My Leadership Coaching is different because I have been in your shoes. A born introvert, I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would ever be a manager of people. I received a degree in Mechanical Engineering and then entered the US Navy as a newly minted officer. When I first stepped foot on my ship after a whirlwind 4 month training at Officer Candidate school, I was told that there were now 25 sailors who reported to me. I was now a manager, whether I wanted to be or not. Talk about being thrown into the deep end of the pool without a life jacket or swimming lessons! Over the next 4 years, I learned what it means to be a leader of men (back then, there were no women on ships).  There were ups and downs, highs and lows, mistakes and learning.  When I left the Navy, I had many of my men tell me I was the best boss they had ever had.

 

My first position when I got out of the Navy was at an aerospace company as their maintenance supervisor. Once again, at the ripe old age of 26, I had 25 or so direct reports, this time, about half of them had been doing their job, at that location, longer than I had been alive. Was this a challenge? You bet.  At this point I was still learning how to be a good manger and a better leader.  I learned why the military way of leading won't always work in the civilian world, and how to balance work with having fun.  I gained the respect of the men and women working for me (all of them older than me and most close to my parent;s age) by showing that I wasn't afraid to learn from them and that I could also show them a thing or two that they didn't know.

 

From there I have had positions from facilities engineer to Vice President positions in 2 different companies. In every position, I was managing technical professionals, and each position allowed me to learn more and more about leading and managing people. Those were challenging positions, and I learned a lot.

 

Now I want to help you, someone who has excelled at their technical individual contributor job and who has been recognized for that achievement by being promoted to management.

As a manager, your tasks are different, you may now manage people who have previously been your peers. You have to learn how to get work done through others, rather than doing it yourself. You may not see progress on a daily basis, it may now be monthly or even longer. Reporting to your manager is not just about specific tasks anymore, it is about progress toward company objectives. In short, if you are feeling like you just got thrown into the deep end of the pool with no life jacket, I can help you.

 

With proper coaching and diligence on your part, your job can become fun and fulfilling. Aside from the normal financial perks of being a manager, you will realize fulfillment in helping others reach their goals, and your company reach their objectives as well. Your job will be fun again and you will be excited to go to work every day.

Give me a call today to discuss how I can help!