The challenges that faced Norman, Fox & Co. in September of 2003 were formidable. The company had been unprofitable for three consecutive years and the management of the company was unwilling to make the difficult decisions to bring about the changes that were required. The company was, quite literally, on the edge of bankruptcy and executive management was frozen with fear and uncertainty. These were the circumstances that existed when you were first introduced to our company.

Quite honestly, I was skeptical about how you could help us, Susan. However, it became immediately apparent that your approach to understanding our company, our people, our culture and our issues was very different than any I had ever experienced in my 25 years of management. I was extremely impressed with the speed with which you became intimately knowledgeable about our business and our people. Your insight wasn’t something scripted from a corporate training program but, instead, came from within you. You possess a unique talent, one that you applied to our situation with great success. Yet after only two months of assessing our employees, you not only brought out the organizational patterns of what was preventing our company from succeeding, but also strategic ways to resolve our issues. Also, you presented it to our management team in a way that supported all of us and got buy–in. You did in two months what two other external consultants had not been able to do in 5 years.

As the newly appointed president of Norman, Fox & Co., I was presented with the enormous and challenging task of turning this company around. Many of my colleagues said it could not be done. Your talent of coaching me on this journey has made all the difference. I presented you with a myriad of concerns that I had. Your ability to go beyond the topics that a person presents and see what is really causing the challenges is truly a gift. You didn’t make me a problem solver. Instead you allowed me to discover on my own what I was doing to prevent myself from making things happen. Then you presented me with practices that changed how I looked, approached, took action and resolved the issues. It’s amazing to see how I went from a person whose energy was so intense to being at peace even under enormously stressful situations. It is a feeling of calm and contentment that has allowed me to deal more strategically with the tasks at hand.

What your coaching has enabled me to accomplish is significant. It has not only had a positive impact on me at work but in my personal life as well. Here are some examples of the accomplishments that your coaching has enabled me to achieve:

• Reduced the overall operating expenses of the company by over $500,000 per year.
• Returned the business to profitability after 4 months as president.
• Restructured the sales and marketing department.
• Enabled me to re–define my relationship with the founder of this company, thereby relieving a significant source of stress.

Susan, you have been an enormous influence on my life. I will never forget what you have done for me and for the business. What a talent you have been given! Please continue to share it with others.

My name is Daniel Stewart and I am the General Manager of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Bakersfield, California. I have worked for KK for a little over 2 years. I was hired into our management training program and then immediately promoted to the GM position to head the store over here in Bakersfield. My background is ten years in retail, most of those in the grocery store chain business.

My store is in a market that has less expendable income than others. The unemployment rate is high with few qualified employee prospects to choose from. My store opened back on Halloween day 2000. During the beginning of our opening week we were so busy there was little time to breathe, let alone speak to each other. It was a very stressful few weeks followed by some of the initial fallout most stores experience during the beginning.

I was always taught how to manage aggressively and assertively, especially in times of chaos and confusion. You know, take charge and be in control. It was the only management style I had ever known until one day when I met a wonderful human being, Susan Inouye. This lady has single handedly made one of the biggest impacts in my life, my stores hard profit numbers, my staffs morale, my relationship with my management team and other subordinate employees, my wife and children. Need I go on?

I learned a lot of brutal management from the grocery chain business. Working in a unionized, volatile environment shapes you into a dictator management style very easily, pitting management against employee. It was easy to take a hard line stand because the environment called for it. So I thought. Well it traveled with me into this company and caused real grief for me. During the first six months of my store being open I had so many Human Resource issues, too numerous and unimportant to even name. The important part is that I had most of my management team and a good portion of my staff turning against me with the help of some creative phone campaigns spurred on by these managers. My life was a nightmare and I wanted it all to end soon. I thought, “What is wrong with these people? I’m leading them into battle in which I know we will be victorious.” The problem was I only thought I was leading. How can you lead where no one will willingly follow?

I had been very successful at all of my past employers. I found myself struggling here with numbers that were off the mark, most of the time only hitting about 30% of my stores budgeted numbers. And no one would help me. Until my District Manager, Dave Woodard asked Susan if she could work with me to be, quote, unquote, “nice!” She called and planted seeds in my head and I was too into myself to recognize help when I had it right in front of me. She never pushed me into anything. In hind site that wouldn’t have lasted and I would not have received everything that I needed to. She just planted seeds and then one day it dawned on me. I’ll just call her and see what she’s talking about.

We agreed to meet and discuss this further. Before we had a chance I was scheduled with other GM’s to attend a DISC workshop that she was facilitating. It was at that point I was totally convinced that I needed the change and Susan made me feel like there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish. She listened to me like I was the only person in the room. She never let me wallow in my pity blanket. One thing that amazed me about her was the real life giving usable tools she gave to us to actually put to use what we were learning. I’ve been to a lot of rah rah sessions, and this was so much more than that. She helped us all identify our management style by traits and behaviors. This was so revealing to me that I was just a jerk and had a lot of growing up to do to learn real leadership. For some it may come so naturally but others like me need a 2×4 in the head for a reality check.

Although Susan never makes anybody feel anything that they don’t discover on their own. It’s truly amazing this gift of hers. When I got up from that session with her she stayed and listened to some personal issues that I related to her and she took the time and compassion to help me formulate a game plan towards success. If I could have only knew what was in store for my life after that.

We finally met after that and discussed each problem within the store and how I perceived it and how others perceived it. We met again in about four weeks. I could tell that she had really thought about our discussion because she was so well prepared for our meeting. I was so impressed with her. She changed my life without me having a clue. Her probing questions and her masterful way of changing or altering a thought process was unequivocal. Now let me fast forward for you.

It’s been a little more than a year since our first meeting. I have had one human resource issue in the last year. This stores numbers are on target for 100% budgeted expectations. The employee morale has sky rocketed. My managers and I share the same desire for the direct approach. We’ve established a leadership team within our store that has changed so many bad behaviors within the ranks. I have one of the lowest turnover rates in the entire company. More than 90% of my staff that was here at the beginning is still here. This has become so powerful that we now meet with all of the GM’s in this entire district. We have even started our Unit Managers and our Training leaders on this program. They are learning how to set up systems and frameworks for multiple projects. I have seen the light come on in so many people. There is an excitement that has been created and it fosters integrity, unity, and honor, respect, and good will towards others. These things may sound like basic life applications, however it’s amazing how much the workplace can take out of a person if the right environment is not created and fostered.

If I had to put a price on what Susan has developed and helped me personally develop, it is absolutely priceless. I don’t see how companies run without people like her to help guide them and keep them focused in the right direction. What an asset it must be to have a coach like that by your side. People say they have noticed a huge change in me – the way I talk to people, the way I hold myself, and the way I treat people. I can’t say it hasn’t been hard work but I wouldn’t have even known how to facilitate the change in me without Susan.

We’re expecting to have the best year financially that this store has ever done. We have also developed exciting employee incentive programs to continue our morale boost. Our team is a true team now and is operating like one. We all respect each other and the results are in the numbers. As Susan continues to help some of my managers and other managers throughout the district we will continue to see bottom line profits rise as a result of creating that corporate culture that fosters the type of environment that allows employees to grow. Thank you so much for the Susan Inouye’s of this world. She’s a quality person. I wish we had more like her to get around the company faster. We’ll be patient for each of our turn with her.

