Tom Steitz
Founder - Executive Coach
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Tom has coached at the Olympic level in both whitewater kayaking and Nordic combined skiing through 5 Olympic games and has guided CEO’s and C-level executives at Fortune 100 companies since 2002. In all, his engagements have consistently raised the performance bar.
In the beginning of this Olympic tenure, Tom coached the nation’s top white water kayakers through 2 Olympics. Under Tom’s careful eye, Rich Weiss became the first American ever to win a World Championship or Olympic Medal. Tom is given the credit for creating a way to break through the barriers, which had been holding the U.S. back for over 50 years. It was his unique driving style of leadership that led to this never before performance by members of the U.S. Team.
Tom followed with a coaching career Nordic Combined Skiing, a sport that combines both the endurance of cross-country skiing with the thrill and precision of ski jumping. Tom was appointed National Team Coach after the 1988 Olympics when the U.S. finished dead last and the U.S. Ski Team was looking for a turnaround. When Tom took over the U.S. Team, it had very little financial support, almost no athlete talent, and certainly no respect in Europe and Scandinavia. After 14 years with Tom, the U.S. Nordic Combined Team went on to win its first ever medal and winning record that has yet to be replicated.
The Cinderella story of the U.S. Nordic Combined Team made Tom and his team extremely popular with the media and fans throughout the world and, for his leadership, Tom was awarded “International Coach of the Year” 3 consecutive times. Upon Tom’s retirement from active coaching, the U. S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Ski Team called him the most successful coach ever in the sport.
Tom’s most impressive list of athlete coaching accomplishments is his long list of “First Evers”:
- The first ever Kayaking Medal.
- The first World Junior Medal for the U.S.
- The first World Junior Team Medal for the U.S
- The first World Cup win on U.S. soil for the U.S.
- The first World Cup Team podium finish
- The first time two U.S. individuals won a World Cup competition in the same year
- The best World Championship results ever
- The country’s best Olympic finish ever
In 2002, Tom transferred much of his learning and acumen to C-level executives and their teams when he began coaching in the corporate world. Proving the principle that break-through results can only be built and sustained around successful leadership and teamwork. He has done this through his work with the very top with Fortune 100 and pioneering companies, including StorageTek/Sun Microsysytems, Cendant-Travelport, Hewlett-Packard, Orbitz, Johnson & Johnson, CheapTickets.com, Eos Airlines, Prudential, E-bay, and many others.
Tom is based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado but he has worked around the world guiding global executives and teams to their highest level of capability and effectiveness possible. Utilizing his practical hands-on coaching style and capability model, many executives and CEO’s have found it very successful in crossing diverse nationalities and cultures.
He has been successfully involved in number of mergers and acquisitions from start ups to Fortune 500. Tom has coached leadership teams and senior executives involved in acquisitions and divestitures, totaling nearly $10 billion in value.
He is most proud of is his long lasting relationships and the enduring effect he has on the people he has worked with in the business world.
To maximize your own capabilities, call 612-928-4747 for a risk-free consultation or Contact Online.