Arete Coach: The Art & Science of Executive Coaching

This is episode 1051 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and his guest Cindy Hesterman.

In this episode, I speak with Cindy Hesterman, who is an executive coach, Vistage Chair, and recipient of the 2004 Vistage Robert Nourse Chair of the Year Award, and the 2013 Red Scott Award. Cindy has been an executive coach for 19 years with Vistage Florida and currently works with CEOs and other top executives in the Tampa, Florida area. She facilitates her three Vistage group meetings and stays busy with almost 50 one-to-one executive coaching sessions each month. 

In this episode, we explore Cindy's background as a coach, powerful questions that she asks, and several tools she uses such as the "Find Seven Solutions Tool," the "Phone Call Test." We discuss the current economy and the importance of the 13-week forward-looking cash-flow projection. We also discuss managing and preventing conflicts of interest in peer groups. Before Cindy's role as an executive coach, she was a CPA and finance and accounting executive, holding positions such as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Accounting. In those roles, Cindy was involved in over 35 M&A transactions and an IPO. Today, along with her coaching through Vistage and her position as a Vistage Chair, Cindy is also a certified Predictive Index Practitioner. For several years, she also trained new Vistage Chairs in Florida, Michigan and New Mexico. 

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 interview was conducted on November 29, 2021 via Zoom Video.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is 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."

Popular news sources report that employees are leaving the workplace in mass and looking for new jobs. They call it the great resignation. What is going on, why are employees leaving? Are all employees leaving? And what can employers do to stop the unwanted regrettable resignations of employees? The episode explores the facts related to the great resignation, and offers executive coaches and employers some suggestions on how to attract, retain, and care for your talent. We review what top employers (e.g., Google, Apple, Netflix, Facebook) and others are doing, and what small businesses can do to make their work places more attractive to employees.

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 November 28, 2021.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1049 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and his guest Zachary Green, author of Warrior Entrepreneur.

This past week in America we celebrated Veterans Day, a day set aside each year to give thanks and honor to our veterans for their bravery, sacrifice, and love for their country. The pathway for veterans to move from active duty military service into the private sector is challenging for some, and I wanted to highlight today examples of how veterans provide high-value culture, courage, curiosity, and integrity needed in our businesses today. And I invite you to explore how to create opportunities in the companies you work with to provide open windows of opportunities for our Vets. 

In this episode, I speak with Zachary Green who is a former US Marine, serial Entrepreneur, and author of the Warrior Entrepreneur. Zachary is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and was a lieutenant with his local fire department. Zachary is the founder and former CEO of MN8 LumAware/Foxfire. Zachary grew the company from the trunk of his car to over $30MM in organic sales and $5MM in venture funding. The product line is now distributed by The Home Depot and counts the US Government, Walmart, Kroger, General Electric Aircraft Engines, and Procter and Gamble as customers. Zachary has testified in front of the US House of Representative Small Business committee and was named Entrepreneur of the year by Governor, John Kasich. Zachary was also selected by the Obama White House as one of 10 entrepreneurs to represent the United States at the Global Entrepreneur Summit. Zachary’s new book, Warrior Entrepreneur was released in September of 2021, and in the first few weeks, it launched to bestseller status on Amazon in several categories and countries. 

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 interview was conducted on November 15, 2021 via Zoom Video.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1048 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen, and we explore 'Knowing Your Kenny Rogers Line." Knowing when to hold em, and when to fold em is important in gambling, and in life and business.

This episode explores the ballad of Kenny Rogers' The Gambler and lessons we can learn that apply to our times. We look at emergent inflation its impact on asset prices and the economy impacting ones decision-making. Explored in this episode are examples of decision-making under uncertainty for real estate and business sales. Severin, CEO of EPRAXIS LLC, shares examples from his own business and personal experiences. A cameo appearance from Bill Clark, executive coach, on a painful experience (from AC Episode 1004) where he learned more about reading a market and perseverance.

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 November 15, 2021.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1047 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and his guest Jill Douka, MCC.

In this episode, I speak with Jill Douka, MBA, MCC, from Athens, Greece, who is an executive coach, best-selling author, and Director of the Global Academy of Coaching. We explore topics of personal development, coaching specialization, entrepreneurship, and coaching coaches. Jill's career started out as a dancer, moved to event management, Olympics HR management, and later into executive and life coaching. She is the author of three best-selling life coaching books on topics of love, life, and following your passion. She has a new book in publication called, Women Now. Her favorite quote will be familiar to Star Wars fans... "do or do not, there is no try."