I just can’t say enough about what Susan does for Great Circle Family Foods. Thanks for people like her. They truly make the world a better place.

The year 2007 was a challenging one for our company financially. Profits were down and we were forced to look at cutting cost wherever we could. Susan Inouye’s passion in working with my partner and myself to improve our culture and assist us to become leaders is just what we needed. We always talk about building a great culture that would give the company an ability to hire great people and thrive but, we didn’t know how. After all, as we would say, “We are just a couple of sales guys!” (Susan had us stop saying that). She told us that if we were going to take our company to the next level, we had to step out of the mentality of “sales guys” and step into the mentality of leaders. And that is what she is helping my partner and I to do. We liked her straight forwardness and her ability to deal with our sarcasm and humor. We are not the easiest executives to work with.

After nine months of working with our company, Susan efforts and insight have changed our culture and left an indelible mark on Wingman. Her ability to work with our people to identify and articulate their concerns and help them to present viable solutions to issues has made a significant difference in the areas we are focused. For the first time, we have a company purpose, vision, mission and values that are allowing us to clarify the direction for ourselves and our people. We are thinking more strategically and working with Susan to create a better framework for how we do our business. We would have never been able to do this without her help and her skill to assist us articulate what we are so passionate about creating.

In addition, Susan has not only gain the trust, respect, and involvement of my partner and me, our people love her. She is someone that we all consider to be in the Wingman family. She has enriched our lives by the zeal, energy and talent that she brings to her work. We are excited to work with Susan this year and we thank and commend her for the value she brings to Wingman Media and our people.

When we first met about a year ago, I had a division that was falling apart. I had employees that did not respect me, did not want to work with me and did not trust me. I could not figure out why or how I got to that point. I was absolutely sure I was not the one at fault. In my eyes all of my employees were at fault and they were the ones making our working situation unbearable.

Through your awesome approach of listening, focusing and teaching, you have shown me not only to look within myself first, but how to read, listen and understand other people. You showed me that I had wisdom, but was lacking understanding and compassion and that I was thinking from my head instead of my heart. That is a fine way to go through life if you don’t mind working alone and being alone. Thankfully, that was not what I wanted for my life and you were able to help create a way to change that.

In our first sessions we established that the problems I was having with my employees, for the most part was not their fault at all. Most, if not all of the problems that we were having had something to do with me. Every situation that came up with my employees was resolved by combining wisdom (which I had) and compassion (which I was lacking). Without your tools and support, I never would have been able to figure out on my own that my actions have a direct effect on every single situation, not only in my office but in my life as well.

The results were instant once I started doing the practices you created for me. You figured out a way for me to slow myself down, take time to realize what is going on around me, to see what people were doing and what they were saying. You created practices that were easy to do, which helped in actually doing them.

As our sessions went on over the past year, I have not only grown as an employer, but as a person too. I had forgotten what was important to me, not only in work but in my personal life as well. Through the continuation of the practices, I have been able to rebuild my relationship and regain the trust with my staff. I am now more effective as a manager of my employees and a better role model for other employees of the company. I have also gained the respect of people above me and below throughout the company.

Through your personal coaching techniques, I am now on right path to a more balanced and meaningful life. In the continuation of the practices, I am quite sure that I will be able to continue being a better role model and a better leader. I must say that I am a pretty lucky person to have been able to work with you. Thanks again for everything, I wish you the very best in life.

About a year and a half ago, I honestly couldn’t say I was 100% sure my employees were motivated day in and day out. Sure, I thought they were and they said the right things when I was around. But was I sure? Not really. Business was growing steadily and after being in business 15 years, I had learned much of what I knew and practiced in terms of management on my own and I wasn’t too fond of changing. In 2010 I met Susan and learned for the first time about executive coaching. At first, there was this tiny fear that nagged at me when I considered diving in. What if I’m doing things wrong? Do I really want to fix me? I’m so busy, this is going to take me away from my business even more.

Well thankfully I listened to my heart and not my head. I went for it and discovered the opposite. Inside me were amazing gifts and talents that I started to learn to understand. Seeing these amazing things in me made me more aware of the gifts and talents of my team, and that awareness lead to renewed passion and productivity. Susan’s approach was tailored to me, and as a working mother of 2, this just made sense. Within the first 6 months of hiring Susan, we enjoyed record breaking sales. A year and half later, I can honestly say that I know my team is passionate and we will double what we did last year in sales.

Every CEO should consider the expense of a business coach like Susan an investment. If you want to sleep a little more at night, enjoy working with your team more than you ever dreamed, and make a lot more money, she’s the one to call.

Rob Ukropina, Founder & CEO

Overnite Express

Sommer Adams, President

Ransom Pump & Supply, Inc.

Deidre Alves, Vice President, Professional Development

International Right of Way Association

Dr. Gideon H. Jostrand

Valerie Fries-Wade, Chief of Education

International Right of Way Association

I was fortunate to be able to work with Susan over the course of two and a half years. The original plan was to provide me with tools to further develop my management skills. What I was not prepared for was the life changing experience which unfolded over the time we worked together. Not only did my management style change, but my work-life balance became functional for the first time. With the guidance from Susan I was able to shift priorities in my life and work and use tools for focus. I gained confidence and was then able to pursue and achieve a lifelong goal of an advanced degree and I give credit for this transformation to Susan.

Susan’s coaching style is inspirational and thought provoking. She does not do the coaching work for you – you must have the courage to open up to new ways of being, seeing and hearing. For nearly two years, she nurtured and guided me to understand a number of things personally and professionally. I am the real leader I was always meant to be by seeing the “gifts” of others – derived from “Sawubona” leadership, the methodology Susan practices. For example, by supporting my former colleagues’ gifts, we soared to new heights producing the highest number of annual philanthropic gifts raised for the USC Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting. This summer, with an open approach to work and life, I was recently presented a fantastic career opportunity aligning my passions for the visual arts and education – after ten years at USC, I accepted a position to serve as the Campaign Director for the Orange County of Museum Art (OCMA) in Newport Beach. I love my new career and finally, have the time and energy to give back to others and my community–it is a joy. Susan, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your dedicated support, friendship and love. I am relishing my new way of being and embracing my life’s journey. It is magnifique!

The challenges that faced Norman, Fox & Co. in September of 2003 were formidable. The company had been unprofitable for three consecutive years and the management of the company was unwilling to make the difficult decisions to bring about the changes that were required. The company was, quite literally, on the edge of bankruptcy and executive management was frozen with fear and uncertainty. These were the circumstances that existed when you were first introduced to our company.

Quite honestly, I was skeptical about how you could help us, Susan. However, it became immediately apparent that your approach to understanding our company, our people, our culture and our issues was very different than any I had ever experienced in my 25 years of management. I was extremely impressed with the speed with which you became intimately knowledgeable about our business and our people. Your insight wasn’t something scripted from a corporate training program but, instead, came from within you. You possess a unique talent, one that you applied to our situation with great success. Yet after only two months of assessing our employees, you not only brought out the organizational patterns of what was preventing our company from succeeding, but also strategic ways to resolve our issues. Also, you presented it to our management team in a way that supported all of us and got buy–in. You did in two months what two other external consultants had not been able to do in 5 years.

