About

Our greatest danger lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and hitting our mark.

Michelangelo

Leadership is the art of bringing people together to accomplish the extraordinary. But all external results are fueled by internal capacities. Like the rudder of a ship, these internal skills are hidden from view but are essential to keeping the ship aligned and true.

Traditional coaching and leadership development focus on external skills. But the domain of interior faculties, what we could call the hidden half of leadership, is largely neglected. My coaching and consulting work emphasizes deep reflective learning that develops internal skills such as awareness, congruence, resilience, presence, empathy and connection. Typical topics to explore might include:

  • Individual / Team Discovery –  assessments that help a leader see patterns and interconnections that are hindering optimum performance. 
  • Intention Setting / Goal Development – exercises to clarify direction and align ideas with action.
  • Leadership Coaching – one-on-one coaching sessions to examine and change habits of mind and strengthen inner capacities.
  • Skills Training – interactive group sessions that teach and practice specific leadership skills through experiential activities.
  • Facilitated Retreats – offsite retreats that allow leadership teams time to reflect, exchange ideas, build cohesion, and plan for the future.
  • Emotional Intelligence – the baseline skills for improving relationships and interpersonal savvy through self-awareness and self-regulation.
  • Spiritual Intelligence – the capacity to act ever more frequently from the best version of ourselves, fostering a workplace that is more centered, wise, compassionate, creative and fulfilling.

The twin aims of every business are to sustain long term excellence and create deep personal satisfaction. These aims are interdependent and mutually reinforcing – you can’t have one without the other. Engaging the heart of leadership requires a commitment to inner growth and reflective learning that fulfills these aims by sustaining peak performance.

Certifications

Associate Certified Coach, ICF
Board Certified Coach, Ctr for Cred. and Educ.
SQ21 – Spiritual Intelligence Coach, Deep Change
Emotional Intelligence, EQi-2.0
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Step I and Step II
FIRO-B Assessment
Leading Organizational Change, William Bridges
ADKAR® Change Management, Prosci
Discovery Leadership Profile 360 Assessment
Compass 360 Assessment, Right Management
Mindful Leader, whil.com
Past Active Member, Alaska and California Bar

Education

B.Phil., Educational Psychology (1981)
Miami University, Oxford, OH,

Juris Doctor, Hastings College of Law (1985)
San Francisco, CA

Work History

Hon. J. Justin Ripley, Alaska Superior Court
Law Clerk, 1985 – 1986

Perkins Coie, Litigation Associate, Anchorage, AK
1986 – 1987

McDonough, Holland & Allen, Litigation Associate Sacramento, CA, 1987 – 1989

State of California, Staff Counsel, 1990 – 1998

CalSTRS, Organization Development Consultant & Trainer Sacramento, CA, 1998 – 2005

Kaiser Permanente, Organization Development Consultant Sacramento, CA, 2005 – 2007

I have been an independent leadership coach from 2007 to the present