Executive and Leadership Coaching

Students learn the arts of negotiation, problem solving, mediation, arbitration, systems design, and many other applications of dispute resolution.

How can one enter the growing field of executive and leadership coaching?

Executive and leadership coaching is one of the fastest-growing fields of management consulting in America. SMU's 9-hour concentration in Executive and Leadership Coaching can be taken as a stand-alone set of courses that provides students with a comprehensive, classroom-based, learning experience that gradually builds on skills and knowledge throughout the course sequence. The coursework provides students with the theoretical grounding and applied practice needed to enter the field of executive coaching as a consultant or internal practitioner.

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Distinctive Features

  • Three graduate courses for completion, additional electives available

  • Apply courses towards International Coaching Federation (ICF) Certification

  • Two required Executive and Leadership Coaching courses: Essentials, Theory and Practice

  • Third course: Choose from multiple electives and apply coaching in a variety of contexts: performance, conflict, and education and non-profit sectors

  • All courses are conducted on weekends or weeknight evenings to support participation by working professionals and out-of-state students

  • Instruction in person, hands-on practical application, build connections with fellow students and faculty

  • Workshops and networking events with students, faculty, and alumni

  • Each course earns 3 credit hours - may be applied immediately to the Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution, Graduate Certificate of Dispute Resolution, Master of Liberal Studies, Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study*, or Doctor of Liberal Studies* upon admission. May apply as a visiting graduate student (click here for instructions how to apply for the coaching courses separate from the graduate degrees and certificates) and apply these courses towards one of the above-listed degrees or graduate certificates at a later date.

  • Limited number of tuition grants available

* requires master's degree

Course Prefixes and Numbers Effective Fall 2026 (Course Prefixes and Numbers Through Summer 2026)

Mandatory Courses - Both Courses

  • HCIS 6390 (HDDR 6390) - Executive and Leadership Coaching: Essentials

  • HCIS 6391 (HDDR 6391) - Executive and Leadership Coaching: Theory and Practice

Elective Course Options - One Course Required, May Take Additional Electives

  • HCIS 6392 (HDDR 6392) - Executive and Leadership Coaching: Performance

  • HCIS 6393 (BHSC 7341) - Coaching for Educational and Organizational Leaders

  • HCIS 6394 (BHSC 7368) - Educational Coaching: Ensuring Success for All Leaders

  • HCIS 6395 (BHSC 7369) - Potential and Performance: Coaching for Individual and Organizational Effectiveness

  • HCIS 6396 (HDDR 6327) - Conflict Coaching

Practicum Option (Additional Elective Option After Three Required Courses)

  • HCIS 6300 (BHSC 6300) - Directed Study: From Concept to Practice - Becoming an ICF Coach

May, Summer, and Fall 2026 Course Schedules

Upcoming events