As the newly appointed president of Norman, Fox & Co., I was presented with the enormous and challenging task of turning this company around. Many of my colleagues said it could not be done. Your talent of coaching me on this journey has made all the difference. I presented you with a myriad of concerns that I had. Your ability to go beyond the topics that a person presents and see what is really causing the challenges is truly a gift. You didn’t make me a problem solver. Instead you allowed me to discover on my own what I was doing to prevent myself from making things happen. Then you presented me with practices that changed how I looked, approached, took action and resolved the issues. It’s amazing to see how I went from a person whose energy was so intense to being at peace even under enormously stressful situations. It is a feeling of calm and contentment that has allowed me to deal more strategically with the tasks at hand.

What your coaching has enabled me to accomplish is significant. It has not only had a positive impact on me at work but in my personal life as well. Here are some examples of the accomplishments that your coaching has enabled me to achieve:

• Reduced the overall operating expenses of the company by over $500,000 per year.
• Returned the business to profitability after 4 months as president.
• Restructured the sales and marketing department.
• Enabled me to re–define my relationship with the founder of this company, thereby relieving a significant source of stress.

Susan, you have been an enormous influence on my life. I will never forget what you have done for me and for the business. What a talent you have been given! Please continue to share it with others.

My name is Daniel Stewart and I am the General Manager of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Bakersfield, California. I have worked for KK for a little over 2 years. I was hired into our management training program and then immediately promoted to the GM position to head the store over here in Bakersfield. My background is ten years in retail, most of those in the grocery store chain business.

My store is in a market that has less expendable income than others. The unemployment rate is high with few qualified employee prospects to choose from. My store opened back on Halloween day 2000. During the beginning of our opening week we were so busy there was little time to breathe, let alone speak to each other. It was a very stressful few weeks followed by some of the initial fallout most stores experience during the beginning.

I was always taught how to manage aggressively and assertively, especially in times of chaos and confusion. You know, take charge and be in control. It was the only management style I had ever known until one day when I met a wonderful human being, Susan Inouye. This lady has single handedly made one of the biggest impacts in my life, my stores hard profit numbers, my staffs morale, my relationship with my management team and other subordinate employees, my wife and children. Need I go on?

I learned a lot of brutal management from the grocery chain business. Working in a unionized, volatile environment shapes you into a dictator management style very easily, pitting management against employee. It was easy to take a hard line stand because the environment called for it. So I thought. Well it traveled with me into this company and caused real grief for me. During the first six months of my store being open I had so many Human Resource issues, too numerous and unimportant to even name. The important part is that I had most of my management team and a good portion of my staff turning against me with the help of some creative phone campaigns spurred on by these managers. My life was a nightmare and I wanted it all to end soon. I thought, “What is wrong with these people? I’m leading them into battle in which I know we will be victorious.” The problem was I only thought I was leading. How can you lead where no one will willingly follow?

I had been very successful at all of my past employers. I found myself struggling here with numbers that were off the mark, most of the time only hitting about 30% of my stores budgeted numbers. And no one would help me. Until my District Manager, Dave Woodard asked Susan if she could work with me to be, quote, unquote, “nice!” She called and planted seeds in my head and I was too into myself to recognize help when I had it right in front of me. She never pushed me into anything. In hind site that wouldn’t have lasted and I would not have received everything that I needed to. She just planted seeds and then one day it dawned on me. I’ll just call her and see what she’s talking about.

We agreed to meet and discuss this further. Before we had a chance I was scheduled with other GM’s to attend a DISC workshop that she was facilitating. It was at that point I was totally convinced that I needed the change and Susan made me feel like there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish. She listened to me like I was the only person in the room. She never let me wallow in my pity blanket. One thing that amazed me about her was the real life giving usable tools she gave to us to actually put to use what we were learning. I’ve been to a lot of rah rah sessions, and this was so much more than that. She helped us all identify our management style by traits and behaviors. This was so revealing to me that I was just a jerk and had a lot of growing up to do to learn real leadership. For some it may come so naturally but others like me need a 2×4 in the head for a reality check.

Although Susan never makes anybody feel anything that they don’t discover on their own. It’s truly amazing this gift of hers. When I got up from that session with her she stayed and listened to some personal issues that I related to her and she took the time and compassion to help me formulate a game plan towards success. If I could have only knew what was in store for my life after that.

We finally met after that and discussed each problem within the store and how I perceived it and how others perceived it. We met again in about four weeks. I could tell that she had really thought about our discussion because she was so well prepared for our meeting. I was so impressed with her. She changed my life without me having a clue. Her probing questions and her masterful way of changing or altering a thought process was unequivocal. Now let me fast forward for you.

It’s been a little more than a year since our first meeting. I have had one human resource issue in the last year. This stores numbers are on target for 100% budgeted expectations. The employee morale has sky rocketed. My managers and I share the same desire for the direct approach. We’ve established a leadership team within our store that has changed so many bad behaviors within the ranks. I have one of the lowest turnover rates in the entire company. More than 90% of my staff that was here at the beginning is still here. This has become so powerful that we now meet with all of the GM’s in this entire district. We have even started our Unit Managers and our Training leaders on this program. They are learning how to set up systems and frameworks for multiple projects. I have seen the light come on in so many people. There is an excitement that has been created and it fosters integrity, unity, and honor, respect, and good will towards others. These things may sound like basic life applications, however it’s amazing how much the workplace can take out of a person if the right environment is not created and fostered.

If I had to put a price on what Susan has developed and helped me personally develop, it is absolutely priceless. I don’t see how companies run without people like her to help guide them and keep them focused in the right direction. What an asset it must be to have a coach like that by your side. People say they have noticed a huge change in me – the way I talk to people, the way I hold myself, and the way I treat people. I can’t say it hasn’t been hard work but I wouldn’t have even known how to facilitate the change in me without Susan.

We’re expecting to have the best year financially that this store has ever done. We have also developed exciting employee incentive programs to continue our morale boost. Our team is a true team now and is operating like one. We all respect each other and the results are in the numbers. As Susan continues to help some of my managers and other managers throughout the district we will continue to see bottom line profits rise as a result of creating that corporate culture that fosters the type of environment that allows employees to grow. Thank you so much for the Susan Inouye’s of this world. She’s a quality person. I wish we had more like her to get around the company faster. We’ll be patient for each of our turn with her.

I just can’t say enough about what Susan does for Great Circle Family Foods. Thanks for people like her. They truly make the world a better place.

If you asked me two years ago as to whether I needed coaching in my life, I would have laughed and said that all that new age fluff is not for me. Mediation, deep breathing, walks in beauty…. Who had time for that? I was set for one mode – charge forward, hard and fast. I was set in my ways to control everything that I could while believing that I was the only one that could do the job, the best way possible. Like they said, if you want the job done right, you have to do it yourself. What I didn’t realize was that I was on a clear path to burning out – fast. Fortunately, I am blessed to have an employer that understands and believes in the value of investing in people. It is rare to find a company that truly values its employees’ happiness, growth and gifts. I was given a unique opportunity to have one-on-one coaching with Susan. Thankfully, I was not entirely too closed off in seeing an amazing opportunity when being presented with one.

