Ellen Faye: Certified Productivity and Leadership Coach
Ellen Faye is a productivity coach, author, and speaker who helps thoughtful professionals create a better way to work and live. Drawing on 25 years as a business owner and broad experience in productivity and leadership, she helps clients build systems, structures, and ways of working that fit how they’re wired, support better decisions, and create sustainable success.
She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Certified Productivity Leadership Coach (CPLC), Certified Professional Organizer (CPO®), and Past President of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals. She also trains coaches through Coach Approach Training Institute, where she teaches Cultivating Coaching Courage and Coaching Effective Leaders. She is the author of Productivity for How You’re Wired and creator of the Productivity Flow Framework.
Chapter 1: What I Didn’t Know Then…
My high standards for excellence, ability to connect and inspire, and instinct for business, productivity, and leadership have been constants throughout my career.
My first job out of college was with Stouffer Hotels. Within six months, I was promoted from an entry-level management position to a role leading a department of 80 people. Looking back, I now understand what made that possible: I could develop and implement effective systems, inspire and empower my team, and produce strong financial results.
The secret? With the right systems in place, my teams could focus their energy on delivering knock-your-socks-off service. They had what they needed to manage the routine parts of their jobs so they could concentrate on serving the guest.
Six years later, I became the youngest General Manager and one of the few female General Managers in the Hilton Hotel chain. During my tenure, our hotel was rated #1 in the market for customer service by Zagat.
I didn’t have language for it then, but I was already doing the work that would define my career: creating the conditions for people to do their best work.
Chapter 2: From Professional Organizer to Productivity Coach
After my children were born, I started a business as a professional organizer, thinking it might be something I would do for a little while. Instead, it became a career that allowed me to evolve and grow in ways I could never have imagined.
I began by organizing kitchens, closets, and home offices. Before long, my work shifted toward helping entrepreneurs and business professionals organize their businesses and offices, improve their workflows, and better manage their calendars and to-do lists. I gradually moved from organizing spaces to organizing time, and ultimately became a full-time productivity coach.
At the same time, more than 30 years of combined service on nonprofit boards gave me opportunities to hone my leadership skills in many different roles. As President of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals, I led volunteer leaders, oversaw paid staff and a $2 million budget, strengthened the organization’s brand, and built a community of dedicated members and leaders.
Through it all, I continued doing what matters most to me: creating the conditions for people to do their best work.
Chapter 3: Bringing It All Together: Productivity Coach, Leadership Coach, and Author
I believe productivity works best when it fits the way a person is naturally wired. Each of us has inherent strengths that shape how we make decisions, plan, and get things done. This belief is at the heart of my work as a productivity coach and the foundation of my book, Productivity for How You’re Wired.
Whether I am coaching a business professional, entrepreneur, or nonprofit leader, we focus on what matters most to them, whether that means clarifying priorities, making better decisions, taking more effective action, finding practical ways to plan, or leading their teams in ways that support productivity. The ultimate goal is better work and a better life.
I know firsthand what it is like to have more work than time, to lead without an unbiased sounding board, and to see how much difference the right plans, systems, and team can make.
A New York Times reporter once joked that I make a living helping people organize their thoughts. She wasn’t wrong. Creating a safe space for clients to express their thoughts and ideas has been instrumental to their success and mine. It helps create the conditions for people to do their best work.
What This Means For You
As a productivity coach, I bring the full breadth of my experience to our work together, allowing me to understand your challenges in context and focus on what will be most useful to you.
- I understand what it feels like to have more work than time and to carry too many responsibilities and competing demands.
- I understand the pressure of being responsible for results, whether you are running a business, leading a team, or trying to manage work and life well.
- I have worked with people in an unusually wide range of businesses and professions. I understand your world, ask informed questions, and help you see challenges in a broader context.
- I know how to turn complexity into clear priorities, practical plans, and systems that fit how you work.
- I think and process quickly, listen closely, and pick up on both what is said and what is not. Our work moves forward at a purposeful pace, without wasting time or circling the same issues.
If you are ready, I can help you become more productive and effective and create the conditions to do your best work and live a better life.
