Resources for Executives and Leaders

ROI: Did you know that professional coaching provides a huge ROI? Return on Investment is typically 6X the cost of coaching. Benefits most often cited include…

• improved communications and stronger relationships with individuals and teams;
• more effective critical thinking;
• enhanced confidence;
• more clarity about ideas and ability to present them to others;
• higher level of productivity;
• reduced stress;
• healthier work-life balance.

All coaching begins with the core question: What do you want?

That “want” may come from needs for growth in your evolving place in an ever-changing world; from a need for improved outcomes; from a search for opportunities for expanded success and fulfillment; from your own desires or from the requirements of others; from transitions in life and work; from a wish for more effective relationships; or from a need for clarity, direction and purpose.

Typical Coaching Goals & Topics: Laura has assisted leaders with a wide variety of professional and personal challenges and opportunities, including…

• cultivating executive presence;
• developing strategic impact and legacy;
• changing ineffective habits;
• making difficult choices;
• boosting productivity;
• holding commitment to personal best;
• conflict coaching and relationship coaching;
• developing a feedback culture;
• understanding puzzling dynamics;
• adopting a leader-as-coach approach;
• expanding agility;
• ending aggressive behaviors that damage and disrupt;
• team coaching;
• aligning with personal &/or organizational mission and purpose;
• enhancing self-responsibility and accountability;
• finding greater fulfillment;
• and more.

What coaching breakthrough opportunities would make the biggest difference for you?

Coaching Style & Approach: Laura is a possibility-oriented coach. Her coaching style is highly intuitive in quickly picking up patterns and zooming in on core issues; adept at pinpointing and clearing roadblocks; direct and caring in providing impactful feedback; and expansive in helping clients find fresh perspectives. She frequently uses humor to defuse client self-doubt and bring valuable perspective. Drawing on domains such as psychology, neuroscience, and change theory, she works with clients at two levels: both tactical-strategic and transformational-developmental. She works in a collaborative coach-client partnership that moves toward achievement of the client’s specific goals using a strengths-based approach that unleashes the client’s own wisdom, while amplifying personal and professional capacity and developing intentional inside-out leadership. As a result, clients are typically delighted to not only get great traction on their goals, but also to take ownership of their lives at a deeper level, and to learn much more about what they really want in life, and the gifts and resources they have to make it happen.

Click here to receive more information and explore coaching with Laura.

“Having the privilege of receiving executive coaching from Laura was truly life altering for me. Although I have participated in professional coaching in the past, none could compare to the quality, genuineness, and effectiveness of the coaching that took place with Laura. I found Laura to always be very intuitive and in-tune with where I was in that moment and what I was needing. Laura challenged me in a gentle, professional way and pushed me outside of my comfort zone without pushing me too far. The impact of the coaching with Laura was tangible as I participated in a pre-360 survey with my team and a post 360-survey. The areas that Laura focused on with me all saw marked improvement on the post-360 results. I very much enjoyed our time together and hope to work with her again soon. She truly changed my life both professionally and personally and for that I will always be grateful to her.” – Courtney Kleinebreil, Vice President & Consultant

“After interviewing a number of coaches locally, our board leadership and I chose Laura to work with me in my role as Senior Rabbi at Temple Solel. We couldn’t have made a better choice! Laura has been an invaluable partner in helping me in my management skills, and understanding my own strengths and growth areas. Laura continues to serve as a coach and trusted advisor, to me and our leadership. I am a better rabbi because of Laura!” – John Linder, Senior Rabbi, Temple Solel

Today’s leaders and managers are aware that they are expected to coach their teams, but most are under-equipped to coach effectively. In a recent ICF global survey, leaders/managers responding to the survey cited untrained individuals as the number one obstacle to the use of coaching in the workplace.

Due to that lack of training and full understanding of the role, coaching may be

• ignored;
• done sporadically and/or in a cursory way;
• or worst, executed so poorly that it can actually do more harm than good.

As a result, the opportunity for individuals, teams and organizations to achieve maximum results is undermined – and valuable resources are lost.

Do leaders and managers need training on how to coach employees? – “YES!” said 93% of respondents to the 2017 SHRM/Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey.

Lack of effective coaching negatively impacts employees in a multitude of areas, including…

• diminished quality of supervisor-direct report relationships
• failing to develop and leverage employee strengths
• lack of clarity about priorities and mission
• underperforming individuals and teams
• inadequate and/or disheartening performance reviews
• lackluster employee engagement, and negativity
• poor retention
• disappointing training results

A leader who has developed strong coaching skills has the tools to turn all those negatives around.

Really effective coaching-leaders make a huge positive impact! Since leadership ultimately comes down to achieving results through others, putting coaching skills in the hands of leaders will help their team to consistently be and do their best, and that will flow directly to the bottom line.

In this Leader as Coach program you will learn…

• How to develop a Coaching Mindset, the most crucial element in coaching success
• A framework for understanding how coaching works
• How to establish a strong coaching agreement, and build trust
• Structure for an effective coaching conversation
• Core coaching skills of deep listening, powerful questions, encouragement, direct feedback
• Planning, goal setting, and supporting learning
• Designing effective actions
• Cultivating robust self-responsibility and accountability
• Establishing a consistent coaching cycle over time

Who will benefit from this program?

