Executive coaching is often framed as a conversation between coach and client. But the most effective coaching happens when that conversation is rooted in context—when the coach understands not just the individual, but the environment they’re navigating.
Dr. Bill Berman recently outlined four key dimensions that shape how leaders grow. These broader factors provide essential context for any coaching relationship:
- The Marketplace
Leaders don’t operate in a vacuum. Economic conditions, industry disruptions, and shifting customer expectations all influence what leadership looks like in practice. Coaches who understand these external pressures are better equipped to help leaders adapt with clarity and purpose. - Organizational Culture
Every organization has its own unwritten rules. Culture determines which behaviors are encouraged, which are avoided, and which are invisible until missteps occur. Effective coaching requires sensitivity to these norms—especially when a leader is trying to shift the culture or navigate misalignment. - The Team
Leadership is relational. The size, structure, and dynamics of a leader’s team can either support or constrain progress. Understanding how the team works—its roles, trust levels, and shared goals—helps coaches identify what’s really needed to improve performance. - Stakeholders
Executives are accountable to many people: board members, peers, direct reports, customers, investors. Each has expectations—some clear, others unspoken. Good coaching helps leaders surface and manage those expectations, while also clarifying what the leader can reasonably expect in return.
When coaches take these four contexts seriously, the work becomes more relevant, more strategic, and more effective. Leadership is never just about the individual. It’s about how that individual functions within a larger system.