Executive Career Coaching in Chicago, Illinois
Strategy, support and coaching customized to your landscape and stakeholders
Close Cohen Career Consulting is a nationally recognized executive career coaching firm with a dedicated coaching presence serving senior professionals across the Chicago metropolitan area. The firm coaches directors, VPs, and C-suite executives across Chicago’s financial services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services sectors.
Close Cohen has been recognized as Best Executive Career Coach four consecutive years and has coached senior professionals from companies including Morningstar, United Airlines, Hyatt, Kraft Heinz, Discover Financial, and Groupon. The Chicago coaching team delivers executive career advancement coaching, job search strategy, and executive interview preparation for senior leaders navigating promotion, transition, or their next major move.
78+
Five-star reviews
2.5k+
Executives coached
Compensation increases from five-figure to six-figure gains — within the engagement window.
Close Cohen Career Coaching Paths
Executive Career Coaching
Coaching focuses on team leadership, advancing to VP or C-suite, scaling leadership impact, earning promotions, building executive presence, expanding organizational influence, and navigating high-stakes career transitions.
Job Search Career Coaching
Job search coaching for senior executives. Close Cohen delivers strategy, ghostwritten materials, mock interviews, and salary negotiation support to help employed professionals land their next role.
Executive Interview Coaching
A proprietary three-stage mock interview process that includes role-specific interview modeling, behavioral story development, video-recorded mock interviews, written performance analysis, blindspot resolution, and compensation negotiation preparation. Designed to convert a scheduled interview into an offer.
Best Executive Career Coach -
4 years running
Best Executive Career Coach
2022
Best Executive Career Coach
2023
Best Executive Career Coach
2024
Best Executive Career Coach
2025
Fast‑track your Career, Without the Tuition
Alumni of the world’s leading MBA programs, and countless non‑MBA professionals, leverage Close Cohen playbooks to win every round.
Meet Kyle Cleary,
Your Chicago Executive Career Guide
Based in Chicago, Kyle partners with senior executives and rising leaders to sharpen their positioning and land top roles. From the Loop to the Magnificent Mile, you’ll work with a coach who’s led multi-million-dollar accounts at global agencies like Publicis Groupe and Omnicom — and knows exactly how Fortune 500 organizations evaluate talent. A former D1 athlete and Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, Kyle brings a performance-driven approach to help you stand out in Chicago’s competitive executive market.
Chicago Top Rated Coaching
Brett took the time to do a true deep dive into not only my skills and experience, but also what I wanted from the next chapter of my career. Together, we developed a focused, strategic campaign that began generating results almost immediately. The work we did on refining my elevator pitch and engaging in rigorous mock interviews was transformative — it sharpened my message and positioned me clearly and confidently as a leader.
The clarity, structure, and confidence I gained through this process opened the door to the opportunities I was seeking. I would strongly recommend Brett and the team at Close Cohen to anyone looking to make a thoughtful, strategic transition and elevate their next career move.
Brett goes beyond surface-level edits, focusing on clarity, positioning, and making sure your message reflects who you are and where you are going. His guidance was practical, direct, and confidence-building.
I also really appreciated the time spent on digging into what I wanted and needed from the new role both professionally and personally. I also valued Brett’s recommendations on how to work on further development in areas I identified as opportunities.
Overall a great experience and highly recommended!
How Executive Coaching Works
Close Cohen amplifies your impact by empowering you with candid leadership insights, new strategy and breakthrough outcomes.
Define your goals
We want to know your career ambitions. With your coach, you’ll collaborate to define your goals and identify immediate wins.
Identify your strengths & blind spots
Our strategy leads with where you excel, but we don’t shy away from your weak points either. You’ll work with your coach to identify both early, so you have a clear roadmap to achieve your goals.
Do the right work
Working backwards from your goals, you’ll receive custom field assignments that are embedded in both your work and personal lives. Maximize your time by focusing on steps that will have the impact you desire.
Claim your influence
At the executive level more than ever, success comes down to influence and executive presence. Whether you’re presenting to the board, setting organizational vision, or building global teams, your coach will work with you to amplify your influence.
Reflect & synthesize
You’ll receive regular, supportive thought partnership to help you master your learnings and get the results you’re after with a seasoned executive coach.
Book a call to learn about our Executive and Leadership Development Coaching package which includes in person digital coaching sessions, scripting, stakeholder mapping, thought partnership, supportive environment and so much more.
Proudly Serving Chicago
Have questions?
What is executive career coaching?
Executive career coaching is a structured, one-on-one engagement where a senior-level coach works with you to clarify your goals, strengthen your leadership presence, and build a concrete strategy for your next career milestone. At Close Cohen, coaching is not therapy or generic advice — it is a goal-driven project with defined milestones, field assignments, and measurable outcomes. Each engagement follows our proprietary five-phase framework: intake and blindspot assessment, strategic project plan, field assignments, executive presence development, and synthesis.
How much does executive career coaching cost?
Close Cohen offers a complimentary 20-minute intake consultation to understand your goals and recommend the right program. Pricing is discussed during that call based on the scope and duration of your engagement. We offer custom coaching packages tailored to each client’s specific career objectives.
How long does executive career coaching take?
Most clients engage with Close Cohen for three to six months, depending on the scope of their project. Common project areas include promotion campaigns, job transitions, executive presence development, and team leadership coaching. Some clients return at multiple career inflection points over many years.
Is Close Cohen the right fit for me?
Close Cohen works with Directors, VPs, Senior Managers, and C-suite leaders with at least five to seven years of career experience. You are likely a fit if you have been passed over for a promotion, are preparing for a senior-level job search, have recently stepped into a new leadership role, or feel stuck despite strong performance. If you are early in your career or not yet managing others, Close Cohen is likely not the right fit.
Do you work with clients in Chicago remotely or in person?
Close Cohen has a dedicated coaching presence in Chicago led by Kyle Cleary, an executive coach based in the Chicago area. All coaching sessions are conducted via video, making it easy to work with your coach from anywhere in the Chicago metro. Our Chicago-based clients receive the same structured, high-touch coaching experience as every Close Cohen client nationwide.
What industries do you coach in Chicago?
Close Cohen coaches directors, VPs, and C-suite executives across Chicago’s financial services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services sectors. The firm has coached senior professionals from companies including Morningstar, United Airlines, Hyatt, Kraft Heinz, Discover Financial, and Groupon. You can learn more about the industries represented in our client portfolio on our results page.
Still have questions? Send us a note
Get all your questions answered in your complimentary 15-minute consultation.