Before I was a coach, I was a therapist. I worked in the addiction treatment field from 1972 – 1996, first as a therapist for 5 years, then as Clinical Director, and then Vice President of Treatment Programs. I helped grow the treatment program from a 150 bed inpatient unit by adding 10 outpatient clinics in 6 counties. We also offered companies Employee Assistance contracts. So besides learning what it was like to be part of an executive team, visioning and steering an organization, I saw people referred to the EAP program who did not have an addiction problem. This included many executives who were simply burned out or overwhelmed.

I was widowed in 1992. In 1996, I left my role with Gateway Rehabilitation Center to remarry. My new husband had developed a powerful training process for executive teams. This process focused on honoring and using all of the talents on the team. I joined him in traveling all over the country delivering these programs. What was missing, it seemed to me, was something to make the insights and changes sustainable. I became a coach to continue working with executive teams to sustain the changes they made.

I loved coaching from the moment I discovered it. It wasn’t too different from the way I did therapy with executives, because I tended to use a solution-focused approach, rather than delving into the past. Some of my therapy skills – like deep listening – served me well.

I knew coaching was the right choice when I discovered over and over how hungry executives were to learn more about themselves. To explore possibilities. And to hear how much happier they were as a result of the coaching.