The seat is lonelier than anyone tells you
Most executive directors have no one to think out loud with. The board is not the place, the staff cannot be, and peers are competitors for the same funding. We are that person. Confidential, practical, and available when the decision is in front of you rather than three weeks later.
When Leaders Call Us
Coaching is rarely about a skill gap. It is almost always about a moment.
New in the Seat
First-time executive, or first time at this scale.
The jump from running a program to running the organization is bigger than the title suggests. The first year sets patterns that are hard to undo later.
A Board Relationship That Is Not Working
Unclear authority, a difficult chair, or a board that manages.
You cannot raise it with the board and you cannot raise it with staff. It is the single most common thing executives bring to us.
A Decision You Cannot Take to the Team
A restructure, a departure, a funding cliff.
Some decisions have to be thought through before they can be announced. You need somewhere to work it out that carries no consequences.
Running on Empty
Still functioning, quietly considering leaving.
Sector burnout is not a character flaw and it is not solved by a vacation. It usually has structural causes worth naming out loud.
How It Works
Getting started
Free exploratory sessionYou bring what is actually on your desk and we work on it. Early on we also run a leadership assessment so we both have a baseline to work from.
The arrangement
Set number or monthlyIf it is useful, we agree on either a set number of sessions or an ongoing monthly arrangement. That gets worked out together, after we know what you are carrying.
The sessions
45 to 60 minutesIn person, by video, or on a regular call, whichever works best for you. Come with the problem, leave with your next move.
What This Actually Is
Worth being plain about, since coaching means different things to different people.
Confidential
Nothing goes to your board, your funder, or your team. Not summaries, not themes.
Practical
We work on what is in front of you this month, not a development plan for an abstract future.
Grounded in Data
A leadership assessment early on, usually DiSC, so the work starts from a baseline rather than an impression.
Sector-Specific
Twenty-five years and 850 engagements in nonprofits. You will not spend sessions explaining how boards work.
Not Therapy
We are not clinicians. When something belongs with a therapist, we will say so plainly.
Not a Performance Review
If your board is paying, the arrangement is agreed in advance and the content still stays between us.
Every executive director I have worked with was carrying something they had not said out loud to anyone. That is not a weakness in them. It is a feature of being in the seat.
Dr. Lyn CorbettFounder, The Pivotal Group
The first session is free
Tell us what you are working through. We respond within two business days.