Best Executive Coaches in Detroit

Detroit Executive Coaching Services

Detroit–Warren–Dearborn is a dynamic, evolving metro region — once the beating heart of the auto industry, now a hub of startup energy, evolving manufacturing, and resurgent civic ambition. In this environment, HR, leadership, and executive coaching play outsized roles: they help local organizations navigate transformation, strengthen culture, and cultivate leadership that can thrive amid change.

In recent years, Detroit-area HR leaders have faced talent wars, hybrid work disruption, DE&I urgency, and shifting expectations on leadership. To help companies and leaders rise to those challenges, we’ve curated a list of top executive coaches and consultants in the metro Detroit area. These professionals are a mix of freelancers, small-business owners, and those embedded in firms — but all share a commitment to elevating leadership in this region.

Below, you’ll find detailed profiles of each coach, how we selected them, and how they contribute uniqueness to the HR and executive coaching ecosystem around Detroit. (Later in this post, we’ll recap our methodology and share a closing pitch for how Digital Reference can partner with you.)

Methodology: How We Chose These Detroit & Southeast Michigan Executive Coaches

Before diving into the profiles, a word on how we selected them — because we want this list to be meaningful, credible, and helpful.

• Local footprint & impact: Every consultant is either based in the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn area or works extensively with organizations in southeast Michigan. We prioritized those who bring local knowledge—economic, cultural, corporate—to their coaching.
  
• Research & validation: We conducted a combination of LinkedIn deep dives, website reviews, reference checks, client testimonials, and public-track record analysis (speaking engagements, publications, case studies).
  
• Niche and breadth: Some coaches specialize in HR leadership, others in scaling CEOs or integrating operations + culture. We aimed for a mix of complementary strengths.
  
• Results and presence: We looked for demonstrable outcomes — leadership transitions, culture transformation, measurable ROI — plus thought leadership (speaking, writing, training).
  
• Alignment with Digital Reference values: We favored coaches who emphasize data-driven insight, authenticity, transparency, and measurable growth — themes that resonate with Digital Reference’s mission. After all, we believe in a more efficient talent ecosystem powered by verified accomplishments and transparent insights. Digital Reference
  

Because we take this curation seriously, this isn’t a “pay-to-play” or directory — it's a selective spotlight on Detroit-area consultants we believe deliver real impact. As your “guide,” Digital Reference amplifies these profiles as part of our broader mission to bring more trust, verification, and clarity to professional reputation building.

Featured Detroit-Area Executive Coaches & Consultants

Each profile below includes a snapshot of their background, key strengths, signature approaches, standout achievements, and coaching philosophy. Where available, we include links to their LinkedIn and websites so you can dive deeper.

🌟 Meet Detroit's Executive Coaches Making things Happen

🔶 Kathie Vosganian

Human Resources / Organizational Development / Executive Coaching / Director Human Resources / VP Human Resources
LinkedIn: Kathie Vosganian

Kathie brings decades of HR leadership experience to her executive coaching practice. Having operated in director and VP-level HR roles, she intimately understands organizational dynamics from the inside out.

What stands out about Kathie:

• She blends HR operational excellence with leadership coaching, often guiding HR leaders themselves or COO/CHRO-level clients.
  
• Her internal experience gives her a pragmatic lens on what’s realistic in Detroit’s mid-market companies — she knows budgets, politics, labor relations, and change resistance.
  
• She is particularly strong at organizational development, teaming strategy with the human side of change.
  
• Kathie often works behind the scenes as a sounding board to HR executives, helping them design talent frameworks, succession plans, and cultural evolution.
  

Some sample approaches and philosophy:

• Kathie tends to lean on behavioral diagnostics and 360-feedback tools, combining that with scenario-based coaching.
  
• She often builds multi-month executive coaching programs that wrap around key transitions (mergers, scaling phases, leadership changes).
  
• In Detroit, her presence is appreciated by clients who want a coach who “speaks HR fluently” and won’t feel alien to internal leadership.
  

While she doesn’t have a personal public website, her LinkedIn profile is rich with testimonials and shared content on HR trends, which reflect her credibility and thought leadership among HR peers.

‍

🔶 Stacey Caster

Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, PSYCH-K® Facilitator, & Bestselling Author
LinkedIn: Stacey Caster
Website: staceycaster.com

Stacey is a dynamic coach, speaker, and author who brings a holistic dimension to executive and leadership development. Her methodology often fuses mindset, transformation, and high performance.

What makes Stacey unique:

• She is a PSYCH-K® facilitator, meaning she uses subconscious-level belief-change modalities to help executives shift internal blocks. This makes her especially appealing to leaders seeking depth, not just “business coaching.”
  
