"Gary Cohen's 'Ask, Don't Tell' approach to leadership made me question my own habit of 'leading by example.' Is it not more proactive to lead by provoking a response instead of requesting a spectator? And, is it not ultimately more productive by reacting to new solutions instead of judging redundancies?"

Thomas Pritzker
Chairman and CEO
Global Hyatt Corporation

"Gary's ADT leadership methods work and are relatively simple to implement in any organization. He teaches you how to ask the right kind of question, not the 'let me grill you'– type question that creates barriers and ill will. If you aren't asking questions, it means you are not naturally curious–a clear sign of someone mired in the past."

GL Hoffman
CEO of Job Digs

Executive Coaching Successes

Expect a rapid return on your investment in a coach.

Every client has a unique set of challenges he or she is trying to overcome. As a coach, I use my own experiences as an entrepreneur and leader to relate to the client’s concerns and needs. Rather than follow a rigid process, I tailor the coaching method to my client’s specific situation, values and expectations. Here are just a few examples of the ways in which my coaching has guided clients to resolution and provided a rapid return on their investment.

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM MANAGER TO LEADER

One of my clients was feeling overwhelmed because he didn’t have enough time to do what he wanted to do. After taking a look at the typical structure of his day and his managerial methods, I discovered that he was spending too much time doing things his employees should have been doing. Furthermore, by offering his opinion too freely, he was keeping his employees from becoming accountable.

Many leaders of an organization that goes from small to large quickly continue to feel that their actions are the contributing factor to the organization’s success. Sitting in their office and reflecting on how well the organizational chart benefits the operation doesn’t feel very productive. As a coach, I help my clients to redefine their role as building a team and empowering their people. Their job is to figure out how to get people to work productively. One of the models I suggest involves asking questions, because when you ask employees a question, you empower them.

Each step of moving from a managerial role to a leadership role is very courageous; you have to let go of the security of knowing everything. As a leader, you may have come up only one funnel – marketing, finance, or sales – so you don’t know about the rest. By default, you have to rely more on other people and less on your own knowledge. The nice thing about working with a coach is that you won’t feel isolated as you transform into a more effective leader. You will feel less vulnerable, and by focusing less on protecting yourself you will grow as a leader more quickly.

STEPPING UP AS THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENTREPRENEURS

Family businesses often experience conflict and tension as a new generation of the family steps in. While the new generation may have plenty of top-notch education, it usually does not have the entrepreneurial qualities of the first generation, which started the business.

For this client, I helped the next generation discover their value to the business while recognizing the advantages that the first generation still had to offer. Part of coaching is helping clients to clearly define their strengths and weaknesses. It’s about holding up the mirror. Once a client understands how to work with these strengths and weaknesses as a leader, his or her leadership style no longer flip-flops in response to different situations or people. In addition, the client no longer feels the need to copy other leaders, because he or she becomes an original leader.

Imagination often feels very uncomfortable for leaders because it is awkward, paradoxical and contradictory. However, this non-linear part of the mind opens us up to becoming original. It is this sense of originality and not being a copy that energizes our leadership. We move from being a puppet-like leader to one of inspiration.

DEVELOPING ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION

Sometimes a leader who has purchased a company has difficulty during the transition from the existing senior team to the new senior team. One common pitfall is the belief that the leader can take on the additional responsibility instead of replacing the senior team member. Although the expectation is that revenue and earnings will increase, often just the opposite occurs. As accountability deteriorates, so do margins.

My role as a coach is to help a leader in this situation to develop the practice of accountability with his senior as well as his junior team. By using questions, I help the leader create a vision and purpose for the business and then hold people in the company accountable to goals aligned with the vision and purpose.

One component of developing accountability is the use of levers and controls for measuring performance. As a coach I show entrepreneurs how to use financial models to create control mechanisms, and I teach them the discipline of reviewing financial reports as soon as they are available. Generating reports is not enough. Leaders need to take the time to study those reports – whether the business is in good shape or in trouble.

SEEING THE POSSIBILITIES

Every leader comes to me with assumptions of how the world works. By posing questions to my clients, I challenge these core assumptions and help clients to see whether they are true or false. In some cases we develop a decision-making matrix to look at all probable and possible outcomes and see, instead of a possible catastrophe, a richness of opportunity.

Leaders are often too close to a situation to gain a broader perspective. My outside perspective and experience gives clients a wider lens for viewing and identifying new possibilities.

A thought can be a mirror, a lens, a bridge, a wall, a ladder, a window, a home. These thoughts shape the territory in which a leader operates. As a coach, I help clients examine this territory and determine if it’s productive or not. If it’s not, I help clients eliminate those thoughts and replace them with thoughts that enhance productivity.

Nothing opens the mind like a glimpse of a new possibility. Possibilities are pathways that I will guide you through as a coach.