About the Founder – Waypoint Strategies

What makes coaching different from other types of support for the client?

The coaching relationship is a partnership between client and coach. It is voluntary and driven by the goals of the client. The coach provides a structure in which the client can explore how they can be successful. The coach serves as a sounding board and accountability partner.

What keeps the coaching process from bogging down?

The client and coach establish a timeframe for meeting the desired outcomes. The accountability measures keep the client on track and moving forward. The coaching relationship is focused on the clients’ future.

How does coaching differ from performance management?

Performance management is a process usually implemented by the client’s employer. It may, but does not have to be voluntary. Performance management does not require confidentiality in the disclosure or use of information about the individual involved.

Does Waypoint Strategies offer consulting services and what is the difference between coaching and consulting?

Waypoint Strategies does offer consulting services. In the consulting relationship the consultant is paid to share their knowledge and expertise with the client. In the coaching relationship, the coach serves as a sounding board for the client and allows/encourages the client to “find the answer”. The coach’s role is to create an environment in which the client is empowered and encouraged to take a journey of self-discovery and active learning to find the way forward.

Who pays for coaching?

Coaching is often paid for by the individual client. Some organizations provide and pay for coaches for key employees. In the situation where the employer pays the coach directly or reimburses the client, the primary relationship is between the coach and client. The rules around confidentiality apply and information shared in the coaching relationship cannot be shared with the employer.

I am fortunate to have had an amazing, rewarding and unexpected professional career. My career has provided opportunities to lead successful teams in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. I served in the C-suite or at the CEO level for over twenty years. I did not leave college or law school expecting the leadership opportunities that have been presented to me. I was hired as a relatively young, only female and first and only black attorney in the Indiana Bell Law Department. This position brought incredible challenges and equally incredible opportunities to learn how to lead.

I certainly did not expect to become general counsel of a local telephone company at the age of 38. Nor did I expect to leave the practice of law to run the supply chain and real estate operations for a $6B regional telephone operating company. With a team of 1600 colleagues, the department was also responsible for managing food services, logistics, fleet operations, transportation, library services and corporate security for a five-state region. Likewise, I did not anticipate that I would become president of another regional telephone operating company (SBC). In this capacity my responsibilities included leading the company’s legislative, regulatory and external affairs agenda within the state of Illinois.

Most of what I know about leadership I learned from my thirteen years in the Bell System. I am a proud alumna of the system and am grateful for the learning laboratory it provided. I have been able to take what I learned at the “phone” company to leadership roles in other organizations. I have held executive level positions at several other companies and along the way added to my learning and leadership portfolio.

The Hollins Group provided a different learning and leadership laboratory. At this small minority owned firm that provided executive search services to corporations, academic institutions and nonprofits, I learned how to manage and lead projects with fewer resources. I learned that cooperation and collaboration yielded greater results than the authoritarian approach in vogue in corporate America at that time.

The most significant shift in my leadership journey occurred when I accepted a position as Executive Director at Orchard Village, a nonprofit organization that provides support services for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Board governance, constant fundraising and wrestling money from the state for services provided under Medicaid required a different level of stakeholder engagement and leadership. With a staff of dedicated and committed individuals I was able to begin a strategic planning process to address the challenges facing the organization.

My most recent leadership experience was President of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, a position I held for seven years. Like many nonprofits, day to day operations left little time or energy for the long-term issues facing the organization. Leading change is complex and multi-faceted. I relied on many of the skills I had learned in other organizations to implement a wide range of process and service improvements. Communication, persistence and courage were essential.

Over the course of my career I did expect to work hard, and I did. What changed the trajectory of my career was a recognition by others that I was capable of leading people. Being trusted to lead and being given the opportunities to learn and to lead was the determining factor in how my career has unfolded. For that I am grateful to my coaches and mentors who throughout my career shared knowledge that fueled my success. I am grateful for every leadership opportunity I have had.

I bring to the business the knowledge that leadership is many things. It is visionary. It is about service. It is a calling. AND it is difficult and often lonely. In answering the question are leaders “born or made”, my answer is yes. Leaders are born and made. At Waypoint Strategies we believe that leadership is a muscle we are all born with and yet must be continually exercised and developed. Leadership can be learned, and we help our clients learn how to be effective leaders. We believe in our clients’ leadership potential and our ability to help them succeed. Let us show you the way!

Warm Regards,

JWL