In working with Susan, she encouraged me to slow down and really examine myself, my habits and patterns and understand not only my gifts but the gifts of others. Over the years, from childhood to present, I have established deeply ingrained patterns and habits that have inhibited not only my personal growth but my professional one as well. Knowing my gifts and those of others has allowed me to better interact with them with greater compassion. Susan has helped me unlock so many parts of my potential that I never knew existed. Through her recommended practices and firm encouragement, I have been able to lower my stress level, be happier and accomplish things I never knew that I could with strength and confidence. Slowly but surely, I am gaining the confidence and trust of my team and colleagues. I am learning to be held accountable to what I say that I will do. However, the journey is not easy and is certainly not without setbacks. Susan knows the good, the bad and the ugly side of me – and that’s pretty scary! I’ve come to trust Susan and know that she is there to support me in the best way possible. Susan also helped me realize that the conflicts that I thought I had with people, really began with myself. A look inward allowed me to see that the greatest things that bothered me about others were the very things that I did myself. Looking at others as a mirror was truly eye opening.

I am incredibly thankful to Susan for her encouragement and guidance in my journey. She has worked with me to define key mantras in my life that will help me grow. Like a personal trainer, she is helping me strengthen the muscles that will enable me to live a confident, strong, compassionate and honest life.

Susan, you have a gift to see right through the challenges executives are facing into what is preventing them from overcoming those challenges. As Founder and CEO of Overnite Express, you focused me in on areas that I was not paying attention to and helped me to develop within myself ways to better support my people towards their success. During the most difficult transition of my career when I sold Overnite Express, your coaching allowed me to finally let go of my patterns of always focusing and helping others, to now focusing and helping Rob. What emerged was finding new meaning and purpose in my life and a new vocation that I have passion for. Thank you Susan for the gifts you bring not only as a coach but as a human being who truly cares about people.

Susan’s coaching style is inspirational and thought provoking. She does not do the coaching work for you – you must have the courage to open up to new ways of being, seeing and hearing. For nearly two years, she nurtured and guided me to understand a number of things personally and professionally. I am the real leader I was always meant to be by seeing the “gifts” of others – derived from “Sawubona” leadership, the methodology Susan practices. For example, by supporting my former colleagues’ gifts, we soared to new heights producing the highest number of annual philanthropic gifts raised for the USC Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting. This summer, with an open approach to work and life, I was recently presented a fantastic career opportunity aligning my passions for the visual arts and education – after ten years at USC, I accepted a position to serve as the Campaign Director for the Orange County of Museum Art (OCMA) in Newport Beach. I love my new career and finally, have the time and energy to give back to others and my community – it is a joy. Susan, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your dedicated support, friendship and love. I am relishing my new way of being and embracing my life’s journey. It is magnifique!

Susan, I now have my own construction business and I’m really enjoying it. I think of you often as I’m still using the tools I learned every day. Thank you for helping me uncover some wonderful gifts that I had in myself that have significantly helped me to let go of my judgments about others and instead see the gifts in them. These tools have been especially helpful in staying cool, calm and collected with others in my business and life with situations that used to trigger me. Even these many years later since our coaching together when at PAR Electric, I’m still successfully working with this new way of thinking and being. Thank you. You have been such a blessing to me.

It was approximately June/July 2004 that Susan first started working with the staff of the International Right of Way Association (IRWA). The entire staff of IRWA was going through a very difficult transition period. A few major factors were the hiring of a new Executive Vice President and the continued loss of financial reserves for the IRWA. The transition period involved the revamping of the Association’s revenue structure, which included restructuring staff’s roles and responsibilities within IRWA. There were lay offs that affected three (3) full–time employees. During that difficult time Susan conducted brainstorming sessions with the support staff to identify the challenges that needed to be addressed and more importantly the solutions that needed to be implemented.

Next, in an off–site senior staff retreat that Susan conducted, she used her facilitation skills to walk the senior staff through the results of the document. It was with Susan’s help that the senior staff was able to better understand the wants and needs of the support staff. Susan helped the senior staff filter and dissect the document in order to discover the root causes that were triggering the responses of the support staff. Without Susan’s help, the senior staff would have only skimmed the surface and would have not affected true change for the organization.

Through the 360° interviews that Susan conducted with direct reports of each department head (Armando, Fred and Valerie) she was able to compile an “Integral Coaching Program” for each department head. My personal coaching program started on January 27, 2005 after an intensive 2–three hour interview by Susan.

I must honestly state that at first I was a bit reluctant that the coaching program would change anything in my life (personally and professionally). Yet after doing the various practices and self–observations that Susan recommended, I can say that I was 100% wrong! It was shortly only after a few meetings with Susan that I gave 100% of myself to Susan and her designed coaching program.

Current: After 8 months with Susan and the coaching program, I am a different person (both personally and professionally). The practices, self–observations, recommended reading and most importantly the face–to–face sessions with Susan have been significant in my change from manager to leader. The benefits are too numerous to name but a few are as follows:

• I feel much more at peace with myself
• I feel much more confident in my job and my professional abilities (I went from managing to leading)
• I have more compassion and consideration for others
• I have a better relationship with wife, family and friends (I developed a deeper connection)
• I have a better relationship with my colleagues and direct–report staff

Both my family and professional colleagues have told me that they have noticed a dramatic improvement in me over the past eight months. My team is more productive because I am empowering them to do their job by being more open to what they have to offer. I am solving challenges not by offering solutions but by being a better listener and hearing what they have to say. My trust in them to do their jobs has freed them to be more proactive in coming up with solutions. And because I am taking more time to connect to my people and know who they are and where their talents lie, I am better able to address what I need to do to assist my team in being more effective in their positions.

I feel that one of the direct results of working with Susan was my recent promotion from Vice President to Chief Operating Officer. I would have never received this promotion if I had never worked with Susan on developing my management and leadership skills. I would highly recommend Susan to other organizations that would be fortunate to benefit from her skills and talents.

I was fortunate to be able to work with Susan over the course of two and a half years. The original plan was to provide me with tools to further develop my management skills. What I was not prepared for was the life changing experience which unfolded over the time we worked together. Not only did my management style change, but my work-life balance became functional for the first time. With the guidance from Susan I was able to shift priorities in my life and work and use tools for focus. I gained confidence and was then able to pursue and achieve a lifelong goal of an advanced degree and I give credit for this transformation to Susan.

Thank you, Susan. It has been an incredible journey that all started with me being so lucky to find you as my coach. You’ve been a great partner to me for the last 3 years. In that time, I got promoted from Vice President of Corporate Finance of one division of my company to CFO of another division and started a family; both things I was “stuck” in before meeting you. I truly believe it’s no coincidence those things happened after we met. You’ve inspired me to just relax and be me and with that things came naturally. I promise to continue my practices and we will certainly stay in touch. Thanks for being a great coach and always keeping it fun.

When Susan Inouye first entered IRWA a year ago, there were numerous challenges within our organization. After doing a thorough assessment of our departments, she found that many of the challenges lied within the management style of our Senior Staff. As CFO for IRWA and a member of the Senior Staff, I was taken aback by her findings, yet I was open to hearing what my staff thought of my management style and open to finding a more effective way to work with my team that would make me a better leader and help my team be more productive.

