You find yourself in this famous Steve Jobs quote, ”Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently…”

Your CEO title makes people put you on a pedestal. The pros are that you’ve become a magnet for attention. People look up to you on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. The cons are that people have created a gap between you and them in their minds—and you’re learning how to navigate through it.

You’re visionary and out-of-the-box. But when so many options are available, the paradox of choice can mean it’s hard to begin each new project and choose which direction to follow. You’re a high-performer. But even if it wouldn’t make sense to other people, the higher you fly, the more your imposter syndrome develops. You’re a people-centered leader. But one of your hardest challenges is receiving as much care as you give.

Years ago, you believed that money and some of your recent achievements would fulfill your void within. You have experienced the hard way that money can’t buy happiness. And like all prosperous people, you’ve understood that money is leverage for two types of opportunities. It allows you to allocate time to learn to be happy, and it enables you to access events, people, collaborations, partnerships, etc., that you couldn’t access before.

The CEOs I coach are in love with their business purpose. Some lead deep-tech companies: one is considered the “Tesla” of human mobility; another creates Web4 spatial commerce solutions. One CEO runs a high-tech company that makes access to space faster, cheaper, and more reliably; another runs a low-tech company that helps tourist destinations go paperless by creating interactive, updatable digital maps. One runs a global social impact organization that provides corporate volunteer experiences; another runs the #1 student job board in France.

From time to time, I also coach other unique high-performers. I’ve coached a mindset coach for athletes, a visual storyteller for luxury brands, the creative director of the “Apple” of space observation, a thought leader in the unschooling field, a former Miss Sweden, a former Mindvalley’s leader, and a startup founders advisor who privately cooked pasta for Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel’s daughter in his former Chef life. Oh, and I also got the mind of the founder of TEDx conferences working.

The invoice is for your company.

My clients pay the full amount before they begin coaching. I also accept payments in installments over the first two months of coaching if needed for accounting purposes.

Everyone has their own opinion.

CEO coaching is popular for top-performing companies (and even required at times).

Ultimately, your VCs or co-founders are investing in you. They want you to be the best you can be as a CEO and as a human being. Investing in yourself is perfectly aligned with their goals. 👍

I love this question! Here’s my unconventional answer:

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Did they learn how to coach CEOs? Do they have proper coaching and mindfulness skills?

Do they know how to lead a conversation about your vision to activate emotions such as awe, joy, or curiosity?

Do they know the effects of thoughts and emotions on your DNA? And how to control them to make performance leaps?

Have they spent years of their life understanding human beings’ potential to become an expert on it?

Do they know how the mind works? Do they know what challenges to give you to make it automatically focus on your goals?

Are they courageous enough not to please you, but to serve you, and make you grow no matter what?

Do they have the guts to tell you that you’re such full of shit when needed, without hurting your ego?

When they come to you, is it to listen to you? Or to tell you what they think, advise you, and try to guide you in a specific direction? Are they looking to serve your best interests without thinking about theirs?

Do they know how to slow you down to speed up your results? Do they have the habit of encouraging you to fail?

Do they know that despite all your achievements and beautiful life from outside, you still live with a deep shiny feeling of not enough and frustrating unfulfillment?

Do they know that you keep a secret that success comes more easily for you than the traditional belief? And that you often feel lazy?

Do they know that you don’t feel as free as everyone thinks you are?

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You see, coaching isn’t a superpower. It’s not a random or innate ability either. Coaching is a skill that takes time to master.

Working with an external coach allows you to openly share what’s on your mind (which can be hard to do with your co-founders or board) and benefit from real expertise.