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Executive Coach| Business Coach|Certified coach| One that has broken the glass ceiling
Dr. Iva Wilson is former president of a company with $500 million in sales in the electronic components market. She raised product quality and service to bring the company from last in the industry to second. She created a management team capable of working across boundaries and initiated Total Quality Management, expanding it to include principles of organizational learning. She also led a successful transformation in an acquired company, creating the conditions needed to retain employee loyalty. Her last leadership position was heading a start-up, building it from the ground up and getting it ready to produce the product for which, before she to took over, only research developed process was available.
Dr. Wilson's work at The Coaching Read more
Coaching is minimum 6 months. Typically, once a week, and no less than every two weeks.
Package price is $6,000. 50% paid in advance, and the rest at the end.
Team facilitation is $ 3,000 per day.
If the client is not satisfied, I refund my fee.
Your self evaluation has to be focused on agreed upon objectives. Don't talk about everything you did, but do mention if the objectives were changed during the performance period... Read more
If you believe that training and development will advance your skills the thing you need to do is share your view with your supervisor. What you need to do is prepare a compelling set of reasons how the company would benefit if the offer training and development... Read more
The best way to teach is by example! The young people are not different than we were when we were the same age. Sharing with them our own experiences and difficulties will help them understand what it means to be part of the team, and humble... Read more
I believe that everybody who is/was in a leadership role had one or another time such an experience. I think it is important that you "clear the air". I believe in an open and honest exchange with the employee that went and asked for a raise from your boss. Share what you know and tell the employee that it is important that he/she first talks to you as you are the one that would recommend him/her... Read more
Much valuable has been said. The only thing I want to urge you to do is to with his concurrence hire a coach who could help him make the right decision... Read more
Both suggestions are very good and I do not ave to add anything. Since I am a coach who works with individuals seeking a promotion and/or a new job. I think I could help you in your endeavor.
All the best, Iva Wilson.. Read more
I think the best thing to do is to speak with those potential individuals and explain the need to speak English with the reduced accent.
On the other hand, I came to this country from former Yugoslavia, spoke some British English and learned to speak American English as I worked here. I still have an accent and it was not in my way to become president of a large company... Read more
Your question is one that I hear lot in my coaching practice. There is not simple answer that fits all. It depends a lot on your expectations, the interviewer expectations and the environment in which you are being interviewed.
The only thing I can suggest to you is to hire a career coach who can help you in this process... Read more
You already got some good answers. The only thing I would add is to assess how are such questions answered in your company. Your boss might want you to give him a short proposal first and later a more strategic answer... Read more
Sounds to me you need to have a conversation with this individual to sort out why he is doing what he is doing and also why are you reacting the way you do. I have found the book "Crucial Conversations" to be very helpful in better understanding what needs to be done so such behavior stops. In my experience this behavior will not stop on it's own and worse, you will continue feeling bad about it.
... Read more
Let me just mention to you that I was myself mentored by my boss, who was a male. Though he was very good in the content area, he was not able to understand my needs fully. Eventually I did get his job(the president of the company) and decided to discontinue his mentorship (he retired).
I did reasonably well and cannot complain about what I achieved in my career. On the other hand I would have lo... Read more
I understand your bosses position as well as yours. You want your department to get the credit for what you do and I am wondering why this is not happening. I do not think your boss has to remind everybody of his departments contributions though as part of his reporting this should be obvious.
Maybe if all of you write and sign a letter to your boss asking him to make sure that the work that is d... Read more
You got some great advise from Mike, Jon and Michel. The only thing I want to add to this is how I did the strategic planning when I ran a company.
- I always involved two levels of management which in my case were approximately 60 people.
- I always used a facilitator to make things go smoothly in other words give anybody a chance to participate.
- We would divide the 60 people in smaller gro... Read more
Considering coaching to move ahead in your career is a very important decision you are making. I think it is better for you to engage a coach than a mentor.
Let me first clarify for you one thing. Coaching is not dependent on the particular skill the client has but it is important that a coaching process that both the client and the coach agree upon is used. I have been a coach for 10 plus years... Read more
I agree with what Mike said. I also believe you need to deal with this situation promptly and be very clear about your expectations and confirm it with your boss as well.
I agree wholeheartedly with Mike that engaging a coach for this individual. This would only work if the individual agrees to having a coach... Read more
My experience as an executive taught me that performance reviews have a lot to be desired. It is very important how we approach such a review whether you and the person you are reviewing will benefit from it. When I reviewed my direct reports the first question I asked: "What can I do different to make your job easier?" This started a conversation between me and the person I was reviewing that cre... Read more
I agree with both Lenny and Michael. What I want to add is having a mentor and/or coach who has business experience is a must. Not all coaches have a business background, though they might be good coaches. If you wish to talk to me about this more please do not hesitate to connect. My information is on the Mentors Guild website... Read more
I agree with Bruce. Though there is a lot of useful information on the web, there is no substitute to human interaction.
