Unlock your team’s potential with a leadership development program
What is a leadership development program?
A leadership development program is designed to provide professional growth and guidance for leaders, leaders in training, and any team member with untapped potential. It is an invaluable tool for enriching team members’ core capabilities and strengthening the qualities that make good teams.
Practically any team member can benefit from a leadership development program, whether that is in the form of leadership coaching, mentoring, or another form of personalized development. The benefits of coaching and mentorships are not limited to the C-suite, especially when you consider that today’s junior associate may someday become a company leader or that many organizations are forgoing the traditional tiered leadership model in favor of a flatter org chart.
In the past, traditional leadership development programs focused on top-down leadership models, but those static models no longer apply. Today’s business organizations benefit from empowering team members at all levels with leadership development programs that leverage coaching.
The most advantageous aspect of leadership coaching is that it is appropriate for companies of all sizes. Small businesses or start-ups will benefit in the long run from having team members trained in the art of leadership who are ready to step up. Larger companies will benefit immediately, as team members whose capabilities have been honed through coaching go on to become greater advocates for company values and better employees overall.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace shows manager engagement dropped materially in 2024, and finds that roughly 70 percent of team engagement is attributable to the manager, underscoring why coaching and leadership development for managers is directly tied to team performance and productivity. See the Gallup report: State of the Global Workplace
BTS offers leader readiness and development programs that align to real business outcomes, building transformational leaders across frontline, mid-level, and senior roles. Learn more: Leader Readiness and Development
Read our whitepaper for more practical guidance on building a leadership development program, especially for a multi-generational workforce.
Types of leadership development programs
1:1 Leadership coaching
This program is exactly what it sounds like: a regular session between a coach and a team member. It focuses on capabilities aligned to your desired business outcomes, building on an individual’s strengths to unlock their leadership potential.
1:1 leadership coaching involves one coach and one team member, with the coach’s time dedicated to improving the capabilities of the specific team member in a focused manner. The coach will set a goal, monitor the team member’s progress toward that goal, focus on positive aspects of the team member’s approach, and keep track of how the team member applies their learnings to achieve their goals.
The coach will employ various coaching methods to the task, tailoring their approach to the needs of the individual, and can adjust as the individual’s approach changes. The goal is to maximize the individual’s skills and broaden their capabilities, allowing them to become the most effective and actualized version of themselves.
The impact of one-on-one leadership coaching can be dramatic, especially when scaled across the organization. Team members who participate in 1:1 coaching can become key leaders, unlocking the potential of other team members in turn and advocating for the collective. 1:1 coaching is also well suited for remote and distributed workers, since the singular connection translates effectively across digital meeting spaces and time zones.
To support 1:1 coaching goals
To support 1:1 coaching goals, many organizations may use assessments or 360 feedback as further context and data to support coaching goals. At BTS, managers are integrated into the coaching and a robust dashboard is provided for seamless manager collaboration, as the impact of coaching amplifies with high manager engagment.
Group coaching
Group coaching is a learning tactic designed to promote lasting change, new knowledge acquisition, and immediate organizational impact. Focusing on multiple team members simultaneously, group leadership coaching helps build cohesion in a business unit and promotes healthy learning.
Traditional methods of training are easily forgotten, whereas group leadership coaching is an interactive experience that promotes engagement and collaboration, modeling activities on desired outcomes. Also called peer group coaching, group leadership coaching is designed to focus on a specific purpose or goal.
The coach will facilitate discussions and manage structured activities, running the group through exercises designed around various leadership challenges. The goal is to expose the group to different viewpoints and provide opportunities to build relationships, capabilities, and the ability to work as a team. These learnings can then be leveraged across multiple business use cases, providing lasting impact throughout a group member’s career.
Group leadership coaching requires very little, if any, specialized tools or equipment, merely a set amount of time and a dedicated group. The benefits are myriad: increased empathy, improved idea diversity, and encouragement of group-based problem solving. For hybrid teams, designing flexible and inclusive participation practices ensure remote participants contribute equally and consistently.
On the whole, group coaching is an effective tool for fostering change and advancing positive group dynamics across work groups. It is often more efficient per person than one-on-one coaching and builds peer relationships that sustain progress between sessions. Beyond the group coaching experiences, the cross-functional relationships built within the groups often become a broader peer community and network critical for leaders across an organization. For an example of immersive practice that reinforces critical leadership skills, explore the BTS iLead Challenge Simulations: iLead Challenge Simulations
Mentorships
While mentorships carry some similarities with coaching, it differs in several key aspects.
A mentorship is a relationship between two professionals, a mentor and mentee, where the mentor shares their experience and provides guidance, advice, and their point of view within a specific organization or industry, or on how a mentor or leader can position themselves down a career path to reach different levels of leadership or influence.
Mentorships tend to emphasize career guidance, networking, and knowledge transfer over time. Coaching is usually time bound and development focused, with an inquiry based model that is rooted in uncovering answers within the leader. Many organizations benefit from using both, allowing mentors to provide more functional, technical career guidance, while coaches serve as a “thought partner” that can help generate deeper self-reflection, new awareness and mindset shifts that can help drive sustainable behavior change over time.
What makes a best-in-class executive ecoach? See the podcast that breaks down what a coach does and how they work with leaders: https://bts.com/podcasts/best-in-class-executive-coaching-with-jennifer-porter-and-jessica-skon
Dedicated leadership development platform
A dedicated leadership platform allows companies to focus on a specific toolset and track multiple coaching programs across entire teams. Whether you are conducting 1:1 coaching sessions, group leadership coaching, or all of the above, a dedicated platform will help you scale your efforts and measure your success. In this manner, you can actively develop your next generation of leaders and be prepared when critical roles open.