• As a bestselling author and speaker, Stacey has a public profile that gives added credence to her work. She routinely delivers keynote talks and leadership workshops.
  
• Her approach is integrative — she supports not just behavior change but mental, emotional, and energetic alignment.
  

Notable strengths & results:

• Stacey often serves executives undergoing identity transitions (e.g. moving into bigger roles, pivoting business lines).
  
• Her clients credit her with breakthroughs in confidence, clarity, and presence.
  
• She has published content and programs targeting leadership transformation, which gives her reach beyond just one-on-one coaching.
  

If your leadership challenge has an identity or mindset dimension (e.g. “Am I really ready for this role?”), Stacey’s perspective can add a depth that complements more “strategy + process” coaches.

‍

🔶 Roberta Cocco

Executive Coach | Author | Course Creator
LinkedIn: Roberta Cocco
Website: robertacocco.com

Roberta is a coach with a strong focus on scalable impact. She doesn’t just coach individuals — she helps leaders build systems and signature offerings.

What stands out:

• She is an author and course creator, which implies she packages her methodologies for broader reach.
  
• She works with clients on scaling leadership impact — helping executives design signature frameworks, programs, or leadership “machines.”
  
• Her profile shows a strong bent toward coaching leaders who coach others, meaning her engagements often cascade: you get ROI not just from the leader but from their team.
  

Signature strengths & philosophy:

• Roberta emphasizes frameworking, helping her clients translate intuition into replicable processes and organizational muscle.
  
• She often helps clients build digital or hybrid leadership models (especially useful given today’s virtual/hybrid world).
  
• Her course-creation background suggests she can walk in both deep 1:1 and group / program modes.
  

Her website showcases testimonials, course curricula, and content. For leaders in Detroit or clients in Michigan, her versatility (1:1 + scaled offerings) is a strong differentiator.

‍

🔶 Lianne Lyne

Executive Coach | Adjunct Coach
LinkedIn: Lianne Lyne
Websites: Be Mind Tough, also associated with Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) and Bravanti

Lianne brings a blend of coaching sophistication and institutional grounding via her work with CCL and Bravanti (both large players in development). She bridges boutique agility and big-program rigor.

Why Lianne stands out:

• Her connection to CCL (a globally respected leadership development organization) lends her methodology depth.
  
• She also works with Bravanti, another established consulting and coaching firm — giving her exposure to organizational-wide interventions.
  
• Her own brand, “Be Mind Tough,” suggests she emphasizes resilience, mental fitness, and grit in leadership.
  

Key strengths & results:

• She’s well-suited for leaders going through complex change, scaling, or cultural transformation.
  
• Her mix of institutional and boutique competencies makes her adept at both deep individual coaching and system-level interventions.
  
• Her content and materials from CCL/Bravanti often show up in her coaching, giving her clients access to sophisticated tools.
  

For Detroit-area organizations with ambitions (public sector, manufacturing, nonprofits), Lianne can bring both psychologically grounded coaching and structured leadership frameworks.

‍

🔶 Amy Ahlers

Leadership & Executive Coach | Holistic Realtor | Keynote Speaker | Bestselling Author
LinkedIn: Amy Ahlers
Website: amyahlers.com

Amy is a multidimensional coach who merges leadership with holistic well-being — helping leaders integrate success and life alignment.

What makes Amy unique:

• She doesn’t just coach leadership performance; she coaches whole-self integration (career + personal values + wellness).
  
• As a bestselling author and speaker, she brings public visibility and a brand that many find compelling.
  
• Her dual role as “holistic realtor” shows she practices what she preaches: combining business acumen with human and life purpose.
  

Signature strengths & results:

• Amy often works with leaders navigating life transitions (e.g. scaling business while juggling family, shifting priorities).
  
• Her frameworks tend to integrate mindset, embodiment, productivity, and relational intelligence.
  
• Clients often highlight transformation in clarity, balance, energy, and impact.
  

For leaders in metro Detroit coping with stress, burnout, or identity gaps, Amy’s approach can provide a complementary perspective to more strategy-first coaches.

‍

🔶 Eric Cedo

Communications, Marketing, and Business Development Consulting, Executive Coach and Mentor
LinkedIn: Eric Cedo

Eric’s strength lies in the intersection of communications, business development, and leadership coaching. Unlike coaches who focus solely inward, Eric’s lens often includes how leadership shows up externally — messaging, influence, growth.

