Arete Coach: The Art & Science of Executive Coaching

This is episode 1078 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach Brent O'Bannon, MCC, who is an executive coach, CEO of Strengths Champion Solutions Workplace Training and Executive Coaching, ICF Master Certified Coach, Certified Strengths Coach, executive coach, keynote speaker, best-selling author, and human potential expert.  Brent O’Bannon is the 1st ever Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. Through his expertise as an executive coach and a human potential expert, Brent helps businesses, leaders, teams, and organizations achieve excellence. Brent’s vision is to “Champion Strengths for Global Excellence by training 10,000 Strengths Champion Certified Coaches.” Brent has facilitated more than 27,000 one-to-one coaching sessions and spoken more than 700 times to over 350 organizations. Brent has been coaching for over 28 years and he uses his background as a Licensed Professional Counselor, EAP Consultant, MCC, his MBS in Counseling Psychology, and Gallup Strengths Coach Certification as a source of wisdom and insight to help his clients grow stronger, work smarter, and live richer. In 2014, Brent’s book “Selling Strengths: A Little Book for Executives and Life Coaches About Using Your Strengths to Get Paying Clients” was ranked #1 on Amazon in Entrepreneurship and Mentoring and Coaching. In this episode we explore Brent's roots as a coach, moving from ministry to counseling, to coaching. Learn about his experiences. Share in his hardships. Gain wisdom from his strengths and insights. Learn more about coaching excellence, coaching strengths, and other coaching topics at AreteCoach.io. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on January 27, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved. Strengthspreneur" ® is a registered mark of Brent O'Bannon; learn more at brentobannon.com.

This is episode 1077 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach David McKnight, who is an executive coach, image consultant, personal brand strategist, speaker, author, and change management specialist. In this episode we explore "Leveraging Executive Brand, Image, and Presence" and David's journey in executive coaching and his 'executive make-over' business. David McKnight is a Certified Professional Coach and Energy Leadership Master Practitioner with iPEC Coaching. He is also the CEO and President of McKnight Image Lab, where he provides a unique combination of image consulting and executive coaching. Through McKnight Image Lab, David helps professionals transform their professional presence, personal brand, performance, effectiveness, and productivity. Before starting McKnight Image Lab, David was a management consultant with companies such as Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and eLoyalty. He has also held several positions such as Head of Change Management, Global Head of Business Architecture and Solution, Sr. Enterprise Integration Manager. David has also worked as an image consultant within the fashion industry. From these experiences, David has combined his love for style with his corporate knowledge and started helping business leaders through executive coaching and image consulting. He has been featured in The New York Times, New York Post, The Huffington Post, and INC. Magazine. He has helped leaders from Verizon, Goldman Sachs, American Express, Spotify, and many other leading brands. He is also the author of, “The Zen of Executive Presence. Learn more about executive presence and other coaching topics at AreteCoach.io. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on March 9, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1076 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach Mary O'Sullivan, PCC, who is an executive coach, HR consultant, speaker, and author. Through her company Encore Executive Coaching and HR Consulting, Mary helps executives improve their communications skills, demonstrate more positive and assertive behavior, and master their emotional intelligence. She also helps executives address workplace harassment, diversity, and other moral issues. Mary is an ICF Professional Certified Coach, a certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner, and has graduated certificate in coaching from the University of Texas. She is also a Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) Senior Certified Professional. In 2021, Mary published her second book, “The Leader You Don’t Want to Be” along with a companion workbook. In this episode we explore Mary's journey into coaching from corporate America, working for Raytheon and other industrial companies, and her transition into her life passion of executive coaching. She shares several powerful questions and a metaphor for exploring one's Towed Array of emotional experiences that might be impacting one's everyday performance. And we discuss her experience writing her most recent book. Discover more on these topics at AreteCoach.io. