Coach for IT managers

An external mentor for people who lead engineering teams. Sessions in English, Czech or Slovak, online or in Prague.

A coach for IT managers is an external specialist you hire when you lead an engineering team and need to think a decision through with someone outside your own company. They work 1:1 with you, not with your team.

I am Marian Kamenistak, an engineering leadership mentor based in Prague. Since 2019 I have run 3,400+ sessions with 300+ leaders across 17 countries, from team leads to CTOs. Before that I scaled engineering at Mews through Series C and led engineering at Manta, acquired by IBM.

Coach for IT managers, or manager as coach? Two different things.

Search for "IT manager coach" and you get two answers mixed together. Here is the difference.

What it isWho it is forWhat it doesWho offers it
Manager as coachA course or training for youLearn a coaching leadership style and use it on your own teamTraining companies and business schools
Coach for a managerAn external person you hire for yourselfThink through your own decisions with someone outside the companyIndependent mentors and coaches. This is what I do.

If you want to learn a coaching leadership style, take a course. It is a useful thing and I do not offer it. If you are looking for someone for yourself, read on.

When to hire a coach for an IT manager

Most people get in touch when they are holding a decision they cannot discuss inside the company. Your boss has a stake, your team has a stake, and a friend at another company does not know your context. Typical situations:

Data on what people bring most often is in the mentoring statistics.

IT manager coach, mentor, advisor: what you are buying

The three words get used interchangeably and the difference is practical, not academic. A coach helps you reach your own answer through questions and stays out of the content. A mentor has done the job and will tell you what they did and what went wrong. Most people searching for an IT manager coach want the second one: someone who knows the chair.

I work mentoring-first: you get concrete recommendations and the pattern from 3,400+ sessions. I switch into coaching mode when the question is about you rather than the situation. Full comparison on mentor vs coach.

How much a coach for IT managers costs

EUR 430 per 60-minute session pay-as-you-go, or EUR 2,580 for a first quarter of six sessions. Your company pays the same rate; 78% of mentees go through their employer and an L&D budget usually covers it. The intro session is free. Prices exclude VAT.

The rate card is public so you can compare before getting in touch. Model breakdown on the coach cost page.

Frequently asked questions

Who should I hire as a coach for an IT manager?+
Look for someone who has done the job, not someone who holds a certificate in asking questions. Concretely: they ran an engineering organisation of comparable size, they understand technical decisions well enough that you do not have to translate, and they will tell you plainly when you are wrong. A published price list is a good sign. I have run 1:1 sessions with IT managers since 2019 — rates are on the pricing page.
I am looking for a coach for an IT manager. Where do I start?+
With a free intro session. 30 minutes: you describe what is happening, and you leave with a concrete plan even if you then go to someone else. You find out about fit before spending anything. Book it here.
What is the difference between an IT manager coach and a management course?+
A course is general and built for a group. It works through model situations and hands you materials. A coach for IT managers works 1:1 on your specific situation: your team, your boss, your missed quarter. The course is cheaper per head; mentoring is faster on your actual problem. Full comparison on mentor vs coach.
How much does a coach for an IT manager cost?+
EUR 430 per 60-minute session, or EUR 2,580 for a first quarter of six sessions. Your company pays the same rate. The intro session is free. Prices exclude VAT and are public, so you can compare before you get in touch. Details on the pricing page.
Do you coach developers and team leads, or only managers?+
From Staff Engineers to CTOs. Most of the work is with people who lead people or direction: team leads, engineering managers, directors, VPs of Engineering, CTOs. Senior engineers on the individual contributor track too, where the topic is usually influence without formal authority. Roles and topics are on the engineering manager page.
Which languages do you work in?+
English, Czech and Slovak. Czech and Slovak are my native languages; most sessions run in English because that matches the working environment. I switch to whatever suits you, and mixing languages mid-session is normal.

Where to start

The intro session is free: 30 minutes, your situation, a concrete plan. Leading a team for the first time? Start on the engineering manager page. Running the whole engineering org? Go to the CTO page. Companies who want a mentor for the whole leadership team will find the model on the mentor in residence page.