What you did not say is where are you located and what kind of speakers would your association be interested in. You have to first decide what subject the speakers need to talk about and this would depend on you associations goals. Second, you need to search for speakers that a... Read more
I also agree with Rick's comment as well as comments of all of those who responded to this question.
Managing change in any organization is a difficult task as people do not like change. How you proceed with this change depends first on your management style.
If you are command and control manager you just tell the people to do what you want them to do and wait for the circumstances to get y... Read more
I do not believe anybody can be convinced to get a coach. As a matter of fact if somebody is forced into a coaching experience against his/her will it will accomplish nothing. In my coaching career I had one case like that and I had to finally tell her boss that he is wasting his money and I am wasting my time and recommended that the coaching relationship be discontinued.
I like many others o... Read more
I was the president one of the largest divisions of Philips in the USA. After retiring from Philips I was the president of a start-up. We had our own board, a chairman who was not the employee of the start-up but was the employee of the company that started this start-up. There were many similarities in those jobs as well as differences.
What was similar was that in order to get funding for our w... Read more
Introducing a mentoring program in your company will be very valuable as long as you follow some rules.
1.The mentors have to have experience in the area that they will be mentoring others. In other words if you are planning leadership mentoring, you have to select leaders with proven leadership skills
2. The mentors responsibility should be to take advantage of what the person he/she will mento... Read more
Unfortunately I do not have enough information to be able to give you a good recommendation. Here are my questions:
1. Who selected these ambassadors?
2.How were they selected, i.e. what criteria did you use
3. Who was involved in the selection process?
4.How do other employees view these "ambassadors"?
All of the above is important to know before you make the changes. Please don't start making t... Read more
I can understand how you are feeling about where you are finding yourself. I had the privilege of running a start up business but had the advantage of previously running another business where I learned a lot what to do and what not to do.
It is important to focus on operational issues as they are today's issues that create revenue and income.
It is equally important to set appropriate strat... Read more
First, I want to acknowledge you for engaging a coach to help you become a more inclusive manager. Did the coach interview your direct reports, peers and your boss to present to you how others see you. I am a coach and this is the first step I take so the client can become aware of how he is seen by the people around him.
Did a coach make a coaching agreement with you? Do you understand what kind... Read more
I support what Henry said to you. What I would like to add is that before you divest that business you make sure you did everything that needs to be done so the business can succeed. Among other things I would expect that you will communicate with employees about your assessment of the performance of the practice and engage them in a process of finding solutions so the practice can be successful.
... Read more
Getting a merger accomplished is a great success. I wish you even more success in the future by taking advantage of everybody's knowledge who was and is part of the new company.
What you did not say anything about is whose name does a new company have, or did you select a new name. If you kept one of the names that the companies had, you are sending a message to everybody. If you selected a ne... Read more
You are obviously describing a culture that exist in the company. CEO has done things in the past that has created conditions you describe. This means that the only way to change is for the CEO to make changes how she acts.
Since the two of you know each other, I would suggest you talk to the CEO. Tell her what you are observing and then share with her how you think things would work better if th... Read more
What you are saying is that you want to engage employees in your strategic initiative but it seems you want employees to go along with your strategic initiatives.
To get the employees to be engaged requires a different process than to have the employees understand and accept your strategic initiative. The most important thing for you to do is to be very clear with your employees what you expect o... Read more
I would like to add the following to what What Mike and Jon already said.
1. Get a professional facilitator that will help the management team through a process to get the best answers
2. The best way to find one is to check with somebody you know and trust who used a professional facilitator; today there are many and not all of them are good
3. Ask the facilitator to interview the participant... Read more
If you are willing to reconsider, coaching this individual is a must, and it has to be part and parcel of hiring him back. Him saying that he is a changed man, should not be the measure... Read more
I think you should discuss this with the management team. They have to endorse it, or it will not work... Read more
As in any corporate transformation process the most important thing is to keep the employees abreast of the changes and the reasons for it. Also it will be useful to offer employees training so they can become capable of taking the new jobs that will come with the new technology. This has to be an open offer, i.e. nobody should be forced to do it, but everybody needs to understand the consequences... Read more
What I believe is important is to create the clarity necessary so employees and management can understand why you are proposing these actions. The biggest challenge would be if you do this in the vacuum and prepare something you believe is right without taking inputs from others.
