Executive Coaching vs Therapy: What Leaders Need to Know
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Coach, Therapist or Mentor? What’s the Difference? And Why It Matters for Leadership Growth
A conversation with Senior Executive Coach LaVonne Dorsey on self-awareness, choosing the right support and the work of growing as a leader.
At cocktail parties or potlucks, when I am inevitably asked where I work and what Henley Leadership Group does, one question comes up again and again: What’s the difference between a leadership coach and a therapist? And where does mentoring even fit these days, when the way we work has changed so much?
In a time when leaders are navigating constant change, increased complexity, and rising expectations, understanding the difference between executive coaching, therapy and mentorship has become more relevant than ever.
For many leaders, these distinctions are not important until the moment they find themselves stuck in a major life or work transition, or having fallen off a proverbial cliff, unsure what to do next as they try to get their feet under them again.
So I sat down to chat with LaVonne, one of our most experienced coaches and facilitators at Henley, who also wears another hat as a licensed therapist, and asked for her thoughts.
Friends may offer support, perspective or the occasional nudge, but as LaVonne puts it, “You don’t want your friends to be coaching you… You definitely don’t want them to be doing therapy with you!”
Whenever we meet, I am reminded that LaVonne is someone you notice right away, not just because she is incredibly stylish, and yes, I covet her shoes, but because of the way she carries herself in a room, or on a screen. She is both fun-loving and deeply insightful and wise, with a keen intelligence, surprising practicality and a wicked sense of humor that immediately puts you at ease. In other words, she’s exactly the person you want to sit down with and dig into this.
For LaVonne, these distinctions between coach, therapist and mentor matter. Especially if you’ve hit a rough spot and could use some professional support. Each plays an important and distinct role in helping people grow, deal with life’s complexity and move forward in their career or personal life, especially during difficult times. Few leaders can, or should, navigate this alone.
Executive Coaching vs Therapy: What’s the Difference?
Coaching Looks Forward. Therapy Looks Back
When asked how she explains the difference between coaching and therapy, LaVonne begins with a simple distinction. “Think about it through this question,” she says. “How does your past affect how you operate today?” That question sits at the heart of therapy. “Counseling or therapy looks at how your past affects you today and how you’re operating based on what’s happened in your life up to this point.”
Coaching starts somewhere else. “The coaching comes from a place that says, ‘Let’s design what you want to do next and how we might get you there.’” She describes the difference simply: “Therapy is backward and inward. Coaching is forward and outward.”
What Is Mentorship in Leadership Development?
Mentoring belongs in yet another important category. “If you think about your career, who are the people who encouraged you, watched out for you, and said your name in rooms you weren’t in? Those are the people you consider mentors. They're the ones who are looking out for you professionally because they have some experience and expertise that they can bring to help you in the direction of your career. They tell you when to turn left in a corporation verses right. ”
While these distinctions are clear in how LaVonne describes them, they are also grounded in her experience of working with so many different people over time.
Why Executive Coaching Matters for Leaders Today
As leadership expectations continue to evolve, many professionals are turning to executive coaching to build self-awareness, strengthen decision-making, and expand their capacity to lead in real time.
Leadership Lessons Begin in Unexpected Places
Long before LaVonne became a coach or therapist, she was learning about people in retail. While studying psychology as an undergraduate, she worked at Nordstrom and Frederick & Nelson, where she quickly realized the work was rarely just about clothing.
“The outward starts with the inner,” she explains. “If you don’t have good self-esteem, it’s hard to see yourself in something beautiful. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tailored suit or a beautiful evening gown. It’s just something that’s on you because you’re not living it. I realized that I could bring out that sense of self through conversation with clients or customers, building a relationship to get them to start seeing themselves in the way they really wanted to see themselves. What I loved about being in the retail environment was that there was always an opportunity for improvement.”
Through conversation and relationships, she helped people begin to see themselves differently. As she moved into management, another lesson became clear. “I deeply cared about the people I worked with,” she says. “It wasn’t transactional.” One colleague once told her something that stayed with her: “You make work fun, and you make it easy for us to want to be here.”
Advice for Emerging Leaders
As LaVonne tells it, her interest in this work started early. “For folks who’ve been around for a while, you may remember Bob Newhart’s comedy show where he was a therapist. I love the fact that he was able to see people, meet them where they are with little judgment. But also move them to something that was healthy and to make good decisions, all while using humor.” It stayed with her. “I always wanted to be a counselor in some sort of way.”
As LaVonne’s own path shows, careers rarely unfold in a straight line. They tend to be shaped as much by passion and serendipity as by any kind of plan. Her journey moved from retail leadership into HR and later into Microsoft, where her interest in people and development continued to deepen. While preparing to return to school to pursue counseling, she attended a retreat at Esalen on bringing coaching into clinical practice. That experience opened an unexpected door. She went on to earn coaching certifications and begin her coaching practice, and later returned to school and became a licensed therapist.
Drawing on her own long and winding path, LaVonne believes many people discover what they love gradually, by following what first draws them and paying attention to what keeps showing up along the way. For emerging leaders, LaVonne believes curiosity matters more than certainty. “Start by asking yourself, ‘What don’t I know?’”
Mentors can also play an important role in that process, she says. Spending time with people whose leadership you respect allows you to see the world through their eyes and gain context that often would take years to develop on your own. Leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about being willing to keep learning. It is also about developing the self-awareness to reflect on how you operate and affect others.
What Growth in Executive Coaching Actually Looks Like
For LaVonne, one sign that coaching is working is when clients begin to notice their own patterns and how they are negatively impacting their lives, recognizing behaviors that once felt automatic and learning how to adjust. Eventually, leaders reach a point where they can pause and think, “Oh, I’m doing that thing again.” That growing self-awareness, and the ability to move beyond old patterns, is where the work begins to shift and leaders move more fully into what’s next.
Whether you are feeling stuck, are undergoing a major life or career change, or are simply ready for what’s next, the question may not be whether you need support, but what kind. Taking the time to reflect and understand the difference between a coach, therapist and mentor may be your first step toward getting the right kind of support for where you are, and continuing to grow yourself as a leader.
For leaders exploring executive coaching in Seattle or beyond, the goal is not just insight, but the ability to translate that insight into meaningful action over time.
This reflection connects to our broader perspective on integrating practice as a development strategy, where we examine how leaders translate insight into action and practice in the moment. It builds on our earlier reflections on steadiness and humanity by asking what leadership development looks like in real life.
How to Choose Between Coaching, Therapy and Mentorship
Do you feel stuck, stalled or at a crucial turning point in your life or work? Name it as clearly as you can.
Is this something you need to understand more deeply, or something you already understand but need help moving forward on?
Are you noticing patterns? Do you catch yourself thinking, “Uh-oh, I’m doing that thing again,”
What kind of support would be most useful right now: someone to help you make sense of what is underneath, someone to help you take action and move forward, or someone in your field who has the experience, skills and knowledge to offer on-going career guidance?
Who is already in your corner to help you brainstorm, share perspective or make a connection?
What is one step you could take this week: start a conversation, ask for a recommendation or reach out to someone?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between executive coaching and therapy?
Executive coaching focuses on future goals, leadership development, and performance, while therapy explores how past experiences shape current behavior and emotional patterns.
When should a leader work with an executive coach?
Leaders often seek executive coaching when navigating career transitions, developing leadership capacity, or working through complex challenges in real time.
What role does mentorship play in leadership development?
Mentorship provides career guidance from someone with experience in your field, offering perspective, advocacy, and direction over time.