Although I was one of the first persons of our Senior Staff to step forward and asked to be coached by Susan, I felt at the time that she did not think I was a good candidate for coaching, because of my extremely busy schedule. To give you an idea, I work for IRWA an average of 50 hours per week. I also work for another company part time and I do at least ten to twelve hours of consulting each week. This busy schedule means that I did not have much time to spend with my family and friends. She mentioned that I would have to be willing to commit time to the practices she would assign to me. She really wanted me to know that if I did not take the time, I would not get the results. I assured her that when I make a decision to do something it will get done.

I followed the coaching path that Susan set for me as closely as possible. Now almost eight months later, I can clearly see major improvement in productivity. I attribute that to adding “human touch” to my management style. It was an eye-opening experience for me to see that it was possible to take a few minutes here and there to talk to my staff about topics unrelated to work, to build personal relationships with them which resulted in more work done in less time. One of the many things that Susan taught me was the process of non–violent communication (NVC). This alone has saved me countless hours and overwhelming stress by converting a few old “enemies” to “friends”. It has improved my image in the eyes of my staff, my colleagues, and our Board of Directors.

I am advocating the NVC process to my colleagues and staff in order to create a more relaxed work environment; an environment in which people feel free to express their concerns to each other in a respectful manner. Another difference that is abundantly clear to me is that my open door policy now works! I mean that despite the fact that I told my staff that my door is always open to them; rarely did anyone come to my office. Currently I have several visits each day. This change has resulted in more deliberations of various issues and finding better solutions together.

I must admit that I never thought that practices that Susan gave me would result in the changes I’ve seen in myself. The positive feedback from my staff in my change as a leader is eye opening. Even my wife is pleased with the changes she has seen in me. That probably means the most to me! I am still a work–in–progress but for the first time I am having a more balanced life. I took over a two weeks’ vacation in June and will also take another vacation in December. I cannot remember having ever taken two vacations in one year. I attribute all this progress to having a team that is truly behind me.

I am excited about the New Year and have set a strategic plan to bring our eighty chapters and ten regions in the U.S. and Canada together through an online system, so we are more productive and efficient. And the best part is that I’m going to do it by creating better relationships with them. Without Susan’s coaching, I know that I would not have seen the positive impact in my management style in such a short period of time that has made my team more productive and I would not have the time to even think of such an ambitious plan for 2006.

Susan, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for all you have helped me with over the past few years. You’re depth of understanding your client’s needs and how to find and obtain solutions to these challenges and goals is unique and has been very profitable to my family and me.

We started off as a company being trained by a person who knew that there was more to “training” than just following the “book”. You were able to help Burlington find many solutions, drawing upon your own personal experiences to solve many areas of concern to the management of the company. We then developed plans for each key employee in which you were able to define personal objectives to help the employees become more productive for the company. This all translated into more production from each employee, paying for time invested through efficiencies gained from the personal coaching.

I obtained the greatest benefits, in that we worked together to help me focus on my strengths through some of my life experiences. The most fun for me was to become an active pilot again, using the talents, which I developed years ago, to help me solve current challenges. Teaching me the “focus” method of problem solving was refreshing and a very useful tool to help me see and define my specific challenges and solving these as they presented themselves to me on a daily basis.

It is my desire for you to use your skills to help others as you have helped me. The result of your coaching not only makes a person more balanced in life, but rewards them both with monetary and physical results. The actual dollar amounts are still being defined, but I can assure you that they are much greater than I would have achieved without your personal coaching techniques. Thank you so much and I wish you the very best with your goals and aspirations.

When we began our sessions six months ago, I was hoping to pick up a few tips on time management, or how to better conduct meetings, or how to delegate so that I could get more done. Little did I know, I was going to begin a journey of real change, beginning by getting in touch with my feelings and learning to empathize. In just a few months, I have done the things I wished for, but so much more — and through a much different route than I anticipated.

Susan, your insight into me and others in the company has been extraordinary. You focused on my anger and inability to effectively communicate to my staff and to the other senior managers in the company. You showed me how my presentation style was getting in my way, and that I could change the way I was perceived by my fellow employees by observing feelings; my feelings and those with whom I was interacting.

Although I still struggle with my old nature, my impatience and anger, today I have the tools I need to work on these issues — to get to my natural state of compassion. In my effort toward better communication to my staff and to the executives of the company, I have learned to notice when my audience is not “getting” my message. You have helped me to begin to understand that people don’t relate as much to things and ideas as they do to feelings and emotions. By learning to empathize with my audience, I was better able to get my message across, whether it was an Excel training session or an explanation of standard costs and the relevance to the Uniform Capitalization of inventory.

Before we started on this journey, my department was a mess. Now, I feel like I have a team behind me. Who would have thought that my whole department would change because I changed.

Now, I am trusting my people more — it’s not all up to me. I am learning to let go, delegating more and allowing my people to make mistakes as they learn new functions. I am praising my people more. I am better able to hone in on the skills of my staff, giving them tasks at which they can excel. I am learning to watch for reactions and (unspoken) attitudes of my audience. If I have to give a presentation with difficult information, either technical or just bad news, I am able to read people better, knowing when they “don’t get it”. This allows me to modify or tailor my message. I am more compassionate, paying more attention to people’s feelings.

I am much more balanced. The stress is still there, but I am handling it better. This is allowing me to work on the big things and not worry about the petty stuff. My team is more productive — they are working together and taking initiative. The team members are more focused on goals and accountability — because I am.

Susan, I can’t thank you enough for getting me started along this path. We have made so much progress in these last six months; I can’t wait to see what happens as I continue to learn how to be a better communicator and manager.

If you asked me two years ago as to whether I needed coaching in my life, I would have laughed and said that all that new age fluff is not for me. Mediation, deep breathing, walks in beauty…. Who had time for that? I was set for one mode – charge forward, hard and fast. I was set in my ways to control everything that I could while believing that I was the only one that could do the job, the best way possible. Like they said, if you want the job done right, you have to do it yourself. What I didn’t realize was that I was on a clear path to burning out – fast. Fortunately, I am blessed to have an employer that understands and believes in the value of investing in people. It is rare to find a company that truly values its employees’ happiness, growth and gifts. I was given a unique opportunity to have one-on-one coaching with Susan. Thankfully, I was not entirely too closed off in seeing an amazing opportunity when being presented with one.

In working with Susan, she encouraged me to slow down and really examine myself, my habits and patterns and understand not only my gifts but the gifts of others. Over the years, from childhood to present, I have established deeply ingrained patterns and habits that have inhibited not only my personal growth but my professional one as well. Knowing my gifts and those of others has allowed me to better interact with them with greater compassion. Susan has helped me unlock so many parts of my potential that I never knew existed. Through her recommended practices and firm encouragement, I have been able to lower my stress level, be happier and accomplish things I never knew that I could with strength and confidence. Slowly but surely, I am gaining the confidence and trust of my team and colleagues. I am learning to be held accountable to what I say that I will do. However, the journey is not easy and is certainly not without setbacks. Susan knows the good, the bad and the ugly side of me – and that’s pretty scary! I’ve come to trust Susan and know that she is there to support me in the best way possible. Susan also helped me realize that the conflicts that I thought I had with people, really began with myself. A look inward allowed me to see that the greatest things that bothered me about others were the very things that I did myself. Looking at others as a mirror was truly eye opening.

I am incredibly thankful to Susan for her encouragement and guidance in my journey. She has worked with me to define key mantras in my life that will help me grow. Like a personal trainer, she is helping me strengthen the muscles that will enable me to live a confident, strong, compassionate and honest life.

