I offer both Consulting and Coaching services to meet the varied needs of my clients. The two disciplines share some similarities but they are not synonymous. Each serves its own purpose and utilizes different techniques.
Vision without traction is merely hallucination.
Gino Wickman, Traction
People join companies. They leave managers.
Verne Harnish, Scaling Up
There comes a time in every company’s life cycle where organizational change is required to enable further growth. The start-up approach is appropriate for businesses that are starting out, hence the name. But once they reach a certain size, they need to operate differently and typically this requires a different type of strategy and talent.
It’s time to focus on all the boring things like consistent operating procedures and org charts. Information and communication become the veins and arteries of the business. There’s employees to keep performing, customers to keep satisfied and banks to keep calm.
There’s a lot to take on and probably not what you signed up for. Therein lies the rub. Once a company reaches that inflexion point it’s no longer just about providing a great product or service. There’s now an uncoordinated and disorganized adolescent organization to take care of as well.
The inconvenient truth is that adolescent is not going to raise itself without your leadership. If you’re a parent, you likely already know that.
The good news is there is a way through No-Man’s land. My consulting practice specializes in helping clients navigate this tricky territory and time of transition.
I’ve helped companies from a vast array of different industries from technology to financial services and media to mining.
My expertise is in the organization not it’s industry. At a skeletal level the organizations aren’t that different. They all have human beings working in them, they all serve customers, they all need to be strategic and efficient. Preferably with a healthy culture and noteworthy brand. And they all get blindsided by their greatest weaknesses.
My focus is on building an organization that works and keeps working while the business grows. I start where my clients are. If their biggest hurdles are financial, we start there. If they are in operations, we start there. All the parts of the organization need to be working in unison to drive the strategy and enable the business to accommodate growth.
I develop a custom quote for all my clients based on their needs and budget. I typically work on a monthly retainer with a clear focus on deliverables and results. For a limited number of clients I consider equity as part-payment.
I typically work with business owners, CEOs and senior functional leaders. I have no industry bias but my clients tend to be beyond the startup phase and ready to focus on the next stage of growth. They have some traction and sufficient funding/revenue to invest in this work. Most importantly they are ready to start working ON their business rather than just in it.
Yes, I’m a swiss army knife. But I know the limits of my expertise and I have a wide network of associates I can bring into projects should specialty knowledge or additional resources be required.
The focus and breadth of my work lends itself to engagements that typically last 6 months or more. However, I also work on smaller projects or act as strategic advisor. I do not sell packages that my clients must fit their needs into. My priority is to meet your agenda, not mine.
I make magic happen! And when I’m not doing that I’m likely to be doing planning; research, synthesis and analysis of data; managing projects and building actionable roadmaps for change. I don’t develop fancy PowerPoint presentations and run, if that’s what you’re worried about.
Executive coaching has boomed in the past few years, for good reason: it works. It leads to change and gets breakthrough results. Coaching is no longer seen as a remedial intervention for someone who’s underperforming. It has become a preferred medium for individual development for many leaders of organizations.
Running a business is no joke. Leading a team of people with diverse points of view and strong personalities. Running yourself ragged just to keep up, let alone think ahead. Finding the words to explain to your investors why you had a disappointing quarter. All of this can be overwhelming and very stressful.
Especially if you try to muscle through it alone. Or if you share your woes with your family members who are already resentful about the amount of focus you put on the business. Executive coaching is a way to provide leaders with the personalized support and strategies they need to get unstuck, challenge their thinking and see new possibilities.
The question to ask yourself is do you want coaching, not do you need it? It is an investment in your personal growth and satisfaction at work and in life. Not another burden to add to your already overloaded schedule.
Only when you want what coaching can provide, will you benefit from it. People tend to be more committed to goals they want to accomplish and more prepared to stay the course when things get uncomfortable.
As a coach, my role is to challenge you and to encourage you to explore those uncomfortable areas. This is where breakthroughs happen. When you can achieve mastery over the uncomfortable areas, their influence over you diminishes. One less thing to hold you back.
My focus is on you as a whole person, not a title in a company. While my focus is predominantly on leadership, we touch on many areas of your life that shape who you are at work. You are the centerpiece of this work not the company but if you benefit from it, so will the business.
Warning! Once the journey begins, the destination may be at the end of a different path than the one you set off on. Such is the nature of coaching.
I offer 3 and 6 month programs. Anything less than 3 months is insufficient time to derive the benefits of coaching. I offer a free 20 minute discovery session to provide you with an experience of coaching with me. At the end of this session we discuss price.
I am a certified coach through the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC), an ICF accredited coach training program. I also hold a certification in Energy Leadership as a Master Practitioner. I have conducted hundreds of hours of coaching with a diverse range of clients.
I typically coach entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders in companies. However, the most common denominator is attitude: I coach people who want to be coached because they want more. They’re hungry.
No. But I focus on the whole person which includes their life outside of work. My orientation leans in the direction of leadership and business.
Whatever comes up that is either an issue for my client or a personal growth opportunity. Common topics I work with include relationships, performance, influence and finding balance.
That entirely depends on what you want to accomplish and how badly you want it. I try to avoid preconceived notions of what support you need. I seek to create a program that makes change happen fast. I’m impatient for you to start living out of a place that lights you up. And so should you be.
From Ready - FIRE! - Aim
To Think - PLAN - Act