Based on a survey of executive coaches, following is a list of the eight most popular executive coaching niches trending right now:

1. Healthcare Executive Coaching, especially health systems. Nothing is more complicated than running a hospital system. Meanwhile, the complexity of running a healthcare organization goes up everyday due to new technologies, reimbursement schemes, government regulation, and shortages of qualified clinical staff. Meanwhile, many clinicians have not been trained in how to lead people and get along in organizations. Executive coaching is a powerful tool to help healthcare managers and clinicians improve productivity, communication, and development of future leaders.

2. Female managers and executives. We are seeing a booming market in coaching women. Many women executives are fed up with what they perceive to be unfair double standards in male-dominated corporations. Some want advice on coping and moving up. Others want coaching to find their true calling and/or start their own company.

3. Education Executive Coaching. Colleges, universities and K-12 schools are all struggling with budgets, how to thrive in an Internet-driven world, how to compete against for-profits, how to commercialize technology, and how to make sure that students are prepared for the job market. Executive coaches can help administrators and faculty set direction, improve collaboration, and create a more effective culture.

4. Executive Coaching in Government. Government at all levels are preparing for — and coping with — significant cuts, and yet also have money to invest in leadership development. They need help remaining relevant, delivering measurable results,and creating a culture of accountability.

5. Executive Coaching in the Technology industry. Many technology managers and leaders are brilliant at technology and less skilled at managing and leading people. Executive coaches can be instrumental in helping them think more broadly about their organizations, how to lead teams, how to manage conflict, and how to engage and mobilize employees.

6. Asia. The Asian market for coaching is starting to heat up. Many of our coaches are finding that executives and managers in Asia are beginning to embrace coaching as a development tool, just as their Western counterparts have done. Plus, the growth in these markets is creating budgets for coaching and coach training.

7. Executive Coaching for non-profits. There is a myth that non-profit organizations don’t have money for coaching. Foundations and donors continue to provide funds for building capacity. You can coach boards on being effective board members, and executive directors on engaging staff while avoiding burn out and being more effective leaders. Key topics include: fundraising, setting strategic direction, board development, retaining and developing front-line staff, and developing future leaders.

8. Emerging growth companies — and their investors. The leadership teams of growth companies are increasingly asking coaches to help them deal with the complexity of setting direction and growing their companies. At the same time, investors (venture capitalists, hedge fund managers) use coaches to help them build capacity in and accelerate the growth of their portfolio companies.

Our Certified Executive Coach Training Program gives you the tools you need to get into these executive coaching niches, including specialized support depending on your niche or niches of interest. For more information, see our executive coaching webinar.