Susan, I would like to begin by saying what a pleasure it has been working with you. You bring a wonderfully refreshing dose of enthusiasm, creativity, and energy to all your training sessions.

When we first brought you into our company, we were experiencing internal discord because of our communication challenges, both with our patients and with each other in the office. From the start of our organization, we had set an intention to create a nurturing and healing environment which supported our patients as well as our staff. However, we were unable to create the atmosphere we wanted. We had a vision but not the skill and we were unclear on which direction to take to accomplish our goal. You brought that much needed expertise to our organization. You gave us guidance and assisted us in achieving that end.

You worked with us systematically and methodically in a way that specifically worked with us. We appreciated the way in which you educated us to the various ways one communicates. One of the most useful solutions was the understanding that every person communicates differently and everyone receives that communication differently. After the DISC training we began to make more of an effort to communicate effectively with our patients and with each other. This has helped tremendously in creating the culture we want.

Your subsequent visits revolved around building on what we knew and moving forward in establishing a nurturing environment. The greatest value came when you introduced the concept of “sending love” to our patients and each other. We use this tool often and have found it assists us in remaining calm during stressful situations and reminds us that we are in an industry that requires a compassionate attitude and involves healing on many levels. You are now affectionately referred to as “the Love Lady.”

We thank you for your talents and for bringing to our staff and our organization a culture where in supporting each other with compassion, we can better support our patients. We now feel we have a solid foundation to continue our service to the community and where, perhaps, we can serve as a model to other medical practices.

When we began our sessions six months ago, I was hoping to pick up a few tips on time management, or how to better conduct meetings, or how to delegate so that I could get more done. Little did I know, I was going to begin a journey of real change, beginning by getting in touch with my feelings and learning to empathize. In just a few months, I have done the things I wished for, but so much more — and through a much different route than I anticipated.

Susan, your insight into me and others in the company has been extraordinary. You focused on my anger and inability to effectively communicate to my staff and to the other senior managers in the company. You showed me how my presentation style was getting in my way, and that I could change the way I was perceived by my fellow employees by observing feelings; my feelings and those with whom I was interacting.

Although I still struggle with my old nature, my impatience and anger, today I have the tools I need to work on these issues — to get to my natural state of compassion.

In my effort toward better communication to my staff and to the executives of the company, I have learned to notice when my audience is not “getting” my message. You have helped me to begin to understand that people don’t relate as much to things and ideas as they do to feelings and emotions. By learning to empathize with my audience, I was better able to get my message across, whether it was an Excel training session or an explanation of standard costs and the relevance to the Uniform Capitalization of inventory.

Before we started on this journey, my department was a mess. Now, I feel like I have a team behind me. Who would have thought that my whole department would change because I changed.

Now, I am trusting my people more — it’s not all up to me. I am learning to let go, delegating more and allowing my people to make mistakes as they learn new functions. I am praising my people more. I am better able to hone in on the skills of my staff, giving them tasks at which they can excel.

I am learning to watch for reactions and (unspoken) attitudes of my audience. If I have to give a presentation with difficult information, either technical or just bad news, I am able to read people better, knowing when they “don’t get it”. This allows me to modify or tailor my message. I am more compassionate, paying more attention to people’s feelings.

I am much more balanced. The stress is still there, but I am handling it better. This is allowing me to work on the big things and not worry about the petty stuff. My team is more productive — they are working together and taking initiative. The team members are more focused on goals and accountability — because I am.

Susan, I can’t thank you enough for getting me started along this path. We have made so much progress in these last six months; I can’t wait to see what happens as I continue to learn how to be a better communicator and manager.

For the past two year, Susan has been instrumental in helping IRWA change the culture of our organization. Because of the chief staff officer turnover in the past decade, IRWA teetered on the brink of being a dysfunctional organization when I arrived 30 months ago as the new Executive Vice President. Despite my personal commitment to creating a more empowered, team–oriented workplace, the past history and distrust within existing staff made it difficult to advance my goals without outside intervention to create an environment in which staff felt safer to participate and express themselves.

Susan’s involvement as a skillful facilitator to identify and articulate staff concerns and issues during the past year proved instrumental in helping us make significant advances toward improved communication and productivity. In addition to gaining the trust and involvement of staff, she individually coached our senior management team to improve their leadership and communication skills. The commitment of the senior management team to this process and their improved executive behavior has been noticed and appreciated by our staff, serving as a catalyst for improved performance.

Through her facilitation skills and group dynamics, our staff reports that they are more comfortable with communicating concerns and suggesting ideas, more willing to take appropriate risks, and report their supervisors are better equipped to lead and manage IRWA than a year ago. Susan’s zeal and energy has been a major factor in this transformation and we commend her for the value she has brought and continues to bring to IRWA.

About a year and a half ago, I honestly couldn’t say I was 100% sure my employees were motivated day in and day out. Sure, I thought they were and they said the right things when I was around. But was I sure? Not really. Business was growing steadily and after being in business 15 years, I had learned much of what I knew and practiced in terms of management on my own and I wasn’t too fond of changing. In 2010 I met Susan and learned for the first time about executive coaching. At first, there was this tiny fear that nagged at me when I considered diving in. What if I’m doing things wrong? Do I really want to fix me? I’m so busy, this is going to take me away from my business even more.Well thankfully I listened to my heart and not my head. I went for it and discovered the opposite. Inside me were amazing gifts and talents that I started to learn to understand. Seeing these amazing things in me made me more aware of the gifts and talents of my team, and that awareness lead to renewed passion and productivity. Susan’s approach was tailored to me, and as a working mother of 2, this just made sense. Within the first 6 months of hiring Susan, we enjoyed record breaking sales. A year and half later, I can honestly say that I know my team is passionate and we will double what we did last year in sales.

Every CEO should consider the expense of a business coach like Susan an investment. If you want to sleep a little more at night, enjoy working with your team more than you ever dreamed, and make a lot more money, she’s the one to call.

For the past two year, Susan has been instrumental in helping IRWA change the culture of our organization. Because of the chief staff officer turnover in the past decade, IRWA teetered on the brink of being a dysfunctional organization when I arrived 30 months ago as the new Executive Vice President. Despite my personal commitment to creating a more empowered, team–oriented workplace, the past history and distrust within existing staff made it difficult to advance my goals without outside intervention to create an environment in which staff felt safer to participate and express themselves.

Susan’s involvement as a skillful facilitator to identify and articulate staff concerns and issues during the past year proved instrumental in helping us make significant advances toward improved communication and productivity. In addition to gaining the trust and involvement of staff, she individually coached our senior management team to improve their leadership and communication skills. The commitment of the senior management team to this process and their improved executive behavior has been noticed and appreciated by our staff, serving as a catalyst for improved performance.

Through her facilitation skills and group dynamics, our staff reports that they are more comfortable with communicating concerns and suggesting ideas, more willing to take appropriate risks, and report their supervisors are better equipped to lead and manage IRWA than a year ago. Susan’s zeal and energy has been a major factor in this transformation and we commend her for the value she has brought and continues to bring to IRWA.

