5 Signs It's Not Yet Time for Executive Team Coaching (And What to Do Instead to Improve Team Performance)
If your executive team is feeling the strain of transformation (juggling AI strategy, growth goals, and constant change) it's no surprise that team coaching sounds appealing. Done right, it helps teams strengthen trust, align around strategy, and lead with greater impact.
But timing matters. Even the most effective approach falls flat when the team isn't ready for it.
Here are five signs that it might not yet be the right moment to start team coaching, plus what to focus on first to make sure your investment pays off.
1. You Have an Individual Problem, Not a Team Problem
When one person’s unskillful behavior or performance issue is driving tension, that’s not a team problem—it’s an individual problem.
Trying to “fix” it through team coaching wastes your team’s time, trust, and budget.
Instead, start with one-on-one executive coaching for the individual or direct work with the team leader to help them address the issue.
Once accountability and growth happen at the individual level, the rest of the team can move forward productively.
2. The Team Leader Isn’t On Board
If the team leader isn’t open to being coached alongside the team, team coaching becomes performative. How the leader shows up sets the tone for everyone.
When leaders want us to “fix the team” instead of “work with us,” that’s a red flag.
Start with facilitated sessions and 1:1 coaching with the leader, including observation during team meetings and private debriefs afterward.
Once the leader models openness, the rest of the team follows.
3. Your Team Lacks Trust and Safety
If relationships are strained, sides are forming, or people are walking on eggshells, it’s not time for team coaching yet.
Coaching requires vulnerability, and without psychological safety, it can make things worse.
Instead, begin with relationship coaching or trust-building workshops for subgroups and key leaders.
These sessions rebuild connection, clear tension, and establish a shared language for working together.
Once people feel safe to be real, team coaching becomes the accelerator it’s meant to be.
4. The Team Is Overwhelmed
If your senior team is in crisis mode—operating on adrenaline, juggling emergencies, or pushing nonstop toward a big initiative—it’s not the right time for deep team coaching.
When oxygen is low, there’s no space to reflect or apply new habits.
Instead, start small:
Add focused retrospectives or quarterly offsites with bite-sized learning moments.
Reflect on what’s working and what needs adjusting in real time.
Once things stabilize, team coaching can help lock in new ways of working and build resilience for the next challenge.
5. The Team Is Too New
When a leadership team is brand new, everyone’s still learning how to collaborate—finding rhythms, discovering personalities, and (let’s be honest) being a little too polite.
That’s not a problem, it’s a fantastic opportunity for facilitation.
Start with strategic facilitation to build relationships, clarify roles, and co-create your team’s operating system, the rituals and agreements that define how you’ll work together.
Once those foundations are in place, team coaching can take you from formation to peak performance.
Choosing the Right Next Step
Just like elite athletic teams rely on coaches at key moments, executive teams also benefit from coaching, when the timing is right.
If your team has individual issues, low trust, or is simply stretched too thin, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get support. It just means start with what your team needs most right now—the foundations that make coaching truly stick later.
When those are in place, executive team coaching becomes the multiplier that takes performance, trust, and results to the next level.
Make sure you start with the best approach to help your teams and leaders thrive.
Ready to find the right starting point for your team’s growth?
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