Working with the Founder, Jessi LaCosta, ICF ACC, CCE-BCC
Whatever the goal, I challenge my clients (and myself) to strategically, compassionately, and authentically tap into their highest potential, break free from deeply rooted barriers, and move beyond what they thought was a stopping point.
I have been coaching since 2004 and have logged 3,000+ hours coaching people at all levels of their careers. I’ve been told I have a unique ability to help others solve problems, discover new directions, and find a way forward—even when the path isn’t clear. This is the heart of Pathfinding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Does the Research Say About Coaching?
Research supports the value of workplace and executive coaching as a resource for individual development and organizational effectiveness.
A 2016 meta-analysis of 17 studies found that workplace coaching had positive overall effects on organizational outcomes, including skill development and other individual outcomes. A 2023 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining executive coaching also found positive effects on behavioral outcomes and on specific measures such as self-efficacy, psychological capital, and resilience.
These findings support coaching as a meaningful development tool, while recognizing that results vary depending on the individual, the goals, and the coaching engagement.
Sources: Jones, Woods & Guillaume (2016), “The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta-analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology; and “The effects of executive coaching on behaviors, attitudes, and personal characteristics: a meta-analysis of randomized control trial studies” (2023).
Coaching
When you engage a coach, you’re working with a trusted partner who is willing to observe, reflect, and work with you to strengthen strategies for growth while facing challenges and achieving your potential. It’s about moving your vision from thought into action, making courageous choices, and developing a roadmap that helps you move toward what matters most—even when the way forward isn’t clear.
A leadership or executive coach is a qualified professional who works with individuals—including executives, managers, and emerging leaders—to build self-awareness, clarify goals, unlock potential, and serve as a trusted sounding board. Through powerful questions, thoughtful challenges to assumptions, and new perspectives, a coach helps you recognize opportunities, navigate obstacles, and identify the strategies and actions that move you forward.
Why Work with a Leadership, Resilience, or Executive Coach?
Leadership comes with challenges that don’t always have straightforward answers. Whether you’re stepping into a new role, navigating organizational change, managing competing priorities, strengthening resilience, or trying to move an important vision forward, having a trusted thought partner can make a meaningful difference.
Coaching provides dedicated space to step back, examine assumptions, recognize patterns, consider possibilities, and make intentional choices. It is a collaborative process that helps you build on your strengths, address barriers, and translate insight into purposeful action.
Sometimes you need to strengthen a skill. Sometimes you need to see a situation differently. And sometimes, you need help determining what to do when the way forward isn’t clear.
What Can Coaching Help You Accomplish?
Coaching objectives are tailored to your goals, circumstances, and the outcomes that matter most to you. They may include:
- Strengthen leadership effectiveness: Develop leadership skills, executive presence, communication, and the ability to influence and engage others.
- Navigate complexity and change: Examine challenging situations, challenge assumptions, explore options, and make sound decisions when there are no easy answers.
- Build resilience: Strengthen your capacity to adapt, manage competing demands, learn from adversity, and sustain your effectiveness through difficult periods.
- Improve self-awareness and self-regulation: Recognize patterns, understand your responses under pressure, and choose how you want to respond.
- Address barriers and improve performance: Work through recurring challenges, strengthen problem-solving, and turn intentions into achievable actions.
- Lead and develop others: Improve delegation, motivation, accountability, team relationships, and organizational culture.
- Align purpose with action: Connect your values and vision with practical strategies that support meaningful, measurable progress.
Whether you are an executive, an emerging leader, a manager, or a professional navigating a significant transition, coaching creates an opportunity to focus on what matters, develop new approaches, and move forward with greater intention.