Charles' Journey
Three Passions
In my experience, becoming a great leader is a journey and few people are natural leaders at birth. It is journey of self-discovery and almost anyone can become a great leader with the right purpose, passion and the ability to get others to follow your vision. Just over five years ago, I recognized the importance of developing great leaders and decided to work with individuals to help them develop their leadership skills as a coach, consultant and teacher.
As I was reflected on my own leadership journey, I realized that coaching was the third professional passion I had followed. My journey started with my first passion – cellular pathology, I still remember looking down a microscope for the first time and viewing the wonders of the world of cells and organ systems. The different cell types fascinated me, as they came together in an organ to perform the tasks needed for human life. Each cell has specific functions that make up the form and function of the organ within the body’s systems. I was hooked; I had found the career that interested me the most - a passion for which I had been searching.
During my corporate career, I realized that organizations are human systems that have many separate functions that need to work together as a single system. I knew about cells and how they function within organs and systems and how they create energy and communicate to transform body functions. I also knew how things could go wrong if cells don’t work together and cause pathology. I knew less about organizational dynamics. I had found my second passion. My studies gave me a different way of thinking about these problems and gave me new perspectives on the solutions. I started to get involved in organizational design and process optimization and was particularly interested in how to optimize the interfaces between functional silos. I was also interested in how to create and maximize organizational energy to change and transform organizations. I learned that it is easier to destroy an organization than to build one.
My first two passions – cellular pathology and organizational dynamics involved studying elements (cells or people) that work together to form functional or dysfunctional systems. Both rely on these elements to behave in a way that maximizes the effectiveness of the system. During my corporate life, I had been fortunate to work with some great leaders, but also with leaders who had significant development needs. I came to the realization that the system was only as good as the leadership behaviors of individuals in the system. I had recognized my third passion –helping leaders become more effective by changing their behavior resulting in the maximum impact on the system as a whole. Coaching leaders became my third passion. Though serving as a coach informally throughout my corporate career, my career transitioned to becoming an executive coach based on my passion for changing organizations and helping leaders to maximize their productivity and success, development leadership capabilities, and successfully manage change and uncertainty. I witnessed, first-hand, the value of coaches to change leader’s behaviors and impact performance.
Who we work with
Our work focuses on people who are competent in their field. but want to have an impact through their work. They and realize that they cannot be successful by themselves and need to motivate and engage others to achieve their strategic goals. They lead organizations, teams and collaborations including outside groups. They may starting out in their careers as aspiring leaders, growing in their current role or transitioning into a new role with new challenges.
They want to influence others through collaboration rather than be in a position of authority. They want to engage rather than tell others what to do. But, they are struggling to create energy with their collaborators and staff and deliver the impact they want to have.
They want to be recognized by their organization and peers as being successful and delivering results. This success may not a fancy title or financial recognition. They are recognized with products and services that make a difference to society. They do not strive just to be liked.
They want to define their purpose and strategic goals and engage and motivate their followers to deliver on those goals. They want to build energy and momentum with their groups so that success can be sustainable.
Professionally struggling to identify how to get started on their leadership journey or they are stuck on the road without a roadmap to get them to their destination. They may be stuck on where to start. They are overwhelmed with the number of books, articles, training programs or coaches and want some guidance of the best way to use their limited time. They want some practical help that will have an impact.
A question they really want to answer is how do I build real leadership skills that will help me deliver on my strategic goals and have an impact? How do I create energy in those around me so they are as excited about my goals as I am?
The client may be feeling fear and uncertainty as they have an expectation of taking on additional leadership responsibility. They may be overwhelmed and uncertain about their path forward and may have a feeling of being out of control. They are technically competent and this has taken them so far but now face the challenge of being a great leader to take them to the next level. They may feel powerless, even depressed and suffer from imposter syndrome. They may have a fixed mindset and be risk adverse. Finally, they may be feeling defensive or angry.
Does one of these scenarios describe your situation?
Learn More
If you have an interest in rewiring your leadership capabilities so that you can be an energizing, impactful leader who delivers desired outcomes, contact us to discuss how we can help