There's a calculation that most never make. Not because they can't calculate — but because the result is uncomfortable.
The calculation is: What does every additional month cost me in which I continue as before?
Not hypothetical. Concrete. In euros. In hours. In quality of decisions. In what others expect from you daily — and what you demand of yourself daily.
Continued salary, replacement, knowledge loss, productivity loss
Corporate Analysis 2025
in a complete burnout — leader fully out of action
German Society for Psychiatry
is the average cost of replacing a leadership position
Kienbaum Study, 2024
globally — a historic low. The remaining 73% lead on reserves
Gallup 2025
The invisible costs — that no one writes down
The 96,000 euros are the visible costs of a burnout case. But they are not the actual costs of waiting.
The actual costs arise earlier. Quietly. Daily.
Every decision under chronic stress costs more cognitive resource — and is on average less precise. Across 10 decisions a day over 6 months, that adds up.
Leaders who do not lead themselves well unconsciously lead their team into the same exhaustion. Turnover rises. Engagement falls. Usually 6–12 months before someone resigns.
Whoever runs on reserves is in reactive mode. Strategic thinking, new opportunities, courageous decisions — none of that happens when the system is overheated.
Sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, immune system — the body keeps the books, even when the person doesn't. The bill comes — at the latest by 50.
What coaching costs — and what it gives back
Executive Coaching at GOTT WALD starts at €2,900 for a 4-week sprint program. That sounds like a lot — until you calculate it against the alternative.
a single burnout case — plus follow-on costs, turnover, knowledge loss, replacement
average ROI — in individual cases up to 529% (MetrixGlobal Fortune 500 study)
This is not advertising. This is study data from ICF, PwC and MetrixGlobal — the leading research institutes in the coaching field.
Why so many still wait
The answer is not ignorance. Most people know it.
It is a system problem. Leaders are trained to deliver. Not to receive. Strength in their world means: handle it alone. Coaching in their world means: showing weakness.
That is a lie that is paid for dearly.
The best leaders in the world — from Satya Nadella to Brené Brown — speak openly about their coaches, mentors and companions. Not because they are weak. But because they understand that clarity from outside sharpens one's own clarity.
of companies fully recoup their coaching investment
ICF Global Study
of clients show measurably better leadership effectiveness after coaching
ICF 2024
report increased self-awareness as the most important coaching effect
ICF/PwC
more frequent sustainable change with a holistic coaching approach
Harvard Business Review
The only question that counts
Not: "Can I afford coaching?"
But: "What does every additional month without it cost me?"
In decisions. In energy. In relationships. In health. In what you build — and what you lose in the process.
"Waiting is not a neutral decision. It is an active decision — with a price that most only see when it has already been paid."
The right time for coaching is not when the failure has happened. It is now — when there is still energy that can be invested. When the signals come, but before they become facts.
The calculation is simple. The decision is yours.
"The most expensive decision is often the one you don't make."
Sources: ICF Global Coaching Study 2024 · PwC Executive Coaching ROI Study · MetrixGlobal Fortune 500 Study · Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2025 · Kienbaum Executive Study 2024 · Harvard Business Review Coaching Effectiveness 2023 · Corporate Burnout Cost Analysis 2025 — April 2026
Author
Marcus Heller is a freelance business journalist with a focus on leadership, organizational psychology and entrepreneurship. He writes for the GOTT WALD Journal about the human side of leadership and the systems behind success and failure.