Based on a Delenta Executive Coaching Panel Discussion featuring ICF- credentialed experts , Cheryl Haynes, and Kim Cutler, moderated by Monica Humpal.
For many years, companies used executive coaching for two main reasons: to get "high potential" employees ready for a promotion or to step in when a leader’s numbers were slipping. Barbara Mollard, a veteran executive coach on a recent Delenta leadership panel, described that time perfectly: coaching was seen as" something nice you’d give to somebody".
That era is over.
Today’s businesses face a storm of constant economic shifts, global tension, and the lightning-fast rise of artificial intelligence. In this highly pressurized world, simply "fixing" a leader’s performance isn't enough. It’s actually a broken model for what leaders are really dealing with.
This article combines insights from panel of expert coaches to define the new standard: Adaptive Navigation Coaching. This is a model where coaching isn't just a career perk for one person: it’s essential infrastructure for the entire company.
The biggest change in coaching is the answer to one question: Why do leaders need it?
Companies no longer call a coach just because someone got promoted or failed a project. They call because the world is moving too fast. As Barbara Mollard put it during the panel: "Leaders are working in a space that is changing at a frantic speed, a speed that is faster than they can even make sense of what is happening in the system".
This changes everything about why a coach is hired. A leader’s main job is no longer just "getting things done"; it’s "making sense of things".Organizations are now using coaches to help leaders build their mental and social strength to stay calm, make fast decisions, and keep their teams together when the future is blurry.
The Bottom Line: When the world changes faster than a leader can process, coaching becomes a compass for orientation, not just a training program for development.
In the past, a company's strategy was built to last three to five years. Today, that time line has shrunk.
Cheryl Haynes, an organizational consultant on the panel, noted that this is a major hurdle for modern leaders: "The speed of change and decision making has been lightning fast. The ‘half-life’ of a strategy is much shorter than it used to be".
"Strategy half-life" is the amount of time a plan stays relevant. In industries like tech and finance, this is now measured in months, not years.
This pressure requires a new skill that Haynes calls Enterprise Intelligence. This is the ability to understand company politics in real time, build influence across different departments, and make group decisions as a team rather than as bosses of separate "silos". Executive coaching provides a safe place to practice this Enterprise Intelligence before trying it out in the real world where mistakes are costly.
While business focuses on "agility," the personal reality for leaders is much tougher.
Kim Cutler, an ICF assessor and coach, described what she sees when leaders first start coaching: "From the individual’s perspective, it often looks like crisis mode. They are barely surviving when they want to be thriving. They have higher targets, bigger teams, and so much change that it feels impossible to keep up".
This is a . The problem isn’t that these leaders lack skills; it’s that they lack capacity. They are managing a massive amount of mental and emotional weight without the right systems to handle it.
Modern coaching fixes this through planned reflection and a private space to "stress test" decisions without professional risk. Research shows that "psychological safety" and calm decision making are what actually drive team performance.
A Key Fact: Research cited by the panel found that 40%of the difference in team performance comes down to how effective the leader is, and coaching is the best way to improve that leadership.
The most powerful way to use coaching today isn't one-on-one; it’s systemic.
Barbara Mollard uses a method she calls the Leadership MRI. This is a deep "360 degree" checkup designed to find specific pain points in a leadership team, rather than just general areas for improvement.
The Leadership MRI works in three steps:
As Mollard explained: "Suddenly, you don't just have five executives involved. You have 30people involved in a group learning process".
This turns coaching from a private conversation into a companywide learning system where every one can see progress. Kim Cutler noted that this leads to real culture shifts: less micromanaging, better communication between teams, and a move toward leading by influence rather than just giving orders.
The panel also looked at how AI fits into coaching. Their conclusion was very specific: AI is a great tool, but it's not a replacement.
As AI makes coaching cheaper and more common, there is a risk that it becomes "watered down". The panel identified four "must haves" for companies as they scale coaching:
The experts on the Delenta panel agreed that coaching has moved to a new level.
In 2026, executive coaching isn't just a "benefit" for leaders; it is critical business infrastructure. It is the best way to help leaders build adaptability and intelligence that no other training can provide.
Companies that treat coaching this way, ,using it for whole teams and protecting its quality will have a massive advantage over those that still see it as a "fix-it" tool for individuals.
As Cheryl Haynes put it: Coaching is "a chance to experiment with how you show up as a leader with someone who is 100% in your corner". In a world where mistakes are expensive, that safe space isn't a luxury; it's a strategic weapon.
This article is based on a Delenta Leadership Panel Discussion. Delenta is an all-in-one coaching management platform that helps organizations at any scale to manage their coaching operation seamlessly.
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