If you have data supporting your proposal, you have to be willing to share the data and also be prepared to have other... Read more
I believe that you have to first agree with your team what it means to "think as a business owner". A facilitated off-site is the best way for you to proceed. Just make sure that you get a good facilitator, who is not part of your business and has no interest in being part of your business. Only such a person can do a good job of facilitating... Read more
Though I understand your desire to hire an outsider as a CEO so you can hit the ground running, it is important for you to get the support for that from other members of your management team. Without that who ever you hire could end up having problems and once the person is hired you will have no recourse. .. Read more
I think that the first thing to do is to have a conversation with the CEO, help him/her understand why there is a need for developing the leadership talent. Last but not least this should become a requirement that is part of the CEO performance assessment. The board has the right to request this, but in order to make it happen all board members have to be in agreement. If the rest of the board doe... Read more
In addition to what Carol Bellini recommended I am suggesting that you use a dialogue process to get your management team to openly communicate how to go about making the changes you are seeking. When doing the dialogue all of you should sit in a circle and if possible have a good dialogue facilitator.
The process opens up with the question you will ask and everybody will have an opportunity to o... Read more
Even if you use one firm, every coach in this firm is an individual that provides coaching based on his/her coaching model.
Even if everybody uses the same coaching model the coaching will depend on how the coach approaches his/her coaching process. In order for the coaching to create a common culture, this has to be the objective for each person being coached.
The coach will then have to figure... Read more
I firmly believe in collaborative leadership. The term Collaborative Leadership describes an emerging body of theory and management practice which is focused on the leadership skills and attributes needed to deliver results across organizational boundaries.
There are six elements important for leading a collaborative process:
• Assessing the Environment for Collaboration: Understanding the ... Read more
Having an open and honest conversation is very important. The book "Crucial Conversations" will give you some insights as to how to conduct such conversations. From what you wrote, it seems to me that you would consider the conversation with this direct report as crucial.
Sometimes involving an outside person can help you get to the answer without the pain. It has been my experience as a former e... Read more
I agree with Bill Shirley. The only thing I want to add is to create the conditions of trust, respect and collaboration is a long process. The sooner they start the better. They might need outside help. This is what I did when I started the same process while the president of a company... Read more
I agree with David. Being able to ask questions and not assume to know the answers is the right way to do things... Read more
Shifting a culture to be more responsive to the needs of the market is a big job. No matter what you do, it will take time. The best way to proceed is to engage the people in the organization and have them participate in the process.
I do not believe that HR or the Leadership Team can create the conditions by communicating so that this change will come through.
I am not sure how many employees d... Read more
I agree with what Michael said.
What I want to add to it that it is very important that employees are comfortable with the sale as they do not know the new owners and cannot assess how they do things and who they are as people. Keeping the conversation with your employees fully transparent, allowing your employees to ask questions and answer those honestly will make it easier for the transitio... Read more
Building trust is a process. You say what you will do it and do it. People will trust you once they believe in you and that takes time. Though you might be a trustworthy person this does not mean that other will see you in the same light.
In conclusion say what you will do and do it. With time people will start trusting you. I do not believe that this can be
"sped up".. Read more
In addition to what Stew said, you need to have a strategic plan as well as deployed action plan so you can show the potential buyer all the steps you have been taking to make your business successful. You also need to asses the value of your business and determine what do you want to get from the potential buyer to who you are selling the business. This will I am sure end up in negotiations, but ... Read more
I agree with Jonathan. I am recommending another book I find very useful: "Crucial Conversations" http://amzn.com/0071401946.. Read more
I think what is important is to have a conversation with the Executive who you believe is making conclusions based on a limited knowledge. This can be tricky and you have to be very clear about how to start such a conversation. IF this is crucial to you, then I recommend you read the book "Crucial Conversations" which teaches us how to communicate with people. If it is not crucial you might just s... Read more
Performance appraisal has in my experience never been the vehicle to change the culture in an organization or the behaviours of the people. I have found that to change peoples behaviours coaching is the best vehicle. Through effective coaching starting on the top one can with time achieve a change in culture... Read more
I agree with Karl as the reporting relationship is less important then the agreement about what you expect the HR manager to do and how the two of you align on those requirements... Read more
I agree with the CFO that there has to be a ROI benefit coming from coaching. I also agree with what Karl Grass and Thom Dennis said. I would like to add to this following things that the client needs to do, and the things that the coach has to do:
Client
1. Wants to be coached and agrees to set objectives for the future he/she is committed to. Those can include ROI for the company
2.Actively par... Read more
As a new CEO, I found extraordinary demands on me and my team. With personal discussions, readings, and team interactions, Iva helped my management team move the company forward, helping me and my team members develop highly productive personal habits and leadership methods…Iva brings an unusual breadth of interests and experiences to bear on the real problems faced by senior executives leading their companies in difficult times.
