Dr. Corrie Block chatting about his bestselling book “Chief Executive Coach: Why Executives Need Coaches and the Kind of Coaches They Need.”
As of today, it still sits at No. 2 in Amazon’s “Business Leadership Training” books, No. 5 in “Organizational Learning” books, and No. 10 in “Business Mentoring & Coaching” books (It peaked at No. 1 in all three of these sections on Amazon).
Synopsis of the book
The synopsis is: What do Olympic athletes, Fortune 500 CEOs, and Formula 1 drivers have in common? They all demand coaching at the highest level. But who’s coaching the coaches?
In “Chief Executive Coach,” Dr. Corrie Block unapologetically dismantles the status quo of executive coaching. Forget fluffy questions and cookie-cutter frameworks—this book dares to tell executives what they didn’t know they desperately needed and coaches what they’d rather not admit.
Packed with cutting-edge neuroscience, psychological recalibrations, and brutally honest insights, Dr. Block exposes why most “executive coaches” are playing in the minors while claiming a seat in the majors.
What inspired you to write Chief Executive Coach, and how does it differ from your previous books on leadership and performance?
I wrote Chief Executive Coach because the executive coaching industry is broken. Too much of it is built on the non-advisory coaching model, where coaches just ask endless open-ended questions without ever providing real strategic value.
That’s fine for life coaching—but it doesn’t work at the highest levels of business.
Executives don’t need someone to hold space for their thoughts—they need a coach who can challenge their thinking, provide high-value insights, and sharpen their decision-making.
I wrote this book as a wake-up call for both executives and the coaching industry: Executive coaching should be a niche in business the same way Olympic coaching is a niche in athletics. If you consider yourself elite in your domain, but you don’t have a world-class coach, you’re underperforming and don’t even know it.
Unlike my previous books, which focus on leadership performance (Spartan CEO), meaning at work (Business is Personal), and culture (Love@Work), this book is about how the best leaders maximize their own potential—and why most executive coaches aren’t qualified to help them.
You mention trust and vulnerability as essential to effective leadership. How does the book guide readers in cultivating these qualities within their teams?
Trust and vulnerability enhance leadership—but only to a point. There’s a reason I emphasize the Authenticity Paradox in Chief Executive Coach.
Authenticity is valuable, but if a CEO over-discloses their insecurities, self-doubt, or lack of competence to their executive committee or board, they don’t gain trust—they erode confidence in their leadership. That’s why executive coaching exists.
Coaching provides a protected space for leaders to express doubts, process challenges, and refine their thinking—so they don’t have to do it publicly in a way that undermines their credibility.
Chief Executive Coach walks readers through how to cultivate strategic vulnerability—being open enough to build trust but disciplined enough to maintain authority. That’s the real leadership balance.
Why do you think many executives resist the idea of working with a coach, and how can they overcome that hesitation to unlock their full potential?
Executives resist coaching for the same reason they need it—ego.
Too many leaders see coaching as remedial—something for struggling executives rather than elite performers. They assume coaching is like therapy, or worse, a sign of weakness. But here’s the reality: the best in the world have coaches, period.
The problem is many executive coaches aren’t qualified—they’re borrowing techniques from life coaching and applying them in a business context where they don’t belong. That’s why I wrote Chief Executive Coach—to differentiate real executive coaching from the noise.
The simplest way to overcome hesitation? Flip the question: If you’re running a billion-dollar company, making high-impact decisions daily, and you don’t have a world-class coach in your corner—what makes you think you’re operating at your full potential?
Looking ahead, how do you hope the book will influence the way leaders approach their roles and their personal development?
I hope this book forces two major wake-up calls. For the coaching industry: Executive coaching should be treated like Olympic coaching. Not every coach is qualified to work with elite performers, and it’s time to raise the standard.
For executives: If you think you’re operating at an elite level without a world-class coach challenging your thinking, you’re lying to yourself. The best in any field—athletes, musicians, military leaders—all have elite coaches. Business is no different.
The future of leadership isn’t just about learning more—it’s about thinking at a higher level. “Chief Executive Coach” is the blueprint for that shift.
What is one powerful insight from the book that readers can start applying immediately to elevate their leadership effectiveness?
Stop treating executive coaching as a luxury. If you think you’re elite at what you do, but you don’t have a high-performance coach, then you’re not as elite as you think.
Executives need to reframe coaching as a non-negotiable performance multiplier. The highest-performing leaders in the world—CEOs, investors, industry disruptors—don’t wait until they have a problem to get a coach.
They work with one because they understand that leadership at the top is a constant recalibration.
If you’re in an executive role and you don’t have a coach, ask yourself why. Then ask yourself if you think Olympic athletes would be at their peak without one. Same game, different field.
“Chief Executive Coach” is available on Amazon by clicking here.
To learn more about bestselling author Dr. Corrie Block, check out his official homepage.