Susan’s coaching style is inspirational and thought provoking. She does not do the coaching work for you – you must have the courage to open up to new ways of being, seeing and hearing. For nearly two years, she nurtured and guided me to understand a number of things personally and professionally. I am the real leader I was always meant to be by seeing the “gifts” of others – derived from “Sawubona” leadership, the methodology Susan practices. For example, by supporting my former colleagues’ gifts, we soared to new heights producing the highest number of annual philanthropic gifts raised for the USC Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting. This summer, with an open approach to work and life, I was recently presented a fantastic career opportunity aligning my passions for the visual arts and education – after ten years at USC, I accepted a position to serve as the Campaign Director for the Orange County of Museum Art (OCMA) in Newport Beach. I love my new career and finally, have the time and energy to give back to others and my community – it is a joy. Susan, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your dedicated support, friendship and love. I am relishing my new way of being and embracing my life’s journey. It is magnifique!

My name is Daniel Stewart and I am the General Manager of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Bakersfield, California. I have worked for KK for a little over 2 years. I was hired into our management training program and then immediately promoted to the GM position to head the store over here in Bakersfield. My background is ten years in retail, most of those in the grocery store chain business.

My store is in a market that has less expendable income than others. The unemployment rate is high with few qualified employee prospects to choose from. My store opened back on Halloween day 2000. During the beginning of our opening week we were so busy there was little time to breathe, let alone speak to each other. It was a very stressful few weeks followed by some of the initial fallout most stores experience during the beginning.

I was always taught how to manage aggressively and assertively, especially in times of chaos and confusion. You know, take charge and be in control. It was the only management style I had ever known until one day when I met a wonderful human being, Susan Inouye. This lady has single handedly made one of the biggest impacts in my life, my stores hard profit numbers, my staffs morale, my relationship with my management team and other subordinate employees, my wife and children. Need I go on?

I learned a lot of brutal management from the grocery chain business. Working in a unionized, volatile environment shapes you into a dictator management style very easily, pitting management against employee. It was easy to take a hard line stand because the environment called for it. So I thought. Well it traveled with me into this company and caused real grief for me. During the first six months of my store being open I had so many Human Resource issues, too numerous and unimportant to even name. The important part is that I had most of my management team and a good portion of my staff turning against me with the help of some creative phone campaigns spurred on by these managers. My life was a nightmare and I wanted it all to end soon. I thought, “What is wrong with these people? I’m leading them into battle in which I know we will be victorious.” The problem was I only thought I was leading. How can you lead where no one will willingly follow?

I had been very successful at all of my past employers. I found myself struggling here with numbers that were off the mark, most of the time only hitting about 30% of my stores budgeted numbers. And no one would help me. Until my District Manager, Dave Woodard asked Susan if she could work with me to be, quote, unquote, “nice!” She called and planted seeds in my head and I was too into myself to recognize help when I had it right in front of me. She never pushed me into anything. In hind site that wouldn’t have lasted and I would not have received everything that I needed to. She just planted seeds and then one day it dawned on me. I’ll just call her and see what she’s talking about.

We agreed to meet and discuss this further. Before we had a chance I was scheduled with other GM’s to attend a DISC workshop that she was facilitating. It was at that point I was totally convinced that I needed the change and Susan made me feel like there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish. She listened to me like I was the only person in the room. She never let me wallow in my pity blanket. One thing that amazed me about her was the real life giving usable tools she gave to us to actually put to use what we were learning. I’ve been to a lot of rah rah sessions, and this was so much more than that. She helped us all identify our management style by traits and behaviors. This was so revealing to me that I was just a jerk and had a lot of growing up to do to learn real leadership. For some it may come so naturally but others like me need a 2×4 in the head for a reality check.

Although Susan never makes anybody feel anything that they don’t discover on their own. It’s truly amazing this gift of hers. When I got up from that session with her she stayed and listened to some personal issues that I related to her and she took the time and compassion to help me formulate a game plan towards success. If I could have only knew what was in store for my life after that.

We finally met after that and discussed each problem within the store and how I perceived it and how others perceived it. We met again in about four weeks. I could tell that she had really thought about our discussion because she was so well prepared for our meeting. I was so impressed with her. She changed my life without me having a clue. Her probing questions and her masterful way of changing or altering a thought process was unequivocal. Now let me fast forward for you.

It’s been a little more than a year since our first meeting. I have had one human resource issue in the last year. This stores numbers are on target for 100% budgeted expectations. The employee morale has sky rocketed. My managers and I share the same desire for the direct approach. We’ve established a leadership team within our store that has changed so many bad behaviors within the ranks. I have one of the lowest turnover rates in the entire company. More than 90% of my staff that was here at the beginning is still here. This has become so powerful that we now meet with all of the GM’s in this entire district. We have even started our Unit Managers and our Training leaders on this program. They are learning how to set up systems and frameworks for multiple projects. I have seen the light come on in so many people. There is an excitement that has been created and it fosters integrity, unity, and honor, respect, and good will towards others. These things may sound like basic life applications, however it’s amazing how much the workplace can take out of a person if the right environment is not created and fostered.

If I had to put a price on what Susan has developed and helped me personally develop, it is absolutely priceless. I don’t see how companies run without people like her to help guide them and keep them focused in the right direction. What an asset it must be to have a coach like that by your side. People say they have noticed a huge change in me – the way I talk to people, the way I hold myself, and the way I treat people. I can’t say it hasn’t been hard work but I wouldn’t have even known how to facilitate the change in me without Susan.

We’re expecting to have the best year financially that this store has ever done. We have also developed exciting employee incentive programs to continue our morale boost. Our team is a true team now and is operating like one. We all respect each other and the results are in the numbers. As Susan continues to help some of my managers and other managers throughout the district we will continue to see bottom line profits rise as a result of creating that corporate culture that fosters the type of environment that allows employees to grow. Thank you so much for the Susan Inouye’s of this world. She’s a quality person. I wish we had more like her to get around the company faster. We’ll be patient for each of our turn with her.

I just can’t say enough about what Susan does for Great Circle Family Foods. Thanks for people like her. They truly make the world a better place.

Susan, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for all you have helped me with over the past few years. You’re depth of understanding your client’s needs and how to find and obtain solutions to these challenges and goals is unique and has been very profitable to my family and me.

We started off as a company being trained by a person who knew that there was more to “training” than just following the “book”. You were able to help Burlington find many solutions, drawing upon your own personal experiences to solve many areas of concern to the management of the company. We then developed plans for each key employee in which you were able to define personal objectives to help the employees become more productive for the company. This all translated into more production from each employee, paying for time invested through efficiencies gained from the personal coaching.

I obtained the greatest benefits, in that we worked together to help me focus on my strengths through some of my life experiences. The most fun for me was to become an active pilot again, using the talents, which I developed years ago, to help me solve current challenges. Teaching me the “focus” method of problem solving was refreshing and a very useful tool to help me see and define my specific challenges and solving these as they presented themselves to me on a daily basis.

It is my desire for you to use your skills to help others as you have helped me. The result of your coaching not only makes a person more balanced in life, but rewards them both with monetary and physical results. The actual dollar amounts are still being defined, but I can assure you that they are much greater than I would have achieved without your personal coaching techniques. Thank you so much and I wish you the very best with your goals and aspirations.