• Executives and high level leaders in any organization
• Managers at any level
• Aspiring leaders who want to build their leadership toolkit
• Educators in any learning environment or level who want to support more deeply grounded learning
• Consultants who want to attain better results through better conversations and better relationships.

What results would you expect to see if you could coach with great effectiveness?

“This will help me BIG TIME!” – D.Z., Production Team Lead

“Gained a clearer understanding of the value of coaching in organizations, and seeing how the models/tools, etc. can truly impact the way managers engage with their teams. Great program that can really change the way managers manage people.” – Jeff Becker, Leadership Consultant

“I found it extremely helpful in doing my job, and also in communicating better in all areas of my life.” – P.P., Call Center Manager

Virtual Program Format: Six 90-minute Zoom sessions over a 3-month period. This is a flipped-learning format: There will be pre-work (reading and exercises) prior to each group meeting, so we can spend our time together discussing the information, and helping you think through how you will put it to work yourself. Includes a private Facebook group for additional community and support around the learning and application.

Click here to receive full current information about the “Leader as Coach” program.

“All life thrives on feedback and dies without it. We have to know what is going on around us, how our actions impact others, how the environment is changing, how we’re changing. If we don’t have access to this kind of information, we can’t adapt or grow. Without feedback, we shrivel into routines and develop hard shells that keep newness out. We don’t survive for long.” – Margaret Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time

That quote from Meg Wheatley reached out and grabbed me when I first read it a decade ago – it was a gut-punch call to action for opening myself up wider than ever to feedback of all kinds, and for supporting clients in the same.

The Feedback Paradox: Feedback is one of our most essential tools for continuous learning and growth in service of expanding effectiveness as human beings, professionals and for organizations. Yet most people have a very uncomfortable relationship with both giving and receiving feedback.

Barriers to giving feedback may include…

• Concerns and/or judgments about how the feedback may be taken by the receiver.
• Avoidance of providing feedback out of concern that it might disrupt a relationship.
• Personal preference for avoiding potential conflict.
• Uncertainty about how to express it effectively and respectfully.
• Lack of a well-defined, comfortable process.
• Absence of a robust structure for consistent, recurring feedback.
• Past history of uncomfortable feedback experiences.

Barriers to receiving or seeking feedback may include…

• Fear of feedback that might undermine self-perception.
• Worry about being perceived with diminished respect.
• Concerns about being embarrassed in the feedback situation.
• Anxiety about job security, advancement, etc.
• Resentment about being evaluated.
• Preference for the comfort of status quo, rather than taking in feedback that might signal a need for undertaking the effort and discomfort of change.
• Past history of uncomfortable feedback experiences.

The “MAGNETIZING FEEDBACK” program includes a framework that creates a powerful paradigm shift for thinking about feedback, to make giving and receiving feedback not only more comfortable for you and others, but also more welcomed. It provides a 7-Step Process for Optimizing the Feedback Experience.

What if you / your team / your clients / your organization really learned to thrive on feedback? – Where might that take you?

Virtual Format: Six 90-minute Zoom sessions over a 3-month period. This is a flipped-learning structure – there will be pre-work (reading and exercises) prior to each group meeting, so we can spend our time together discussing the information, group coaching, and helping you think through how you will put it to work yourself.

“Incredible model and process to deliver feedback! Feedback does not need to be negative or confronting. Outstanding coverage.” – Fred Amador

“My major learnings were two-fold: As a coach, how to deliver effective feedback. As an individual, how to challenge myself. Exceeded expectations.” – Sherrie Faulkner, HR Director, Employee & Organizational Learning, MCCCD

Click here to receive full current information about the “Magnetizing Feedback” program.

Effective teamwork is key to achieving optimal success. And it’s complicated!

As a former social-cultural anthropologist, Laura is skillful in quickly recognizing macro-level systems patterns that impact team interactions and performance. Laura is certified in the Living Systems ApproachTM to Team Coaching. This methodology is designed for enhancing group capacity for synergy, ownership, and performance.

Organizations and team leaders often turn to Laura for help when a team is experiencing dysfunction or conflict. As a professional mediator, Laura understands how to defuse conflict, and coaching can help a team move forward. Team coaching is not just for dysfunctional teams – it is a great way to take a team from good to GREAT! Typical features might include…

• Intentionally designing your team culture
• Developing shared vision
• Enhancing accountability
• Establishing a feedback culture
• Defining group process
• Deepening connections, appreciation, and understanding among team members
• Cultivating understanding of needs and processes from all relevant perspectives
• Expanding effective communications skills
• Space and tools for crucial conversations
• Creating structures for ongoing support over time

Team Coaching produces…

• Better Relationships
• Better Conversations
• Better Bottom Line Results.

What break-through results might you see with a truly exceptional team?

Click here to receive more information and explore coaching for your team.

Laura’s extensive experience in coaching includes fifteen years training, certifying and mentoring professional coaches, and also teaching a “Leader as Coach” program. In addition to her private practice, Laura is President of Adler Learning-USA in Phoenix, Arizona. Adler offers Adler Graduate Professional School’s ICF (International Coach Federation) Accredited Coach Training Program.

What might professional coaching certification bring to your life and career?

Click here to learn more about professional coach training and certification.