Great leaders take risks. That’s why I coach CEOs, founders, and startup executives to unlock their full potential by embracing risk instead of avoiding it. How do I help?
- I reveal the leadership risks you’re avoiding that hold you back from greatness.
- I challenge you to experiment with how you lead and prove which risks are worth taking.
- I teach you the skills to embrace those risks without burning out from stress.
What risks are we talking about? Great leaders make the hard calls that matter:
- Asking for what they want instead of settling for less
- Having the hard conversation instead of avoiding it
- Changing course when things aren’t working
- Protecting their time for their highest priorities
- Managing their stress instead of ignoring it
- Staying true to their values even under pressure
- Building a distinct, opinionated, intentional culture
Reveal What’s Holding You Back
I take the time to understand you deeply, so I can offer you personal insights instead of generic best practices. I ask about your ambitions and what’s holding you back from pursuing them. I listen to what you say and what you don’t say. I read your face for feelings you haven’t quite named. I observe how your actions match your ambitions. Then I share what I see.
It’s surprisingly hard to see ourselves clearly! Few of our friends, family, and coworkers share their honest assessments of us, and each of them have their own agendas. My only agenda is helping you fulfill your true potential. I’ll be more than a mirror, more than a confidant: I’ll show you what you’re missing to unlock the next stage of your growth. Over time my clients acquire a deep self-knowledge that’s priceless.
Optimize How You Lead with Daily Experiments
I structure each coaching engagement around weekly or biweekly sessions covering whichever topic is top of mind for you that day. With each topic, we seek to understand what change you’re looking to create, what’s holding you back, and how you might change how you lead to make it happen. Instead of waiting to be sure, we test those changes empirically: I ask you to commit to regular leadership experiments to prove what works in the real world.
Most leaders wait to be sure before they act, and lose out on the learning that comes with rapid experimentation. It’s easy to set grand intentions in our heads, but It’s hard to follow through with them. I provide clear structure and accountability to keep you moving towards your boldest ambitions without feeling overwhelmed by risk.
Learn the Skills to Beat Burnout
Embracing risk is stressful! So I teach you the skills to manage stress and prevent burnout. I care about your feelings and your ambitions equally. You can’t achieve those ambitions if you feel stressed all the time! To face life’s risks with courage, you must master your emotions. Not by burying them inside, but by expressing them skillfully.
In many corners of the startup world, constant stress is considered virtuous. Founders talk proudly about cultivating a “culture of urgency” where everything is treated like an emergency. Don’t fall for it! My wife works at San Francisco General Hospital—at her job, everything actually is an emergency. Guess what? They still focus on making calm, thoughtful decisions.
If they can find calm in the emergency room, you can find calm in the chaos of a startup.