Developmental Coaching for Executives
For Leaders Ready To Transform, Not Just Perform
Two Complementary Approaches That Help Leaders Break Through What Holds Them Back and Clarify the Unique Contribution They're Here To Make
What is Developmental Coaching, and is it appropriate for me?
Beyond Surface-Level Coaching
Traditional executive coaching focuses on skills, behaviors, and techniques. Helpful, but limited. Developmental coaching goes deeper. It helps leaders understand and further develop the internal operating system that shapes how they show up, make decisions, and navigate complexity.
It’s the right approach when:
- You’ve received the same feedback more than once, and genuinely tried to change, but the pattern persists
- A bigger role or new challenge requires you to lead differently, not just more effectively
- You want to grow toward something, not just away from what isn’t working.
At TDE, we offer two research-backed developmental coaching modalities that we can deliver independently or in combination for maximum impact.
ITC-Based Coaching: Breaking Through What Holds You Back
Grounded in the Immunity to Change® framework developed by Harvard faculty Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey (two of TDE’s co-founders), ITC-based coaching targets the self-limiting patterns of beliefs and behaviors that keep leaders stuck despite genuine motivation to change.
Most leaders know the frustration: a sincere commitment to behave differently that somehow never fully takes hold. The Immunity to Change® framework reveals why. It uncovers the internal self-protection system that produces the very behaviors leaders want to change, making change feel less like a matter of willpower and more like solving a puzzle.
What To Expect
Through one-on-one coaching, leaders work with a skilled coach to identify a powerful improvement goal, build an Immunity to Change® map that surfaces the hidden commitments and big assumptions keeping them stuck, design and conduct real-time experiments that test those assumptions, and reflect on what they’re learning. The goal is not just behavior change but the cultivation of developmental intelligence, the capacity to keep growing in response to new challenges, long after the coaching engagement ends.
Values-Based Coaching: Envisioning the Leader You Can Become
Drawing on the pioneering work of Dr. Brian Hall and the Hall-Tonna Values Inventory, values-based coaching helps leaders gain clarity on the fundamental priorities that shape their decisions, relationships, and leadership style.
Hall’s research identified 125 distinct values organized across four developmental phases of consciousness, each reflecting a different way of seeing and engaging with the world. When leaders become conscious of the developmental nature of their values, they understand why they lead the way they do, where their values align with their organization’s needs, and what developmental edges they face.
We pay particular attention to helping leaders take hold of their vision values, the values that define the kind of person and leader they aspire to become. Within a developmental context, these vision values provide an inspirational roadmap for growth, and one’s unique way of contributing over the course of a career and a life.
A Powerful Supplement to ITC Work
Values-based coaching pairs powerfully with ITC-based coaching. While ITC work helps leaders break through specific patterns that hold them back, values work raises their sights, connecting their growth to a fuller sense of the unique contribution they can make to their organizations and the world. Together, they offer both traction on immediate challenges and a long-term developmental compass.
How It Works
Whether the engagement focuses on ITC-based coaching, values-based coaching, or both, the arc follows a consistent structure that moves from insight to action to lasting change.
Step 1
Initial Contracting
A conversation to clarify developmental goals, select the appropriate modality (or combination), and establish the shape of the engagement.
Step 2
Assessment and Mapping
For ITC-based coaching: collaboratively construct an Immunity to Change® map tied to a real improvement goal. For values-based coaching: completion of the Hall-Tonna Values Inventory and a debrief session exploring priority and vision values.
Step 3
Ongoing Coaching Sessions
Regular sessions where leaders design experiments, debrief results, identify practical next steps, and deepen self-understanding. We tailor frequency and duration to the leader’s context and goals.
Step 4
Integration and Forward Planning
A closing phase that consolidates learning and equips the leader to continue their developmental journey independently or with peer support.
Ready To Go Deeper?
Whether you’re working to break through a persistent pattern, seeking greater clarity about your leadership path, or both, developmental coaching can help. Our coaches bring decades of experience with the frameworks that ground this work and a genuine commitment to your growth.