Career, Retirement & Executive Coaching

Our Life Portfolio® perspective exposes executives and professionals to a positive, forward-thinking and self-reliant mindset about their careers, and beyond, to maximize their productivity and their opportunity for work/life fulfillment.  We coach accomplished executives and professionals at critical inflection points in their careers to support leadership development, retention, an anticipated retirement, or separation from the organization.  Through our coaching programs, individuals will make more informed decisions and have greater control over their work/life, both short- and longer-term.

Organizations that deliver on their mission and goals with excellence do so by optimizing the value and impact of their leaders.  Executives and professionals will be more productive and engaged when they know what's ahead.  Gaining greater clarity and planning are critical to being fully engaged at work and living a fully satisfying life, now and in the future.  Feelings of uncertainty and anxiety will be reduced and productivity will increase. 

Our Career/Leadership Development, Retirement and Executive Coaching programs, summarized below, are available for support by organizations or self-funded by individuals.
 

Career and Leadership Development Coaching

Today, accomplished individuals often face a crossroads in their careers.  With a short- and longer-term planning focus, our pragmatic and creative approach will help high-potential individuals see how they can advance their careers at their companies, make work/life decisions for the right reasons, and get on the "right" paths.  Other executives may feel burned out or boxed in with few choices.  They may be viewed as underperforming, disengaged and inconsistent in their productivity.  Our coaching programs help minimize departures, develop and retain talent, and enhance leadership potential.  Our programs can even replace, or significantly increase, the effectiveness of a sabbatical.

For some executives, serving on an outside corporate board can often accelerate dynamic leadership growth and bring new learning to the organization.  Through our Corporate Board Program, we help individuals effectively find the board positions that are right for them.
   

Executive Coaching

New Directions offers customized executive coaching for a variety of organizations from C-level leaders in Fortune 500 companies to founders of entrepreneurial ventures.  We serve as thinking partners who help executives become more capable leaders and managers.  Coaching is particularly effective in times of change, including promotions and stretch assignments as well as in times of crisis or duress.  By providing real-time feedback and guidance, our executive coaches work with leaders not only on executing their day-to-day responsibilities, but also on achieving long-term success.

Through our coaching process, we guide our clients to stay in step with their organization's strategy and operating model to deliver the best results.  Clients learn how to monitor themselves and understand their style so they can influence others and accomplish company objectives.  Performance outcomes from executive coaching focus on achieving accountabilities through stronger working relationships with supervisors, direct reports and/or clients, greater teamwork, reduced conflict and increased job satisfaction.
 

Retirement Coaching

Through our Life Portfolio Program®, we work with executives and professionals often one to two years before their anticipated departure or retirement from an organization.  When organizations plan for succession, they often struggle with ways to help selected senior executives stay, re-deploy, or move on.  These same individuals are looking into "traditional retirement" with some anxiety.  They may remain quiet to avoid being viewed as lame ducks or having their positions usurped.  Still others hold on for fear of losing their reputation, identity and usefulness.  Productivity may slip and valuable experience and knowledge not passed on. In our program, we focus on each executive's productivity, satisfaction, and planning for the day they leave the organization.  We continue our coaching until they are fully engaged in new pursuits.

Whether experienced through a lens of gaining greater purpose and meaning, seeking unrealized professional potential, or lessening the uncertainty of what's next, our executive coaching infused with our Life Portfolio® perspective, will help smooth organizational change and succession planning, benefiting both the organization and the individual. 
     
 

What Clients Have to Say

"My responsibilities shifted under a reorganization within a large public corporation. They needed my expertise, but I was no longer management.  I was more than ready to leave.  I started a work/life coaching program with ND.  I began to prepare for my next life chapter, became more engaged at work than I expected, and arranged to mentor my successors.  I left two years later on a very positive note, realizing I was ready in ways I hadn't previously understood. I'm at peace now in a way I've never been before." 

-- Current head of human resources for a start-up healthcare foundation

"If I saw that my ND advisor was scheduled on my calendar, I might have cringed because we are so busy and how could I possibly fit one more thing into my day.  However, because my calls were scheduled, it forced me to have the conversations.  I always felt better during and after we spoke.  Going through the Life Portfolio coaching program helped me be more productive on the job and less anxious because I was planning both for the short- and longer-term.  A lot of thoughts have been set in motion.  I'm less burdened knowing what I choose to do now will support my future plans."

-- Executive physician at a healthcare organization

"It was very beneficial to work with someone (ND advisor) who understands my issues and as they relate to the organization, business and succession.  I wouldn't have thought or been inclined to talk with anyone at work about this.  No one talks about this at work.  You challenged my assumptions and made me realize I couldn't assume/count on what I thought was going to happen.  It made me rethink how and what I was planning."

-- CEO of a technology firm