What to Look for in a Female Leadership Coach (And the Red Flags to Avoid)
By Genevieve Retzlaff, PCC, CTPC | Grow Better Together | Vancouver, BC
If you've ever opened a new browser tab, typed "leadership coach for women Vancouver," and immediately felt overwhelmed by a sea of identical headshots, identical taglines, and identical promises of "unlocking your full potential", this one's for you.
The coaching industry is unregulated.
Anyone can print business cards that say "leadership coach." No licensing body. No minimum standard. A weekend certification and a website are all it takes. That means the person charging $500/hour to coach you through your biggest professional decisions might have less rigor behind their approach than the manager you're trying to stop second-guessing yourself around.
What to Look for
Credentials that mean something.
Not all certifications are equal. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is the global standard. Look for ACC, PCC, or MCC designations. These require demonstrated coaching hours, supervisor assessment, and ongoing education. A PCC (Professional Certified Coach) designation means at minimum 500 hours of documented coaching experience which a weekend course can’t possibly compete with.
A methodology you can understand.
A strong coach should be able to explain clearly, without jargon how they work and why. What's their framework? What does a coaching engagement actually look like? How do they measure progress? If the answer is something like "I hold space for your transformation," that's more a vibe than a methodology. You deserve a coach who can tell you how they'll help, not just that they will.
Experience in your actual context.
There's a difference between a coach who works with women navigating their first management role and one who specializes in senior leadership dynamics. Visibility, executive presence, navigating male-dominated rooms, being read as "too aggressive" or "not strategic enough" when the same behavior in a male peer goes unremarked. Ask directly: who do you typically work with? What challenges come up most? The answer should be quite telling.
Evidence of results (specific ones).
"She completely changed my life" is not a result. Look for testimonials or case studies that describe what shifted: a promotion secured, a high-conflict team stabilized, a leader who finally stopped over-functioning for everyone around her. Specifics signal that the coach works toward outcomes, not indefinite engagement. (See how that shows up in real client work in this case study.)
One thing worth naming: you may want to speak directly with a coach's past clients. Some coaches offer this. I don't. And not because I'd have anything to hide. Confidentiality is a core coaching principle, and asking a past client to become a reference crosses a line I'm not willing to cross. Testimonials and case studies are the appropriate way to demonstrate results while protecting the people I've worked with.
The Red Flags
The coach who makes herself the hero.
A good coach's job is to build your capacity as opposed to creating dependency on them. If the messaging is heavily centered on the coach's personal story, her credentials, her transformation framework™ rather than on your outcomes that's worth noticing. The coach should be the guide. You're the one doing the work.
Vague, feeling-forward language with no framework underneath.
Words like "transformational," "empowered," "abundant," and "authentic self" are not inherently bad. But if that's all you're getting (no clear process, no structure, no defined scope), you're likely buying a feeling rather than a result.
No formal agreement.
A professional coaching engagement includes a contract. It outlines scope, confidentiality, session structure, cancellation policy, and fees. If a coach wants to start without one, that's a red flag for either inexperience or a lack of professional standards.
One-size-fits-all solutions.
Senior leaders don't necessarily have generic problems. A coach who applies the same framework to every client regardless of industry, org size, team dynamics, or what's actually happening is not coaching. They're delivering a program. The difference matters. Understanding your own needs and being able to name them before walking into a coaching relationship makes this easier to spot early. This post on needs and boundaries is a useful place to start.
Why "Coach for Women" Specifically Matters
Not every female coach is a leadership coach for women. And not every coach who works with women actually understands the specific dynamics that women in senior roles navigate.
The research is sooooo abundant and clear: women in leadership face a distinct set of pressures. Double binds around assertiveness, visibility traps, the invisible weight of being the "only" in the room. A coach who doesn't understand those dynamics won't be able to help you navigate them. They'll give you generic advice that was designed in a context that didn't account for yours. And that’s a real bummer.
When you're evaluating a coach, ask whether they’ve worked with leaders in your specific situation. Not just "women in business." Women navigating a board that doesn't take them seriously. Women stepping into a C-suite that's never had one before. Women trying to lead high-performing teams while being held to a different standard than their peers.
What This Looks Like at Grow Better Together
At Grow Better Together, our 1:1 leadership coaching is designed specifically for senior women leaders and the HR leaders and organizations who support them.
We bring a structured methodology, ICF-credentialed coaching (PCC), and deep experience with the nuanced, high-stakes challenges that women in leadership actually face: building executive presence without losing yourself, navigating conflict in cultures that punish directness, leading teams through change when you're also managing up.
If you're evaluating whether coaching is the right fit right now, a discovery call is the best place to start. No pitch, no pressure. Pinky swear promise ;)
Genevieve Retzlaff, PCC, CTPC - Founder Grow Better Together - Coach for Executives, Women & Teams - OD Consultant
About the author
Genevieve Retzlaff, PCC, CTPC, is the Founder & CEO of Grow Better Together. Based in Vancouver, BC, she specializes in Organizational Development, 1:1 leadership coaching for senior women leaders and team coaching for senior leadership teams using the Team Diagnostic Assessment™ as a foundation.