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 interview was conducted on November 2, 2021 via Zoom Video.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1046 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen, and in this episode, we revisit powerful questioning, a topic we first reviewed in episode 1021. Have you ever wondered, what makes a question powerful? The power of the question is the response it awakens. In this episode, we review defining characteristics of essential questions that can be used to seed great questions. We explore dozens of powerful questions that can be used in executive coaching settings. We also review powerful questions used as tools by outstanding executive coaches previously interviewed in the Arete Coach Podcast series from episodes 1008 to 1037.

In this episode are powerful questions offered by great executive coaches drawn from prior episodes of the Arete Coach Podcast (ACP): appearing in order of appearance in this podcast: Larry Cassidy (ACP e:1009); Barry Goldberg (ACP e:1011); Phil Holberton (ACP e:1019); Steve Brody (ACP e:1025); Mark Taylor (ACP e:1022); Jeannette Hobson (ACP e:1030); Adam Harris (ACP e:1008); Lisha Davidovits (ACP e:1012); Jay Curry (ACP e:1013); Katherine Crewe (ACP e:1015); Carol Steinberg (ACP e:1031); Rustica Lamb (ACP e:1023); Lane Monson (ACP e:1024); Sally Rhoads LCSW (ACP e:1027); Steve Leach ACP e:1035); Janet Fogarty (ACP e:1036); Conor Neil (ACP e:1037); Tim Fulton (ACP e:1014; Bud Carter (ACP e:1016); Jim Lindell (ACP e:1017); David Highley (ACP e:1028); Alan Weinstein (ACP e:1029); Jim Canfield ACP e:1032).

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 October 29, 2021.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1045 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen, where this special episode focuses on 'golf and business."

There have been 301 research-based studies of golf exploring the health impacts of golf on the human body. Thankfully golf is healthy like a walk in the park, and in this episode, we examine briefly the beneficial health impact of golf on the executives and players generally, then we dive into golf as a metaphor for business and the lessons we can learn as executive coaches. Lastly, we review 10 sage and coachable business golf etiquette reminders to make your business golf outings more valuable, pleasant, and rewarding. Memorably, portions of this episode were recorded on location at the Royal Hawaiian Golf Club on Oahu, Hawaii shortly after finishing a challenging and rewarding round of golf.

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 October 21, 2021.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1044 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and his guest Dr. David Arrington.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. David Arrington who is an executive coach, best-selling author, and COO of Arrington Coaching from Virginia. We explore why the fundamentals of coaching should not be ignored; we hear Dr. Arrington describe a motivational pivot point in his life, a Quit/Fire that changed his life course. We also review Dr. Arrington'ss journey as an executive coach. At the end of the podcast, we explore topics of DEI and we ponder how one might create more meaningful opportunities for people of color and women to become more engaged and attracted to executive coaching. In 2020, Dr. Arrington published an Amazon #1 Best Selling Book, "Promotable: How to demonstrate your value, highlight your potential, and land your next promotion." Dr. Arrington earned his doctorate in strategic leadership and leadership coaching.

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 interview was conducted on October 13, 2021 via Zoom Video.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1043 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen and his guest Tony Martignetti.

In this episode, I speak with Tony Martignetti who is an executive coach, author, and founder of Inspired Purpose Coaching. Tony has an MBA from Northeastern University as well as his PCC (professional certified coach) from the International Coaching Federation. A theme that was consistent throughout this interview was Tony's view of coaching that the "obstacle is the path."

Tony started his career journey to executive coaching through his early career as a financial strategist with several large companies including Procter and Gamble, Genzyme, Vertex, and Momenta Pharmaceuticals. He also has experience in running small businesses, including his own financial consulting organization, LifeSci. In 2018, Tony entered the executive coaching industry as the founder and chief inspiration officer of Inspired Purpose Coaching. Through his coaching organization, Tony works “with leaders and their teams to navigate through change and unlock their true potential.”

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 interview was conducted on September 17, 2021 via Zoom Video.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.

This is episode 1042 of the Arete Coach Podcast with host Severin Sorensen, where this special episode focuses on 'learning from failure." Research shows that learning from failures is vital to improvement. Learning from success is also important however we tend not to examine the roots of successes deeply. On the other hand, we sometimes get emotionally triggered when considering our own failures, causing us to not learn enough from our own failures. Research shows that exploring others' successes and failures provides the greatest playground for deep learning. In the episode, we consider the scholarly research on learning from failure. Next, we review business applications from executive coaches on learning from failure. And we conclude with executive coach lessons learned from failures in the coaching setting. Twenty-two (22) lessons learned from executive coaches shared in the prior podcast episodes are summarized at the end of the podcast.

Guest cameo appearances on this podcast include in this order: Bill Clark, Richard Bosworth, Tim Fulton, Adam Harris, Norma Rosenberg, Glen Waring, and Steve Ramerini,

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 September 29, 2021.

Arete Coach Podcast is Copyright © 2021 by Arete LLC. All rights reserved.