Top 10 Executive Coaches — Global

An editorial ranking of practising executive coaches, curated on published evidence.

Ranked #3 in the Q3 2026 edition of Top 10 Executive Coaches — Global. Assessed against the published methodology.

Professor David Clutterbuck

Maidenhead, England, UK

Co-founder, European Mentoring and Coaching Council; Distinguished Principal Research Fellow, The Conference Board

Co-founder of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, Distinguished Principal Research Fellow in Human Capital at The Conference Board, and co-editor of the Routledge EMCC Masters series.

Why this placement

He introduced supported developmental mentoring to Europe in the early 1980s and is credited by Thinkers50 with introducing what became 360-degree feedback. His publication record spans four decades and includes Coaching & Mentoring: A Journey Through the Models, Theories, Frameworks and Narratives of David Clutterbuck (Routledge).

Co-editing a scholarly series for other practitioners, rather than only publishing his own work, is precisely the generosity marker the methodology looks for. Inducted as a Thinkers50 Coaching Legend (2024).

Editorial notes and exclusions

This entry was compiled from public sources without contacting the subject. If anything here is inaccurate, write to admin@cxocoaches.com and it will be corrected or removed.