Jackie Sloane

Jackie's ideas on shared leadership were very helpful to us. We went from a style of working around and behind several more dominant personalities to working with these personalities through direct requests and other communication tools. Her methods helped us to create a more harmonious working environment. I would recommend Jackie to anyone looking to better themselves through leadership and communications.

Our work with Jackie helped our team to gain greater clarity around the challenges our customers are facing and how what we offer to our clients can help them be successful. The work we did with Jackie helped develop alignment and clarity of our team's purpose and vision, which helped us communicate in a simple, yet relevant way. Our team members now confidently generate their own engagements, and we have much more of the work we really want. Jackie has the unique ability to listen to a lot of information, sort through the complexity, and get to the heart of the matter. She helps people slow down and reflect, in order to broaden their scope, see things differently, discover blind spots and see new possibilities. She personally cares a lot about her clients, whether she is currently working with them or not, and that creates a lot of trust.

Working with Jackie Sloane in group and individual settings empowered me and fellow employees to communicate professionally by openly verbalizing each other's needs so the entire team would prosper. The tools I learned and currently use benefited my organization's ISO program and let me openly verbalize goals, and close the meetings with clear and concise deadline expectations. The wealth of knowledge learned has decreased our Project Management execution times, which resulted in quicker new product releases. I would highly recommend Jackie and her succinct way of communicating to people from all walks of life, and the empowerment it brings to an organization regardless of size.

As a result of what I've learned, I've become much more productive in dealing with challenging situations and finding creative solutions to complex problems. I've learned that our mind-sets and emotional perspectives – my own and those of my clients, team members, and supervisors – are often central components of both the challenges we face and the solutions we can achieve. In fact, I was very surprised that the executive coaching experience was so multi-dimensional. As a consultant, I'm part of a culture that tends toward "cerebral" solutions to complex problems, while the executive coaching sessions helped me better understand the human and emotional dimensions of leadership. At times, I was surprised at just how valuable an outside perspective can be in finding opportunity and possibility in difficult circumstances. Although this approach was somewhat new to me, it felt very natural, and I greatly enjoyed Jackie's style. The coaching sessions, readings, and exercises provided an appropriate mix of informative commentary, thought provoking questions, and practical direction. Jackie adjusted well to my needs, balancing background and context with concrete action plans and specific steps. There's no question that the executive coaching experience has helped me to become a better leader. I'm more aware of my own mindset and reactions and much more able to focus on the present. I'm more optimistic, focused, compassioned, reasoned, and, perhaps most importantly, productive!

This was the first time I worked with an executive coach and quite honestly did not know what to expect. The process and the approach you took helped me to develop tools and skills that supported me in strengthening my leadership ability. These skills have helped me achieve my potential in a lot of areas, including staff development and being a better client advisor. I believe I have become more strategic in my approach and in general have gained a better appreciation for being a life time learner. My eyes have been opened to seeing the world differently. The shadowing exercise was a huge eye-opener for me and provided feedback that I wished I had received earlier in my career. The role playing exercises have provided me with a tool that I continue to use today in terms of helping my own team as well as to prepare myself for difficult discussions. The entire process has far exceeded my expectations.

Originally, my goal in working with you was to generate more business. I wanted to have more powerful conversations with people that moved them to act. I experienced a real breakthrough in that area. I've been able to attract and deliver on high-level executive coaching. Now I know I can do that well, providing real value. Our work together helped me to become more honest with myself about what really matters to me. I've become clearer about my goals, including specific outcomes I want to achieve in particular situations. My goals have shifted to focusing on what is truly important and satisfying to me at theis point in my life. I've learned a lot about the value of listening and reflecting from experiencing your coaching style. I've appreciated your ability to fully experience what I am saying and then reflect it back to me with an intensely opening question. The kinds of questions you have asked me have lingered in my mind and become part of my thinking as I plan what I want to achieve. Working with these questions has opened up possibilities and free up time. I have learned to listen more effectively and employ curiosity to a greater advantage. I've become more effective as a consultant, and opened up new ways of working with people. Working with you has been very enjoyable and engaging.

Hot Mama's Foods hired Jackie Sloane as an executive coach for one of our senior management employees. We quickly realized that we had an opportunity to expand the skills of the entire management team through some group training work as well. In both ventures we were very pleased with the work that Jackie did for us. As an executive coach, she quickly earned the trust and confidence of the manager. She gave him tools that he could use immediately to improve his leadership style and helped him address some of the morale and teamwork issues that were present in his staff. He improved in his ability to motivate and coach his team and he learned valuable communication and listening skills. Jackie provided several group trainings to improve communication skills and accountability amongst the management staff. These were well received. Managers felt that they learned how to be more assertive by making clearer, more specific requests and taking initiative. They learned how to listen without getting defensive and communicate their concerns or needs without generating conflicted. They participants found that they were able to implement what they learned and noticed excellent results. In general, they found that this improved their ability to work together as a team and that there was more cohesion, support, and respect as a result. They also found that they could use these tools with their staff so that a sense of shared leadership emerged throughout the organization. One manager reported using the communication tools with her front-line employees to empower them to take ownership of a new product introduction. The results far exceeded expectation, with the production workers implementing a system that enabled them to reduce production time by 50% from what had been originally anticipated. I highly recommend Jackie as a coach and trainer.

Our work together has provided me with a way to slow down the pace of my work life and put some methodology into achieving my goals. As a result, my personal development is in the forefront of each workday -- I can plug daily issues and events I encounter into achieving my long-term development goals as a leader. I have experienced huge growth as a result of our work together and the impact has been recognized at my firm. I've improved significantly as a manager, I work more effectively with other partners at my firm and I've learned the importance of taking time to plan for important or challenging conversations in creating the relationships and results I want to produce.

What surprised me about working with you was how powerful the planning process was. When we focused on something and I had a plan in place, I was successful nine times out of ten on what I was working on. Our work together helped me stay focused on what really matters to me and gave me the courage to make more requests. I became better at leveraging all my resources, contacts and relationships. The first year we worked together, I got a promotion and got funds approved for an important initiative. I also had a lot of breakthroughs in my personal life. I was extremely satisfied. You are a great coach.