My Approach
Good leadership drives good productivity. Being most productive or effective isn’t just about your task list, or calendar app, or clarifying priorities. As a leader you are responsible for your operation, your team, and your team’s productivity.
To create a work culture in which your team members can be most productive, successful leaders have much to focus on:
- Exemplify good values and habits – your behavior sets the time-culture for your team
- Creating a psychologically safe and collaborative work environment
- Ensuring solid and accountable systems and processes
I work with clients to hone their leadership skills in order to drive their own success, as well as the success of their teams and businesses.
Successful productive leaders know the importance of understanding, considering, and integrating all aspect of their operation. It’s not just big picture, it’s whole picture.
“Leadership means doing what’s right, even when it’s not easy.” Joe Lieberman.
Why Get A Coach?
There is no playbook on how to lead. People assume that it’s a natural skill. However, just like I wouldn’t assume you could sit down and play the piano without training and support, you can’t assume that you can be your best leader without training and support.
I’ve learned many lessons from my clients:
- I get that changing habits is hard, especially for my global-creative, macro-thinking, 50,000-feet-view clients.
- I know that even the best leaders benefit greatly from having a safe and trustworthy confidant to talk through the challenges that they face.
- I know that even highly organized, methodical clients may need support to improve their systems, or they just may be so buried that they need an objective outside supporter to help them dig out and see the forest through the trees.
- I understand that just because you are excellent in a job doesn’t mean you know how to productively lead a team.
Leading is hard. Leading a productive team is harder. It takes the right balance of a positive work environment and solid systems to achieve team flow. Unfortunately, our work culture doesn’t always support this. I know from personal experience that it’s hard to go at it alone.
As your coach, I will support you to create a culture of excellence that drives your success AND the success of your team(s).
Leadership Coaching Topics
- Motivating and inspiring for optimum productivity
- Leading from your essence
- building trust
- win-win focus
- control over vs. empowerment
- Communication challenges
- Collaboration best practices
- People problems
- beloved team member not performing
- working with difficult colleagues and/or bosses
- Delegating best practices
- Delivering effective feedback
- Making difficult decisions
- Job transitions
- how to help someone be successful in new positions
- emotions of leaving long term position
- support in figuring out if it’s time to change jobs or if you should take another job
- Transitioning positions – from doer to leader
- Messaging and leading change and uncertainty
As your coach, I will provide a safe space for you to think out loud, organize your thoughts, and talk through your decision making processes.
She gets leadership…
Ellen is great at helping me think though the pros and cons of a situation, what my role might be, and how I can best resolve challenges. She understands how to motivate people with different personalities and agendas, and knows how to support me in guiding them to reach our goals.
Laura Neuman-Howe, Director
Now that we are on the same page we are making so much progress.
Your recommendation for me to stay focused on our mission made all the difference. Now that the Board and Executive Team are on the same page, we are making so much progress. I'm looking forward to what's next!
K. R. - General Manager
Reaching out to Ellen was a great decision…
Ellen is my safe space to talk. She brings a toolkit of useful techniques, planning tools & research informed advice to our sessions. She's a supportive & careful listener, who listens for & reflects back to her clients their own wisdom, with new clarity.
A.S., Nonprofit Executive Director
You exemplify outstanding leadership in many ways…
One of them is recognizing it in others & telling them so. Not just me. I see you doing it all the time, now that I am paying attention. It’s contagious! I find myself handing out compliments more readily, too, under your influence.
Hazel Thornton, NAPO 2017 President's Award Recipient
