Insight. Experience. Results.

The Framework. For the last 15 years, I have been working as an independent management consultant and executive coach, combining the process of strategy development and “strengths-based” insight, to develop custom productivity solutions for business professionals.

During this time, I have developed a practical approach to crafting personal strategy based on a person’s unique “talent DNA.” An individual’s challenges are framed not just by the parameters of the problems one is trying to solve. It is also often the unique mindset that defines and limits the paths (and required behaviors) to the “solution.”

Understanding the nuance of how one’s “wiring diagram” can be leveraged is the hidden key to sustainable productivity.

Performance is located at the intersection of three factors: (1) People, (2) Process, and (3) Tools. I call this the PPT Triad. The usefulness of this approach applies to both individuals and organizations.

Effectiveness and efficiency result from managing the Triad in the context of one’s own unique talents and energies. My coaching process will help you understand this blueprint, and help you access and optimize these resources in the service of your goals.

What is the best way to do this?

2 Steps:

A. “Begin with the end in mind.” This can be simple or complicated depending on where you are in your personal strategy implementation. For example, some people have competing objectives, while others have “noise” or emotional barriers that obscure (and in some instances contribute to) the problem.

B. Figure out how to use and leverage your wiring diagram as a process to get there.

Step A is about building clarity, congruence, and confidence around your goals. This means creating a “topographical map” of your talent terrain, and getting familiar with its features. Step B is about understanding what your best routes are, and how to overlay this to Step A.

My work as an executive coach and strategy professional is to help you unify “Form and Function.” This is about the shape, structures, and synergies of your natural gifts serving your roles, and vice versa.

This dynamic is the core of how to integrate planning and execution - - the organic alignment of insight and action.

This is the essential architecture of the productive life.

Methods. My approach to personal transformation starts with an assessment of your unique strengths profile. I then create a customized path of self-development and skills training based on your specific configuration.

Talent is a two-edged sword. Sometimes a particular strength can be over-amplified (perhaps due to external factors or as a stress response) to the point that it becomes a weakness and a disruption to one's progress. In most problem situations, the client is unaware of this dynamic.

This “self-generated noise” is difficult to address without the perspective of an experienced coach. I have worked with very accomplished individuals in different niches, and a recurring problem is their inability to get out of their own way.

Einstein once said:  "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."  Translation: You cannot sweep the obstacle away, when you are part of the obstacle. 

Seeing the forest for the trees is a key concept in managing change. It’s about understanding the context of how adaptive your talents, behaviors, and emotions function in the social and physical environments you inhabit daily.

Deep perspective and performance go hand in hand. Systemic thinking combined with focused execution is the basis of sustainable productivity.

There is nothing more empowering than the clarity of understanding how your talents determine your problem-solving approaches and daily interactions. Self-awareness is a super-power.

You own your talents. Your lifetime job is to understand what they are, and how to manage them effectively in the pursuit of your personal and professional goals.

Personal talent management is a skill set I can help you develop.

Systematic inquiry is an important tool for coaching. So is explaining the dynamic interrelationships of the values and talents that comprise the syntax of your strengths language. Once this foundation is established, we can then explore the appropriate strategies and tactics that get you closer to your goals.

I combine the methods of training, mentoring, teaching, advising, coaching in one dynamic package, depending on what best serves your needs. The choice of delivery methods actually depends on the unique profile and needs of the client that I serve. As an executive coach, I do not automatically foreground one method over the other. Instead, I orchestrate and optimize a combination that helps you achieve goals in the short- or long-term areas you choose to play in.

My value proposition is that as an experienced strengths language expert, I can pay very close attention to the client’s talent terrain and articulate/clarify how the pathways that are already there can be managed effectively.

There is an “optimal strategic map” that can guide you on the path, one that is consistent with your own values, choices, and objectives.

It is this process of creative discovery (around the notion of your unique map) that characterizes my coaching approach. It’s about making your map visible, legible, and useful in your daily life.

My role is to make you see/understand this map clearly - - to help you navigate, in the most efficient way possible.

My Background. (tl;dr)

Career Highlights. I started my career as a Management Consultant at Ernst & Young. This was followed by work for an energy consulting firm (Energy and Environmental Associates, Inc.) doing energy market analyses and modeling, followed by heading up the corporate planning team at Washington Gas Light. My responsibilities included TQM planning and implementation, economic feasibility studies, business valuations, and managing the corporate goals program. I leveraged these skill sets when I joined a financial services firm (Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp.) where I served as Chief Administrative Officer. As CAO, my portfolio included strategy management, organizational development, training & learning management, and strategic communications.

Academic training: My undergraduate degree was in Behavioral Science, my graduate training (MBA, Wharton) was in Finance. The most memorable experience of my Philly days was the good fortune of attending Professor Paul Green’s course in Multidimensional Scaling. His unique insights in marketing science and consumer behavior still affects my thinking to this day.

My interest in art and creativity led me to the Corcoran School of Art. This was followed by a three-year sabbatical from the corporate world as a Presidential Fellow in Temple University’s MFA film program. To this day I maintain an active art practice, but that’s another story…

Coach training: I started my apprenticeship in the coaching craft with Coach U, under the tutelage of Thomas Leonard, founder of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the pioneer of coaching as a professional discipline. Soon after, I trained at Gallup University to become a certified strengths coach, using the tool now known as the CliftonStrengths assessment.

Fueled by my interest in positive psychology (seeing the transformative power of the strengths lens first-hand as a practicing business coach), I completed the MentorCoach (MC) curriculum, which is the gold standard in positive psychology-based coach training. While at MC, I had the privilege to study under Chris Peterson Ph.D., the research director of the Values In Action (VIA) project, and the creator of the VIA Survey of Signature Strengths.

In retrospect, my film training has given me a unique perspective: how we make sense of our stories is what matters. Over the years, I realized that coaching as a collaborative process is really about helping the client explore how the tapestry of one’s past and present can lead to new possibilities.

Mindsets are built from stories. Strengths-based coaching is about bridging the gap between accepting our gifts, and building the necessary skills (and confidence) to manage these assets.

Effective coaching, at its core, is about learning how to retell our stories and reshape our identities. When it works, coaching allows us to shift our perspectives, to get better at the game, and have fun while playing. It gives us tools to create a better scaffolding that enables us to reach and access the deeper resources in our lives and work.

Final Takeaway: I firmly believe that each person has a unique talent blueprint. My passion is to help you clarify, optimize, and express these gifts to your maximum benefit, while minimizing noise (or clearing obstacles) for the success of your mission.