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Executive Leaders

“Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar.”
— Orrin Woodward

Strategic Thought Partner

Taking time to step back to think with a professional thought partner can be the critical ‘unlock’ to greater opportunity. We help you move beyond blind spots and self-limiting patterns to increased perspective, possibility, and longer-term potential.

Each year we protect dedicated time to work with select leaders in a customized, confidential, one-on-one collaboration. Our VIP package provides a full range of access, from proactive deep-dive strategic work to “red phone” support. We utilize best-in-class methodologies, tools, and a variety of ‘lenses’ to challenge you to more fully become the leader you aspire to be.

Confident business woman looking and speaking through the webcam

Confidential Sounding Board

Our clients often comment on the value of our professional, objective, third-party perspective, and the richness of our depth and breadth of expertise. “Even when I feel ‘unprepared’ for a session, I leave with a renewed sense of clarity, confidence, and energy.” Our toolkit is rich with best-in-class resources (a few are listed below), but rather than one-size-fits-all, we tailor each program to you for a custom experience aligned with your authentic aspirational goals.

Purpose: The Desire to be and Lead “On Purpose”

Harvard Business Review Article

We understand the “achiever” drive to continue progressing and advancing through levels, titles, and expanded roles over time. However, when overly fixated on these goals, we can neglect to engage a passionate following, including the stakeholder relationships key to our continued advancement and growth. A key question to ask ourselves is, “Why would [peers, senior leaders, etc.] want to follow me?”

Our stakeholders are expecting us to be a “bigger leader.” Rather than simply “doing more,” it is “how we are being” that grows in importance as we advance. Continuing to deliver extraordinary results is a core requirement. What makes us unique is your ability to effectively deliver those results with and through others. We push you to think broader about your role, and your opportunity, as a leader.

Authenticity: Who We Are Is How We Lead

We are often trained to build “firewalls” separating who we are “at work” from who we are as a “human being.” However, Authentic Leadership is about the effective incorporation of who we are and how we lead. Studies show that “authentic leaders” are more effective at leading their organizations and teams to incomparable results.

We believe that authenticity is primarily an inside-out job that necessitates being clear about who we are, what we stand for, where we are going, and why that is meaningful to us. We can then lead more fluently and authentically with critical stakeholders throughout the organization.

There is a saying, “You can tell how tall a building will be by how deep they dig the foundation.” When we’re clear and deliberate about how and why we lead, our foundation is stronger, as is our sense of direction and the authenticity of our “leadership presence.” The more precise these become, the greater our capacity to lead, which becomes a virtuous cycle.

Leaders who benefit most from coaching tend to personify a “Growth Mindset” (Carol Dweck). This includes an inner passion and drive to challenge ourselves to learn, grow, and reach for our higher potential. We believe this is a journey, not a destination, for as we grow, so does our potential and capacity to do and be more over time.

Another benefit of our approach is building the capacity to periodically pause… notice, acknowledge, and build on progress. It may come as no surprise that most of the executives we work with are perpetually fixed on “the next milestone.” The added value of this “strategic pause” is to recognize what made our progress possible so we can strategically build on it. This can evolve into customized tenets, or a “playbook” for increasing momentum and traction toward the next breakthrough. It also reminds us to acknowledge the diverse “Stakeholders” (our teams, peers, key partners, family) who contribute to making our journey possible, and so we remember to continue to bring them with us toward the next strategic milestone.

We also leverage insights from “The surprising truth about what motivates us” (Daniel Pink). His research uncovered that our three primary motivators are a sense of Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Our aim is to engage all three throughout our collaboration, as we believe these are also at the heart of an effective coaching relationship.