10 PRACTICAL COACHING & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS
Amber’s guidance enables leaders and their teams to develop and foster:
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Leadership development is a top priority for HR leaders, senior executives, and learning & development professionals, yet fully leveraging external expertise can often feel complex. I’ve simplified the process here by providing clear and actionable ways to utilize leadership development services. Some of these options may feel refreshing or unique, offering perspectives that go beyond traditional approaches. While not an all-encompassing list, this is designed to provide structure and clarity, with the flexibility to customize services to meet specific organizational needs.
One-on-one leadership coaching provides a personalized approach to leadership development, helping leaders enhance self-awareness, emotional intelligence, decision-making, and overall effectiveness. As an ICF-credentialed coach, each engagement typically includes a Hogan assessment—such as a 360, Leadership Insight Series, or Emotional Intelligence assessment—to deliver actionable insights. Coaching is effective because it is highly personalized, addressing the root of a leader’s relationship to the challenge or situation they face, leading to meaningful and lasting change.
Learn more about why coaching is essential by reading Why Training Alone Falls Short: The Case for Coaching.
The most ROI-driven service, one-on-one coaching fast-tracks meaningful results by getting to the root of each leader’s challenges. This highly personalized approach eliminates guesswork, tackles blind spots, and equips leaders with actionable strategies to elevate leadership effectiveness.
Interactive training sessions are dynamic, guided sessions that actively engage participants through meaningful conversation. These sessions blend teaching with a collaborative, interactive approach, encouraging participants to contribute, share experiences, and learn from one another. They can also be structured as leadership “hot topic roundtables,” addressing current challenges and fostering actionable insights.
Often delivered as a series of three or four sessions with the same group, each session explores a new topic, creating a deeper and more sustained learning experience. Example topics include: leadership role & expectations, communication, time management, delegating, giving and receiving feedback, and conflict management. Click here to see a list of recommended topics.
Participants consistently report these discussions as both impactful and enjoyable, valuing the opportunity to engage deeply with relevant topics while learning from peers in a supportive, conversational environment. The format is flexible to meet organizational needs and is most effective when delivered in person to maximize connection and engagement.
These are impactful because they go beyond traditional training. Instead of talking at participants, these sessions create a space for meaningful, two-way conversations. Participants answer questions, articulate ideas, and actively contribute to discussions, which drives ownership of their development and strengthens their commitment to applying what they learn.
These are not generic, surface-level training sessions. Unlike most facilitators, Amber brings unmatched expertise a leadership coach, delivering practical real-world insights – not just theory – that get results. Every session is grounded in years of one-on-one coaching experience, offering depth and substance you won’t find anywhere else.
Hogan Assessments provide organizations with actionable insights into leadership strengths, potential derailers, and areas for growth.
Certified administration includes options such as the Hogan 360, Leadership Insight Series, and Emotional Intelligence assessments, designed to address both individual and organizational development needs. Assessments can be delivered as standalone tools or paired with coaching and debrief sessions to help participants interpret their results and develop targeted strategies for improvement.
Hogan Assessments are widely recognized for enhancing self-awareness, improving leadership effectiveness, and supporting alignment with organizational objectives. Discover more about the benefits of Hogan Assessments and view sample reports here.
Hogan Assessments use data to drive targeted leadership development, uncovering blind spots that may be hindering performance or team effectiveness. When paired with a one-on-one coaching session, leaders gain the benefit of discussing these insights with a neutral, expert perspective. This process helps them interpret the results more deeply, challenge assumptions, and turn self-awareness into clear, actionable strategies.
Many organizations find coaching hours to be a valuable way to provide targeted leadership development. By booking a set number of coaching hours each month, leaders or employees can schedule sessions as needed to address specific challenges, refine goals, or explore development opportunities. These hours can also be structured as “drop-in office hours,” offering a dedicated space for real-time support and problem-solving.
Organizations appreciate the simplicity and impact of this approach, as it allows them to offer coaching in a way that fits their needs while ensuring consistent access to expert guidance.