An integrated platform that tracks data across different programs and allows you to clearly set goals and measure progress will encourage team members to take part in leadership coaching programs and reward them for doing so. By eliminating administrative overhead and making key metrics readily available, it can make the intangible tangible and show the value of your initiative.
What to look for in a leadership platform:
- Easy to use, mobile friendly experience for coaches and learners
- Built in cohort discussions, session summaries, and automated reminders
- Goal and KPI tracking, feedback integrations, and progress dashboards
- Reporting that connects behavioral change to organizational impact
- Integrations into your broader learning or HR systems
For a deeper look at modern, high impact leadership development strategies, see BTS insights on Disrupting Leadership Development: Disrupting Leadership Development and Conquering Leadership Complexity: How Vertical Development Accelerates Impact: Conquering Leadership Complexity
If you would like to learn more about how the right leadership coaching platform can help prepare your business for success today, tomorrow, and years down the line, we are ready to help. Set up a demo to speak with a Sounding Board representative today.
How to align coaching goals with business outcomes
Clear goals and measurement turn coaching into business impact:
- Set SMART goals tied to outcomes like customer satisfaction, time to productivity, engagement, or quality
- Break goals into monthly milestones, define ownership, and schedule check-ins
- Use a blend of metrics: behavior change, performance data, engagement scores, and retention
- Review progress quarterly to spot trends and course correct before ROI is affected
BTS commonly blends short, focused training with ongoing coaching and virtual workshops, which consistently outperforms one-off classroom sessions. This hybrid approach boosts retention, accelerates application on the job, and scales across time zones.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a leadership development program build a leadership bench across all employee levels?
A structured leadership development program builds skills in waves, starting with frontline fundamentals and progressing to strategic capabilities. BTS programs, such as Leader Readiness and Development, align experiences to each level while using experiential projects and simulations to translate learning into action. See Leader Readiness and Development: Leader Readiness and Development
What are the differences between 1:1 leadership coaching, group coaching, and mentorships for employee development?
- 1:1 coaching focuses on leadership development goals and is tailored to the individual.
- Group coaching builds peer relationships, increases idea diversity, and scales impact efficiently across a team.
- Mentorships provide long term career guidance, networking, and knowledge transfer. BTS often integrates all three to accelerate growth and retention.
How does group leadership coaching improve team cohesion and idea diversity in organizations?
Group coaching facilitates shared learning, structured reflection, and collaborative problem solving. Facilitators encourage multiple perspectives, which raises psychological safety and unlocks diverse ideas. BTS reinforces these outcomes with experiential methods and simulations like the iLead Challenge. Learn more: iLead Challenge Simulations
What should a company look for in a leadership development platform to scale coaching programs?
Organizations looking to scale leadership coaching need a platform that delivers global reach, consistent quality, and measurable impact. The most advanced solutions combine AI-powered coach matching, real-time reporting, manager integration, and a secure, configurable infrastructure that aligns coaching to internal leadership models. BTS provides a scalable coaching ecosystem designed to scale globally and demonstrate ROI by blending enterprise-grade technology with decades of mindset-based leadership research.
How do you design 1:1 coaching goals that align with desired business outcomes and measure progress?
Effective 1:1 coaching goals start with a clear link between individual development needs and the company’s strategic priorities. Progress should monitor behavioral shifts, capability growth, and ROI. This data-driven approach is ideal for organizations seeking coaching that delivers both individual transformation and enterprise impact. BTS uses assessments, manager input, and its proprietary mindset-based framework to co-create measurable goals that drive real business outcomes.
When is group coaching more effective than traditional leadership training for lasting behavior change?
Group coaching is more effective when the objective is for peer connection, to improve collaboration, and to build shared accountability. The interactive format encourages sharing of insights, collaborative feedback, and social learning, which helps create a community for leaders to engage with beyond the program. BTS often combines group coaching with broader learning journeys to help leaders connect with others to cement new ways of thinking and behaving.
What are the benefits of leadership coaching for remote workers and distributed teams?
Coaching supports focus, connection, and accountability across distance. 1:1 coaching fits flexible schedules, and group coaching builds cohesion and inclusion across locations. BTS leverages virtual workshops and blended experiences to sustain engagement in hybrid environments.
How can an integrated platform track coaching program data and demonstrate ROI to stakeholders?
Use a platform that connects goals to metrics like engagement, retention, performance, and quality. Combine dashboard views with periodic reports to show progress and impact. BTS advocates quarterly reviews to identify trends early and protect program ROI. For modern approaches, see Disrupting Leadership Development: Disrupting Leadership Development
Where can I find programs that develop executive presence as part of leadership development?
Executive presence is a teachable capability. BTS offers Executive Presence Mastery to help leaders communicate with clarity and authenticity while inspiring action. Explore the program: Executive Presence Mastery
Author: Christine Tao
Christine is the Managing Director of BTS USA and the former co-founder and CEO of Sounding Board, a leadership coaching startup that raised ~$50M before its acquisition by BTS. Her platform has been adopted by major enterprises and global brands including Wellstar, Conagra, Cloudera, and the San Francisco Giants. She holds an MBA from Wharton, a BA from UC Berkeley, and is also an angel investor, startup advisor, Tory Burch Foundation fellow, EY Winning Women honoree, and Stevie Award winner.
Updated Date: December 10, 2025
