What To Expect From My Coaching
You can read the theory of how my coaching changes individuals and teams here, but these are the nuts and bolts:
I work with leaders, other types of senior professionals, and leadership teams (I discuss typical clients and challenges here). Depending on you or your team’s preferences, challenges, and goals, we may meet individually or in groups (or both). Generally, the work is comprised of ongoing conversations by phone, Zoom, email, text and, if necessary, in person. The form, length, frequency, and number of conversations depends on the needs of the client.
I have no standard approach or program. My work is always tailored, in consultation with the client, to the person or team I’m working with.
Three other ways I help: 1. I run mastermind groups for clients who find it helpful to coach with a group of peers; 2. I run a “communications playground,” a group for professionals who want to safely and quickly grow their emotional intelligence, leadership skills and communication abilities; 3. I also train and assist coaches and therapists (and sometimes parents) who want to deepen their own growth so they can better serve their clients (or children).
I don’t give advice (though clients sometimes call me their “advisor”). My talent lies in building the kind of relationships and groups that accelerate client growth, transformation and success. I am very deft at: 1. Asking the kind of questions that help people discover what they need to do and and stop doing to achieve success. 2. Helping clients figure out how to greet challenges in their own, individual ways, inline with their temperament and circumstances.
I can also offer perspectives on the challenges of leadership, the importance of developing emotional intelligence, effective communication with board members and reports, and the self-leadership skills that make us effective and happy in all areas of our lives. These perspectives come from my own personal experiences running businesses and non-profits and being a media celebrity, as well as coaching many accomplished clients (go to Who I Am to read about my background). But I only use these perspectives to help inform our discovery of the path that is right for you.
To start a preliminary conversation, just send Colin a message and we will find a time to talk.
Colin helps me validate and articulate what truly matters to me in my life, making sure that the choices I make are driving toward those values. He helps me turn those values into goals and plans of action for reaching them.”
Julie, SENIOR MARKETING DIRECTOR AND IVY LEAGUE MBA
How My Coaching Changes You
Psychology, philosophy and all the great religious traditions tell us that we are most successful, powerful, effective and happy in life when we operate from our truest self. Teams access best when each member has access to their inner valuing process.
Almost everything we need to know–how to lead, how to solve challenges, how to help others–is hidden in potentials we already have but sometimes can’t access or unconsciously choose to block. Huge energy and power is released when we remove those blocks.
When we find and operate from the potentials hidden behind our blocks–as well as prizing our existing strengths–that is when we are most likely to thrive and it is also when we are most able to help the communities, organizations and society we are part of thrive. There is real and concrete science that shows this is true. (This, by the way, is a theme that is explored in my books No Impact Man and How To Be Alive).
The hidden potentials inside my clients emerge in a series of conversations in which I listen and question deeply with love, acceptance and trust in the client. Science shows these are necessary conditions for a truly transformative relationship. The changes my clients experience are not just the learning of strategies or techniques but also actual changes for the better in their automatic, instinctual and intuitive approaches to work and life.
My ability to create the relationships and processes that creates this kind of change comes, in part, from who I am and also from my training in humanist therapeutic techniques, as an authorized Zen teacher, together with my long experience in the recovery movement. My clients’ experience is that they transform quickly, that they develop the skills they need to move forward on their own, and that they value and enjoy the experience.
To begin to explore whether we should work together, just send Colin a message and we will find a time to talk.
I had felt a calling for some time but Colin’s kindness and enthusiasm brought out the confidence in me to follow my true path. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier or felt more grounded and sure of myself.”
Jen, senior partner law firm Partner
Ways I Work With Teams
All my work is couture, meaning I design my individual and team coaching interventions according to the needs and challenges of each client. I first meet with founders, CEOs, or team leaders to understand challenges. I may then have conversations with other team members to gain further perspectives on the challenges. I then suggest the best form of intervention to achieve the stated goals and objectives.
Team coaching helps executive teams function effectively and communicate smoothly to achieve agreed objectives. Team coaching usually entails both group and individual meetings and can include:
- Value surfacing and goal setting
- Leadership Communication Training
- Dispute resolution
- Emotional intelligence training
- Personal sustainability training
To start a preliminary conversation, just send me a message and we will find a time to talk.
Colin helps me figure out what is truly important. To figure out the difference between the stories I’ve told myself—or the stories other people have about me—and what’s true. He’s taught me to translate the noise in my head into clear signals of what to do next in my life.”
dana, Media Celebrity
Mastermind Groups
What if you had a group of friends who refused to let you fail at your vision for your life?
My mastermind groups are based on the precept that aligning ourselves with what is most true and important inside us is the most powerful route to building to a joyful life that makes us happy and serves our friends, families, communities and the world.
The question is, how do you discern the truth of how you are called to live and then manifest that authentically? How do you build a life of integrity in every area, from career to relationships to choice of home to friendships to making money to service to the world?
That is what my mastermind groups are about—bringing all areas of your life in line with your most authentic values while being joyfully of service. It isn’t necessarily just about career (though that is definitely be the emphasis for some). It is about living in ways that give you meaning and make you feel purposeful in all areas.
Being part of a group with the common purpose of supporting each other to build meaningful, prosperous, service-oriented lives is a powerful way to move forward forcefully and concretely. My mastermind groups include six to ten people, confidentially and compassionately joining together in exploration and execution.
- Groups meet twice a month for 90 minutes by video call (we are able to see each other).
- Meetings include smaller breakout groups for active sharing and discussion.
- All members join a Slack group to continue working and sharing between meetings.
- Members sometimes partner with other group members to collaborate between meetings.
- You will have fun and be inspired and see real changes in your life.
- You will feel supported and included in a group of people who share our values.
To begin to explore whether working with Colin is right, just send a message and we will find a time to talk.
Colin’s mastermind group enabled me to move beyond the usual gung-ho goal setting that happens in the rush of a resolution. I found a vision that fits and habits that worked. Six months after we finished, I’m still feeling the deeper learnings resonating and seeing the changes unfolding, and I believe that comes from being held accountable by a supportively honest group of people over an extended period.”
–Deborah, Chief marketing officer