Over a six month period Iva Wilson of "The Coaching Collaborative" worked with our Strategic Planning Group for Visual Rehabilitation. She led the group through an intensive planning experience with such a high degree of organization, creativity, astuteness, sensitivity and goodwill that we not only developed a sound product, but we also developed into a true group with easy communication, mutual trust and shared goals. A videotape of this meeting would have been an excellent tool for training facilitators.
Iva Wilson was a very effective member of our Board of Trustees during a period of growth and development of our health system. Her significant experience as a leader of major corporation was invaluable as we developed our strategic vision and implementation plans. She provided tremendous support and leadership advice to me in assessing our development plans. She was very helpful in translating lessons learned in her corporate leadership experience to the health care environment.
Iva Wilson served as my coach while I transitioned into a new leadership position at an inner city high school. My role as principal was both demanding and stressful. Iva was professional, firm, truthful and encouraging. Her use of critical praise was extremely effective, and I appreciated the fact that I could contact her outside of our scheduled meetings. I use the techniques that I learned from Iva in my current role, and I would recommend her coaching to anyone!
When I started my coaching with Iva I was at the beginning of a long term personal crisis. Through her guidance I was able to gain personal insight on how I was approaching the different tasks which allowed me to change my thought process and gave me new strategies to use. She showed me how to gain the oppositions perspective to better understand where they were coming from. I was able to gain confidence in myself and not get overwhelmed by the complexities of the problem. I look forward to working with her again!
During our coaching process Iva helped me decide on goals to set, and define steps to reach those goals. She used various coaching tools, such as role play and mentoring to help me come to my own conclusions. After a few coaching sessions Iva was able to help me identify potential roadblocks and assist me in finding a way around them. Her coaching skills, management skills and business acumen helped me a lot in coming to my own conclusions as to what I have to do to move ahead and become a better manager. The particular highlights in the coaching process where: learning how to delegate to my team, realizing that everybody is self-motivated and being encouraged to push through difficult projects.
Overall I was very satisfied with the progress and continue using Iva as a coach.
Iva Wilson has an extraordinary ability to listen. She hears one clearly, and repeats what she has heard you say, then asks thoughtful questions about your statements that helps one see things in a different way. Her experience is evident in her understanding of life situations that may seem difficult to navigate. Iva is direct, yet empathetic and kind in her approach. Her commitment to establishing a trusting relationship is absolute. She is a powerful leader and you will be lucky to have her as a coach.
Iva helped me on my journey as a great coach. I value this experience as Iva afforded me an opportunity to reflect on the issues that I wanted to explore. Acting as a soundboard Iva greatly assisted me to get insight into my current state of affairs. Furthermore, it was very beneficial to me to explore areas that I became aware of during our coaching journey, which was not necessarily part of my focus when I started out. Iva's support assisted me greatly to explore the areas of my interest, identify areas that I was not aware of and overall to get a balanced view of where I am at at this point in my life.
Iva Wilson coached me for 12 sessions during September – October 2013. She helped me design goals around my desired outcomes and areas of concern – both in the professional and personal spheres. I am pleased to report that all the goals set for the coaching period were achieved. Additionally, through our coaching conversations, I achieved greater clarity around a number of issues. Her powerful questions led me to shift my thinking over some long held underlying beliefs.
Iva is an empathic listener and very patient as a coach. Both qualities lend to her success as a coach. As coach and client, we were located thousands of miles apart, with nine hours of time difference between our countries. This fact did not negatively impact the effectiveness of Iva's coaching. Due to her attentiveness, she grasped the essence of my situation very quickly – much to my surprise. She also showed a keen interest in understanding what was going on in my country, to assimilate the context I was coming from.
I have learned a great deal from my interactions with Iva. She is a great coach and I recommend her to any prospective coaching clients who want to move forward and get greater clarity in their situations, dilemmas and overall thinking.
I came in contact with Iva in my former job as Technical Director at First Technology Safety Systems. The company had retained The Coaching Collaborative to help address executive team dynamics that were having an adverse effect on the company's ability to hold management to critical strategic objectives. As my personal coach Iva focused on me, how I see myself and how others see me. She also focused on critical life issues for me like finding the right balance between personal and working life, making choices and perhaps most important, learning how to use my abilities to my best advantage. I highly recommend Iva to anyone who wants to see themselves and others as they truly are, to develop relations based on mutual understanding, trust, respect and integrity.