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on January 18, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1075 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach Ken Stibler who lives in Dallas, TX. Ken is an executive coach, CEO, Executive Advisor, Vistage Master Chair, and International Speaker. Ken Stibler began his career as a high-impact leader by coaching the 1982 College of Charleston men's basketball team to victory in the NAIA National Championship. His business and consulting career spans more than 30 years in the energy, telecommunications, athletics, automotive, and insurance fields. In a variety of top leadership roles for public and private companies, Ken has directed multi-million dollar P&L responsibilities, 25+ M&A transactions valued at over $1.5 billion, and managed thousands of people. Now Ken serves as a catalyst for change as a Vistage Master Chair, the CEO of Strategic Integration Services, and a renowned international speaker. On the podcast Ken shares his life journey into coaching, starting with basketball, and then working into business. He shares his best questions and tools for business owner accountability and employee engagement. He shares his mantra for those he coaches (with a sound similar to words of Robin Sharma) adding in the coach voice: "risk more than is required, learn more than is normal, be strong, be kinder than expected, show your courage, shatter your limits, lead, excel stay value, adore mastery, aim for generous, release mediocrity." Spend a few minutes with Ken and you can hear the coach in his voice. Given the coverage of the topics, I've titled this episode:  "From Basketball to Business Coaching and Life's Lessons Learned." I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as I enjoyed sharing time with Ken. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on April 14, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1074 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen, and wherein we revisit 'The Great Resignation" thread and explore navigating labor scarcity and wage inflation. There are two times as many open positions as there identified unemployed workers to fill the positions. A scarcity of labor is impacting wages, worker sentiment, and compensation. In this episode we explore 10 pockets to find more talent today; and 9 ways to pay your employees higher wages from your internal company resources. We discuss incentives, compensation, gainsharing, and qualities of great places to work. This is the second episode on the Great Resignation, and those desiring more information are encouraged to listen to episode 1050 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen, and we explore 'The Great Resignation or The Turning Away From, and Turning To… Trend" was released on 11/29/21. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on May 15, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1073 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach Danny Creed who is an executive development coach, business coach, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, coach recruiting expert, and musician. In this episode, Danny talks about his path into coaching, and his journey as an entrepreneur, musician, and coach. He shares his wisdom from his book 'A Life Best Lived.' He speaks about the value of focusing not on what if, but rather what is., and moving intentionally forward. He talks about learning from failure, setting up strong resilient foundations for your business and life, and how he views his role as a coach as being the 'lighthouse of possibility.' Danny has been with FocalPoint Coaching and Training International of Arizona for 15 years. After starting with FocalPoint as a keynote speaker in 2007, Danny started business coaching for musicians and performing arts professionals in 2008. That same year he also started coaching and consulting executives. Danny is also a coach recruiting expert and corporate trainer with FocalPoint as well. Today, Danny has been coaching for 14 years, is a volunteer mentor and coach for Brothers in Blue, and volunteer and mentor for Junior Achievement of Arizona. Danny is also a best-selling author with his books “Straight Talk on Thriving in Business” “Champions Never Make Cold Calls”, “Bootstrap business”, “A Life Best Lived...”, “The SUCCESSFUL MIND”, and “The Success Spirit.” He is a 6-time winner of the Brian Tracy Award for Sales Excellence, 2010 FocalPoint International Coaching Practice of the Year, and 2019 FocalPoint Coaching and Training International Coaching Practice of the Year. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on December 15, 2021. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1072 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach Dr. Shahrzad Sherry Nooravi, who is an executive coach, organizational psychologist, speaker, author, CEO and Founder of Strategy Meets Performance, and an ICF Master Certified Coach (MCC). Today she works from San Diego, California, and helps business leaders through her organization Strategy Meets Performance. In our interview, Shahrzad talks about the importance of creating intentional culture, something she calls building the nest. We explore her coaching journey and talk about the nuances of executive coaching today. Shahrzad has been coaching through her organization and has served as adjunct faculty for the Center for Creative Leadership since 2010. In 2021 Shahrzad was the Vice-Chair for the Organization Development Network and President of the San Diego Chapter of the International Coaching Federation. Not only does Shahrzad have her MCC and doctorate in organizational development she has also received multiple awards such as 2019 Woman to Watch from the California Women’s Leadership Association and 2015 Circulate San Diego’s Citizen of the Year. Furthermore, she is also a highly successful author, speaker, group coach, and workshop leader covering topics such as culture, teamwork, and resilience. Her upcoming book, “A Powerful Culture Starts with You” breaks down culture and leadership in a unique and interesting manner with case studies and tips for leaders.  