How Much Does Executive Coaching Cost in Washington, DC?
Updated: 2 days ago
You are thinking about coaching, for yourself or for a leader on your team, and the first thing you want to know is what it costs. On a lot of coaching websites, you will not find out. You fill out a form, book a call, and hear the number at the end.
I do not think you should have to get on the phone to find out whether something fits your budget. So here is what coaching costs, what moves the price, and exactly what I charge leaders and teams here in Washington, DC, across the DMV and beyond, whether you lead a federal team, a government contractor, an association or a growing private company.
What coaching costs on average
The best broad number comes from the International Coaching Federation. Its 2025 Global Coaching Study, built on responses from more than 10,000 participants in 127 countries, found that coaches charge an average of $234 for a one-hour session.
There are two things to keep in mind. That average covers every kind of coaching, worldwide, not just executive coaching in DC. And most executive coaching is not sold one hour at a time, so use it as a reference point, not a firm price. The prices further down are the numbers that matter if you are thinking about working with us.
What actually moves the price
When two coaches quote very different numbers, it usually comes down to a few things:
How it is packaged. A single session, a set number of sessions, or a structured program with assessments built in.
What happens between sessions. Prep, recaps, assessments and platform access all cost something, and a good coach tells you what is included.
One leader or a whole team. Coaching one executive is priced differently from a workshop for a full team or a larger cohort.
How it is delivered. Virtual or on-site, a series of sessions or a single or multi-day workshop.
The coach's training. Ask what a coach is certified in, and by whom.
The coach's experience. Certifications show training, and experience shows judgment. Ask what the coach has led, built and come back from, both professionally and personally.
Those factors explain why one coach charges more than another. They do not tell you whether a coach is the right fit for you or your team. For that, you need to ask a few direct questions.
Four questions to ask any coach
Before you hire any coach, ours included, ask four questions:
What exactly is included between sessions?
How will we know it is working?
What happens if it is not a fit?
Can I see the price before the call?
If a coach cannot answer those clearly, keep looking.
What we charge at Fail4ward
Here is my answer to that last question. These are our prices for leaders and teams in Washington, DC and across the DMV. The same numbers are on our booking page.
Most of what we do runs on tru®, an assessment platform from BreakThrough Performance Systems. It shows a person's motivations, strengths and the kind of environment where they do their best work, so the coaching starts from facts instead of guesses. I am a tru® Certified Coach and ICF Member.
Executive and 1:1 coaching: from $250 per session. Each session runs 45 minutes, with a prep form before and a recap after. Adding the tru® assessment is $125 per seat.
Achievement DNA Mapping, 30-Day Trial: from $1,500. This is a paid starting point for one leader. They take the tru® assessment, with a coaching session before it and one after to work through what it shows.
60-Day Structured Trial: from $1,250 per participant. This is a paid pilot for a team of 5 to 20 people, priced per participant. It is not a free trial. The 30-Day Trial gathers the data. The 60-Day Trial puts that data to work, and real change takes time. When a team commits more time up front, I commit more of mine at a lower price per person. That is what partnership means to me, and partnering is how the ICF defines coaching. Everyone is assessed and coached, and we review the results together.
Team workshops: from $4,500 for a half day. Workshops run a half day, a full day or several days, for up to 25 people, virtual or on-site.
Career transition coaching: $350 per session, tru® included. Sessions are 30 minutes by video, with a 6-session minimum across 90 days. Access to the tru® platform is included for the full engagement, and clients who complete it keep access for another 90 days as a gift.
You will notice the word "from" on every price. The price moves with the details you can already see above: how many people, how many days, and whether the tru® assessment is part of it. We confirm the exact number on the first call, and it starts from the prices on this page.
How to tell if it is worth it
If you are hiring a coach for someone on your team, the real comparison is not coaching against nothing. It is coaching against the cost of waiting, and that cost often shows up as losing the person you are trying to develop.
As Gallup put it in 2019, "the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary." Pick one manager you would hate to lose, run that math, and set it next to the prices above.
If you are paying for yourself, the math is different. Put the price next to what another year of feeling stuck costs you: in energy, in the opportunities you pass on, and in how you show up for the people who count on you.
Why I put the prices up front
Coaching only works if you trust the person across from you, and that trust starts with straight answers. A price you can see before the call is the first one. I would rather you decide from this page that we are not the right fit than feel caught off guard on a call.
Just because the responsibility is on your shoulders does not mean the weight was meant to be carried alone.
If the numbers fit, the next step is a 30-minute call. Together, we will look at what you need and which option makes sense.
Everyone Fails. Winners Fail4ward.
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