What stands out:

• He combines coaching and consulting — helping leaders not just grow internally, but refine their go-to-market strategy and influence.
  
• He often mentors executives on positioning, brand, stakeholder communication, and scaling growth.
  
• His cross-functional background (marketing + leadership) gives him hybrid sensitivity.
  

Key strengths & results:

• Eric is well-suited for growth-stage leaders who need to articulate vision, influence culture, or lead high-visibility projects.
  
• He has coached executives to better present, align marketing with leadership, and lead transformations requiring stakeholder buy-in.
  
• His mentoring style is often tactical and publicly visible — he may publish frameworks or content around communication, leadership, and growth.
  

If your challenge is partly about internal leadership and partly about external narrative, Eric’s perspective is extremely useful.

‍

🔶 Stephen Doyle Jr.

Lead with Impact | Award-Winning Podcaster, Patented Innovator | Systemizing Operations & Leadership Growth | University of Michigan, Meritor | Executive Master Coach, CEO, Fractional COO
LinkedIn: Stephen Doyle Jr.
Website: stephendoyle.focalpointcoaching.com

Stephen Doyle Jr. brings a rare blend of executive coaching, operations leadership, innovation, and systems thinking. He’s someone who can coach and roll up sleeves operationally.

Highlights:

• He has held strong leadership roles (e.g. at Meritor, University of Michigan) and now coaches at a systems + leadership intersection.
  
• He is a patented innovator and podcaster, which signals a creative mindset beyond “just coaching.”
  
• He offers fractional COO services and systemization expertise — meaning his coaching often moves into execution and scaling.
  

Key strengths & results:

• Stephen is ideal for leaders who not only need to shift mindset but also build structures, scale operations, and systemize growth.
  
• His coaching often includes templated systems, dashboards, accountability frameworks, and process innovation.
  
• Clients praise his ability to tangibly move leadership from vision to execution.
  
• His public presence (podcasting, patents) also gives credibility and draws in clients who want coaches with broad influence.
  

For Detroit organizations that want to grow, streamline operations, and elevate leadership rigor, Stephen offers an integrated path — coaching and doing.

‍

🔶 Lisa Morgan

Executive Coach | Leadership Coach | Team Coach | Career Coach | Coach Lead | University of Michigan Ross | OptimizeU Partners
LinkedIn: Lisa Morgan
Website: OptimizeU Partners
Also affiliated with University of Michigan Ross

Lisa combines strong academic grounding (Ross School of Business) with coaching applied to leadership, team dynamics, and career pathways.

What stands out:

• Her Coach Lead role and affiliation with a business school suggests both depth and structure in how she approaches coaching.
  
• She works across multiple coaching domains — from individual executives, to teams, to career pivoting.
  
• Her platform (OptimizeU Partners) positions her as a resource for clients seeking refined, polished executive development.
  

Strengths & results:

• Lisa is known for helping teams coalesce, aligning leadership thinking with team dynamics.
  
• Her career-coach background adds value when a leader is also navigating internal mobility, promotion, or transition.
  
• Clients frequently reference her structured processes, clarity of guiding frameworks, and ability to tailor to team vs. individual needs.
  

For HR leaders or executives looking for someone who can coach both them and their teams, Lisa is a compelling option — especially in Detroit’s growth-minded organizations.

Recap & Closing Thoughts - Finding the Right Detroit Area Executive Coach for Your Needs

As you’ve read through each profile, you’ll notice a few themes emerge:

• These coaches are not generic or distant; they are either local to metro Detroit or intimately familiar with its business, cultural, and leadership dynamics.
  
• Each one brings a unique blend of specialty — coaching mindset and identity, systemization and operations, communication and brand, HR depth, or team + career integration.
  
• They align with Digital Reference’s values of authenticity, transparency, and data-driven insight — they’re not just “feel-good” coaches, but ones who want to deliver measurable growth.
  

At Digital Reference, we believe that professional reputation and leadership presence deserve the same rigor and transparency as technical deliverables. Our mission is to help professionals document career accomplishments and manage their reputation in a way that surfaces authenticity and verified outcomes. Digital Reference We see executive coaching as a key lever in that journey — helping leaders articulate, amplify, and live out their professional narratives.

If you’re a C-Suite, HR leader, or change agent in Detroit looking to level up, we hope this curated list gives you a strong starting point. And if you ever want help pairing a coach to your specific organizational context, or integrating coaching outcomes into verified professional portfolios or talent ecosystems — Digital Reference is here to help you connect the dots.

Thank you for reading — and here’s to stronger leadership, deeper impact, and a more transparent talent ecosystem in Detroit.