Discover more on these topics are at AreteCoach.io. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on January 20, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1071 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach Jason Thompson who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jason is co-founder and managing partner of Axíes Group, and an executive coach, Vistage Chair, CEO, mentor, author, and speaker. Jason has advised numerous companies in the areas of strategy and execution from Fortune 500, mid-market, and start-ups across many industries throughout the US. Jason helps leaders transform the way they see themselves, their organizations, and those they serve. In 2021, Jason and his business partner Bill Leider became best-selling authors with their book, “Mastering Your Balance.” Topics explored in this podcast episode include Jason's early background, his coaching journey, the difference between consulting and coaching, his experience co-authoring his book, his Balanced Organization Assessment, discussion on Emotional Fortitude,, working with silence, and Silence prioritizing time. He shared that sometimes he worked for cash pay, and other times for the value of a tomato when the experience itself was pay enough. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on February 28, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1070 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and guest coach Phil Johnson. Phil comes to us from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He is an executive coach, trainer, international speaker, leadership and emotional intelligence advisor, and creator of the Master of Business Leadership Program and podcast. On the podcast, Phil talks about overcoming challenges and the need for emotional intelligence. Phil helps leaders develop their emotional intelligence and leadership skills. Phil also runs the MBL Youtube channel and co-hosts the MBL podcast. Phil has also been an executive coach since 2007. Phil has published several books such as the MBL Success Map, MBL Tribal Wisdom, The Servant Warrior Leader, and The New Economic Currency.. Discover more on these topics are at AreteCoach.io. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on January 3, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1069 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen with a special episode on the Economy: Economic Outlook and Trends Q2 2022." In this episode we explore the major economy trends and issues impacting the US and global political economy. Discussed are topics of inflation, Federal Reserve Bank policy, economic impacts of War, and inflation impacts on wages, prices, and supply within the economy. Sorensen identified green shoots of opportunity and economic headwinds, and he explores the recessions of times past to determine clues for our future situation. The podcast is helpful for business owners, CEOs, key executives, executive coaches and executive peer groups. Severin Sorensen is an economist, executive coach, and serial entrepreneur with a keen curiosity for business and economic trends. Severin is CEO of ePraxis LLC, a premier-level executive headhunting, talent selection, and executive coaching company. Severin is a highly sought Vistage Speaker with over 250+ presentations worldwide on hiring top talent, innovation, and economic trends. Severin was a Vistage Chair (2010-2018) of three Vistage Groups in Salt Lake City, UT, and during this period he was a repeat Mentor Chair and awarded the 2011 Vistage Rookie Chair of the Year Award. Prior to Chairing, Severin was a Vistage/TEC member in Washington DC (1999-2004) while he owned and operated a company he founded called Sparta Consulting Corporation (1994-2005), a management consulting, security systems integration, and remote video monitoring company; Severin sold this company in 2005 and it continues today as part of Interface Security Systems, the 7th largest security systems integrator in the US (2018). Severin was a former “Special Assistant to the President” at the White House where he had the high honor to work for President George H.W. Bush (POTUS 41) (1992-93). Severin earned a graduate degree (M.Phil.) in economics from King’s College, Cambridge, University, England, and two undergraduate degrees in economics and political science from the University of Utah. While an undergraduate, Severin was the Editor in Chief of the Utah Forum: A journal on international political economy. Severin is the author of Economic Misery and Crime Waves (2009), a book that chronicles the Great Depression (1929-42) and the situation leading up to the Great Recession (2007-2009). Today, Severin prepares a quarterly economic overview for business coaches and business owner/operators on the economy identifying key behavioral economic trends that impact businesses and their opportunity frontiers. More on the topic is available at AreteCoach.io. The Arete Coach Podcast seeks to explore the art and science of executive coaching. You can find out more about this podcast at aretecoach.io. This episode was produced on April 10, 2022. Copyright © 2022 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.