How do leadership coaches find a niche?

By level and situation rather than by industry, because leadership challenges repeat across sectors while levels do not.

The transition from individual contributor to manager produces the same problems in a software company and a manufacturer. The transition from manager to director produces different ones. Level is the meaningful variable.

Niches that work in this market:

• First-time managers, often bought as cohorts by organizations, which makes it a strong institutional offer.
• Technical experts moving into leadership. A large, well-defined and frequently painful transition, particularly in engineering and professional services.
• Senior leaders new in role, where the first ninety days determine a great deal.
• Executives preparing for succession or board readiness.
• Leaders navigating a restructure, which is when organizational budget most often appears.

Sector specialism can layer on top and helps with procurement in regulated industries, but it is secondary to level.

Pick the level you have operated at or near. Credibility with a coachee depends heavily on whether you evidently understand the pressures of their seat.