Flexible coaching hours offer organizations an accessible way to introduce their leaders to the value of coaching without committing to full coaching engagements. This option provides leaders with access to a neutral, judgment-free space to tackle challenges, refine goals, and gain clarity on pressing issues. Leaders are able to address real-time needs.
Leadership transition coaching is a focused and impactful service that ensures newly hired or promoted leaders are set up for success during their first 90-180 days.
Research shows that effective onboarding significantly improves engagement and performance, yet too often, leaders are promoted without the tools or guidance they need to excel. This coaching provides targeted support, helping leaders build relationships, navigate early challenges, and establish a strong foundation to succeed in their new role and beyond.
By partnering with a coach, leaders gain a neutral, judgment-free space to navigate challenges, build key relationships, and establish early wins. This targeted approach reduces missteps, accelerates confidence, and equips leaders with the tools needed to make a strong, lasting impact from day one.
Enhance your company retreat or event with targeted, on-demand one-on-one coaching sessions. Designed to address specific challenges or development goals in real time, these spot coaching sessions provide participants with immediate, actionable insights. By incorporating this service, organizations create a high-impact experience that equips leaders with personalized tools and strategies they can apply right away.
Pop-up leadership development elevates the value of your event by giving leaders direct access to personalized coaching. This unique opportunity helps attendees address challenges, gain actionable insights, and leave with practical strategies they can implement immediately—making the event more impactful and memorable for both the participants and the organization.
Leadership shadowing and feedback provides an invaluable opportunity to observe leaders in action—during meetings, presentations, or daily interactions—rather than relying solely on self-reported challenges. This real-time perspective allows for targeted, actionable feedback on behaviors, communication style, and decision-making, helping leaders refine their approach and improve overall effectiveness.
Organizations can opt for a set number of hours per month, rotating across departments to maximize impact, or schedule this service on an ad-hoc basis as needed. This flexibility ensures the service is tailored to meet organizational priorities while delivering meaningful, immediate results.
Leadership shadowing identifies strengths and blind spots that may not surface in traditional coaching sessions, allowing for targeted improvements.
This targeted option supports leaders during performance review windows by providing one-on-one coaching to help them maximize the impact of their reviews. By focusing on actionable feedback, developmental goal-setting, and clear communication, leaders can approach reviews with greater confidence and effectiveness.
This service ensures performance reviews become a tool for engagement and growth, rather than a transactional exercise, aligning leadership performance with organizational goals.
This turns a routine process into a high-impact opportunity for growth. When leaders give meaningful feedback, organizations benefit from higher retention and a more motivated workforce.
Formal training is designed for sharing knowledge and facilitating foundational learning on leadership and professional development topics. While knowledge transfer alone is less impactful than personalized coaching, it remains a crucial component of leadership development, providing participants with tools and frameworks to build upon.
A ready-to-deliver option is the 2.5-hour training, “Your Personalized Blueprint for Emotional Intelligence.” This session incorporates the Hogan Emotional Intelligence assessment to provide personalized insights tailored to each participant. By combining structured knowledge transfer with the individualized perspective of the assessment, this training ensures participants gain both actionable self-awareness and practical strategies for growth.
Learn more about this training here.
Formal training provides a scalable way to introduce leadership concepts and address common development gaps across teams. While it offers the lowest ROI compared to more personalized approaches, it is an efficient starting point for building baseline knowledge and preparing leaders for deeper, high-impact development opportunities.
Research shows that only 15% of training participants apply what they’ve learned back on the job—unless they have ongoing support and reinforcement. That’s where sustainability check-in sessions come in. Designed to follow up at 30, 60, and 90 days post-training, these sessions provide the structure participants need to reflect, stay accountable, and overcome obstacles as they implement new skills and behaviors.
Let training experts focus on what they do best—teaching the material—and use these targeted check-ins to bridge the gap between learning and action. This approach helps organizations maximize their training investment and ensure participants achieve measurable outcomes over time.
These check-ins ensure training translates into lasting behavioral change, maximizing the organization’s investment. They drive measurable improvements in leadership effectiveness, employee performance, and overall team productivity.
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– Timothy Gallwey –
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