without social or hierarchical risk, a process shown to improve behavioural and cognitive outcomes (Nicolau et al., 2023).
  • Perspective that expands possibility, not bound by existing structures.
Because an external coach does not inhabit the world where the problem arose, they can hold a steadier and more spacious frame, one the leader can grow into.

The Turning Point

With Mark, the shift was subtle but profound. His breath deepened. His shoulders released. His thinking widened. The external situation didn’t shrink. He expanded. This echoes empirical findings showing coaching strengthens psychological capital and self‑efficacy, two capacities that enable leaders to face complexity without becoming overwhelmed (Nicolau et al., 2023).
This is the essence of presence‑based coaching: expanding the leader so the problem no longer eclipses their capacity.

The Most Strategic Investment a Leader Can Make

Many executives still imagine coaching as a discretionary investment.
Yet the evidence is clear: coaching is a multiplier. It shifts leaders from reactivity to presence, from pressure to perspective, from survival to clarity and choice.
The real question isn’t: “Do I have time for coaching?”
The real question is: “What is the cost of continuing to lead without it?”
For most leaders, research, and experience, show the cost is far too high.

References

  • American Psychological Association. (2022). Stress management for leaders responding to a crisis.
  • Seay, S., & Muscarella, A. (2024). The Effectiveness of Executive Coaching: Executive Views and Metrics. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies.
  • Plotkina, L., & Sri Ramalu, S. (2024). Determinants and trends of executive coaching effectiveness. Management Review Quarterly.
  • Nicolau, A., Candel, O., Constantin, T., & Kleingeld, A. (2023). The effects of executive coaching: A meta‑analysis of randomized control trials. Frontiers in Psychology.
  • Halliwell, P., Mitchell, R., & Boyle, B. (2023). Leadership effectiveness through coaching. PLOS ONE.
  • Phillips, J., & Phillips, P. (2005). Measuring ROI in Executive Coaching. International Journal of Coaching in Organizations.