Cathy, what has been your pathway into Executive Coaching? After close to two decades in the corporate world, I established my own coaching and consulting firm in 2000 (Learning Paradigms, Inc.). It was one of the most impulsive things I’ve ever done, but I have enjoyed the journey tremendously. For 12 of the last 25 years, I focused primarily on consulting with senior leaders in the areas of strategic planning, leadership development and organizational change. I did lots of executive coaching – alongside my consulting – during this time, but it wasn’t until I came across Dr. Brene Brown’s work in 2013 that I decided to become a fully-credentialed coach. To attend her national certification in the Daring Way, you had to be a licensed therapist or a certified coach, and I was neither one at the time. That was the impetus I needed to get my official coaching credential, and then to become a Professionally Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation. What is your background and what qualified you to become an executive coach? I got my BA in Psychology from Amherst College and then went on to get my MS in Learning & Organizational Change at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy. In between earning my two degrees, I worked in commercial lending at a major bank and then transitioned into Change Management at Andersen Consulting. While at Andersen, I figured out that I loved the interplay between business and psychology which led me further into my own consulting and coaching work. Consulting allows me to collaborate with leaders and their teams to help them solve mission-critical challenges, and coaching enables me to go deeper with individuals in creating the “unlock” that takes their performance to the next level. What do you love most about coaching leaders? I love creating trusting relationships with clients, getting to know them at a deeper level and then helping them unleash their full potential. To achieve this outcome, I frequently use a 360-degree assessment called the Leadership Circle Profile (LCP). This tool is built around the Universal Leadership Model, which enables us to understand our effectiveness in terms of underlying behavior patterns. I have applied this tool extensively in my coaching engagements, and it has generated the most significant and sustainable change with the greatest number of leaders over the longest period of time. What has been your single greatest accomplishment as a business owner? The thing I’m most proud is the impact I’ve had with my clients over the last 30+ years. Inspiring and enabling leaders to reach their highest level of performance has been the most fulfilling part of my career. Successfully running my own firm with this as my core purpose has been an amazing experience! I’m also pleased to share that I released a book in April 2024 entitled Building Your Blueprint: The Leader’s Playbook for Creating Strategy & Team Alignment. It maps out a fourphase approach, called the Strategic Blueprint Process (SBP), to help leaders and their teams think and plan more strategically. This HOW-TO guide is dedicated to my clients and filled with tips and tools designed to enable leaders — at every level in an organization — to set clear, longterm direction and develop an action plan for successful execution. With practice, many more leaders can become experts in this process. CONTACT Catherine Z. Ach President, Learning Paradigms, Inc. Email: cathy@lpi-strategy.com Web: www.learningparadigms.com CEO Today Executive Coaching Awards 2024 - USA - - 49 -
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