Before Our Coaching Conversation
Thank you for booking a coaching conversation. When we meet, we'll discuss what you want to change in your leadership, career, or business and whether working together is a fit. Before then, please take a few minutes to review this page. It covers our agenda, how I work, and common questions about coaching, so we can spend more of our conversation on your situation.
I'd also like you to email me a few sentences answering one question: if six months from now coaching was the best decision you made, what happened? What changed? You can reply to my email or send it to benjaminritter@lfyconsulting.com, and include any questions you want to make sure we cover. Your meeting details are in your confirmation email and calendar invite.
Our agenda
Talk about what's happening and why you're considering coaching now.
Discuss the potential scope and investment so we can see whether there's a fit.
Explore what you've tried, what success would look like, and how we could work toward it.
Answer your questions about working together and agree on a next step.
Why work with me?
Most of the people I work with are stepping into a bigger role, figuring out their next career move, or leading a business, including next-generation family-business leaders. I've coached more than 500 leaders, including leaders from private family businesses and organizations such as Amazon, Google, Mayo Clinic, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I've also worked inside organizations in leadership roles, including Head of Talent and Leadership Development at Teknova, Regional Learning Development Director at the Young Presidents' Organization, and business operations leadership in healthcare.
I hold a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University, an MBA in Entrepreneurial Management, and an MPH in Health Policy Administration. I'm a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and certified in multiple leadership assessments, including Hogan, the Leadership Versatility Index (LVI), and CliftonStrengths.
What is your coaching style?
You work directly with me in a blend of personal and professional development. The most important leader in your life is you. We focus on leading yourself so you can lead others, with coaching individualized to your values, your brand, and what you want to change.
The goal is applied learning: you learn by doing. Together, we figure out the next step that aligns with who you are and stretches you a little beyond what's comfortable. You put it into practice, we talk through what happened, and you use what you learn to decide what comes next. Aligning the work with your values makes it easier to follow through, even when it feels uncomfortable.
I'm direct and empathetic. I'll tell you what other people won't and challenge you when something is getting in your way. My role is to help you develop your own judgment and create the change you want.
What happens in the first coaching session?
Our first session begins a deeper exploration of who you are, what matters to you, and what you want to create in your life, career, or business. We'll look at how you got to where you are, what feels aligned, where you're frustrated, and the kind of leader you want to become. That includes your values, strengths, ambitions, and what you want your leadership brand to represent.
We'll begin exploring the beliefs, habits, and expectations influencing your decisions and how you show up. We'll also look at your environment and relationships, including where other people's expectations may be shaping what you believe you should want. This helps us understand both what you want to change and what has made that change difficult.
From there, we start shaping the direction of our work together: what matters most, what progress would look like, and where to begin applying what you're learning. An immediate challenge can give us a place to start. We continue developing that understanding and direction as you take action and learn more about yourself throughout the engagement.
What do the sessions look like?
We start with weekly, one-hour conversations over Zoom and adjust the cadence together as the work progresses. Each session connects the direction we've established with what's happening in your life and work. You can bring a decision, a difficult relationship, an opportunity, or something you've noticed about yourself since we last met.
We explore how you're interpreting the situation, what's influencing your response, and how that connects to your values and the leader you want to be. I'll ask questions, offer honest feedback, and help you recognize patterns and consider different approaches. Depending on what we're working on, we might rehearse a conversation, work through a decision, or explore a belief that keeps shaping your choices.
Together, we choose what you'll try in practice. When we meet again, we use what happened to understand what worked, what felt uncomfortable, and what you want to adjust. As you develop greater clarity and trust in your own judgment, the focus of our sessions develops with you.
What should I expect between sessions?
You'll apply what we've discussed and bring back what happened. Depending on your goals, that can include reflection, trying a different approach with your team, preparing an interview, or following through on a decision.
We can use shared notes, messages, or brief calls to support the work. At times, I'll create personalized assignments and exercises to deepen reflection and learning between sessions. We'll agree on the support between sessions as part of the engagement.
Can you work with my manager or other stakeholders?
Yes. We can build facilitated conversations with your manager, leadership team, family members in the business, or other stakeholders into the engagement. These can help clarify goals, roles, feedback, and working agreements.
We'll agree on the participants, purpose, and scope. Your private coaching conversations remain confidential, with any sharing agreed in advance.
Do you use assessments?
When they help us understand what to work on, we can use professional 360 feedback and assessments such as Hogan. We discuss the findings together and connect them to your development priorities and actions. Assessment options are selected according to your goals and specified in the proposal.
How will we know the coaching is working?
We define progress together based on what you're trying to achieve and what you would expect to see changing in your life and work. That might include making decisions with greater confidence, having conversations you've been avoiding, changing how you lead your team, or taking action toward a career direction that fits your values.
We revisit those goals and look at what you're doing differently, what happens as a result, and where you're still getting stuck. Where useful, feedback from the people you work with helps us assess progress too. What we learn helps us decide where to focus next.
How do we decide on the right engagement?
I need to understand your situation, what you want to accomplish, and the support you need before recommending an engagement. We'll use our call to discuss the approach, length, and investment that fit the work.
We build a 30-day fit assessment into the coaching contract so we can both assess whether working together is right for us. The contract explains the assessment window and how the engagement can end if it isn't a fit, including payment and refund terms. We'll review those together before we begin.
More about my work
Becoming Fearless, my book on fear, self-doubt, and self-leadership.
The Uncrowned CEO, my book for next-generation family-business leaders.