It was approximately June/July 2004 that Susan first started working with the staff of the International Right of Way Association (IRWA). The entire staff of IRWA was going through a very difficult transition period. A few major factors were the hiring of a new Executive Vice President and the continued loss of financial reserves for the IRWA. The transition period involved the revamping of the Association’s revenue structure, which included restructuring staff’s roles and responsibilities within IRWA. There were lay offs that affected three (3) full–time employees. During that difficult time Susan conducted brainstorming sessions with the support staff to identify the challenges that needed to be addressed and more importantly the solutions that needed to be implemented.

Next, in an off–site senior staff retreat that Susan conducted, she used her facilitation skills to walk the senior staff through the results of the document. It was with Susan’s help that the senior staff was able to better understand the wants and needs of the support staff. Susan helped the senior staff filter and dissect the document in order to discover the root causes that were triggering the responses of the support staff. Without Susan’s help, the senior staff would have only skimmed the surface and would have not affected true change for the organization.

Through the 360° interviews that Susan conducted with direct reports of each department head (Armando, Fred and Valerie) she was able to compile an “Integral Coaching Program” for each department head. My personal coaching program started on January 27, 2005 after an intensive 2–three hour interview by Susan.

I must honestly state that at first I was a bit reluctant that the coaching program would change anything in my life (personally and professionally). Yet after doing the various practices and self–observations that Susan recommended, I can say that I was 100% wrong! It was shortly only after a few meetings with Susan that I gave 100% of myself to Susan and her designed coaching program.

Current: After 8 months with Susan and the coaching program, I am a different person (both personally and professionally). The practices, self–observations, recommended reading and most importantly the face–to–face sessions with Susan have been significant in my change from manager to leader. The benefits are too numerous to name but a few are as follows:

• I feel much more at peace with myself
• I feel much more confident in my job and my professional abilities (I went from managing to leading)
• I have more compassion and consideration for others
• I have a better relationship with wife, family and friends (I developed a deeper connection)
• I have a better relationship with my colleagues and direct–report staff

Both my family and professional colleagues have told me that they have noticed a dramatic improvement in me over the past eight months. My team is more productive because I am empowering them to do their job by being more open to what they have to offer. I am solving challenges not by offering solutions but by being a better listener and hearing what they have to say. My trust in them to do their jobs has freed them to be more proactive in coming up with solutions. And because I am taking more time to connect to my people and know who they are and where their talents lie, I am better able to address what I need to do to assist my team in being more effective in their positions.

I feel that one of the direct results of working with Susan was my recent promotion from Vice President to Chief Operating Officer. I would have never received this promotion if I had never worked with Susan on developing my management and leadership skills.

I would highly recommend Susan to other organizations that would be fortunate to benefit from her skills and talents.

When we began our sessions six months ago, I was hoping to pick up a few tips on time management, or how to better conduct meetings, or how to delegate so that I could get more done. Little did I know, I was going to begin a journey of real change, beginning by getting in touch with my feelings and learning to empathize. In just a few months, I have done the things I wished for, but so much more — and through a much different route than I anticipated.

Susan, your insight into me and others in the company has been extraordinary. You focused on my anger and inability to effectively communicate to my staff and to the other senior managers in the company. You showed me how my presentation style was getting in my way, and that I could change the way I was perceived by my fellow employees by observing feelings; my feelings and those with whom I was interacting.

Although I still struggle with my old nature, my impatience and anger, today I have the tools I need to work on these issues — to get to my natural state of compassion.

In my effort toward better communication to my staff and to the executives of the company, I have learned to notice when my audience is not “getting” my message. You have helped me to begin to understand that people don’t relate as much to things and ideas as they do to feelings and emotions. By learning to empathize with my audience, I was better able to get my message across, whether it was an Excel training session or an explanation of standard costs and the relevance to the Uniform Capitalization of inventory.

Before we started on this journey, my department was a mess. Now, I feel like I have a team behind me. Who would have thought that my whole department would change because I changed.

Now, I am trusting my people more — it’s not all up to me. I am learning to let go, delegating more and allowing my people to make mistakes as they learn new functions. I am praising my people more. I am better able to hone in on the skills of my staff, giving them tasks at which they can excel.
I am learning to watch for reactions and (unspoken) attitudes of my audience. If I have to give a presentation with difficult information, either technical or just bad news, I am able to read people better, knowing when they “don’t get it”. This allows me to modify or tailor my message. I am more compassionate, paying more attention to people’s feelings.

I am much more balanced. The stress is still there, but I am handling it better. This is allowing me to work on the big things and not worry about the petty stuff. My team is more productive — they are working together and taking initiative. The team members are more focused on goals and accountability — because I am.

Susan, I can’t thank you enough for getting me started along this path. We have made so much progress in these last six months; I can’t wait to see what happens as I continue to learn how to be a better communicator and manager.

When Susan Inouye first entered IRWA a year ago, there were numerous challenges within our organization. After doing a thorough assessment of our departments, she found that many of the challenges lied within the management style of our Senior Staff. As CFO for IRWA and a member of the Senior Staff, I was taken aback by her findings, yet I was open to hearing what my staff thought of my management style and open to finding a more effective way to work with my team that would make me a better leader and help my team be more productive.

Although I was one of the first persons of our Senior Staff to step forward and asked to be coached by Susan, I felt at the time that she did not think I was a good candidate for coaching, because of my extremely busy schedule. To give you an idea, I work for IRWA an average of 50 hours per week. I also work for another company part time and I do at least ten to twelve hours of consulting each week. This busy schedule means that I did not have much time to spend with my family and friends. She mentioned that I would have to be willing to commit time to the practices she would assign to me. She really wanted me to know that if I did not take the time, I would not get the results. I assured her that when I make a decision to do something it will get done.

I followed the coaching path that Susan set for me as closely as possible. Now almost eight months later, I can clearly see major improvement in productivity. I attribute that to adding “human touch” to my management style. It was an eye opening experience for me to see that it was possible to take a few minutes here and there to talk to my staff about topics unrelated to work, to build personal relationships with them which resulted in more work done in less time. One of the many things that Susan taught me was the process of non–violent communication (NVC). This alone has saved me countless hours and overwhelming stress by converting a few old “enemies” to “friends”. It has improved my image in the eyes of my staff, my colleagues, and our Board of Directors.

I am advocating the NVC process to my colleagues and staff in order to create a more relaxed work environment; an environment in which people feel free to express their concerns to each other in a respectful manner.

Another difference that is abundantly clear to me is that my open door policy now works! I mean that despite the fact that I told my staff that my door is always open to them; rarely did anyone come to my office. Currently I have several visits each day. This change has resulted in more deliberations of various issues and finding better solutions together.

I must admit that I never thought that practices that Susan gave me would result in the changes I’ve seen in myself. The positive feedback from my staff in my change as a leader is eye opening. Even my wife is pleased with the changes she has seen in me. That probably means the most to me!

I am still a work–in–progress but for the first time I am having a more balanced life. I took over a two weeks vacation in June and will also take another vacation in December. I can not remember having ever taken two vacations in one year. I attribute all this progress to having a team that is truly behind me.

I am excited about the New Year and have set a strategic plan to bring our eighty chapters and ten regions in the U.S. and Canada together through an online system, so we are more productive and efficient. And the best part is that I’m going to do it by creating better relationships with them. Without Susan’s coaching, I know that I would not have seen the positive impact in my management style in such a short period of time that has made my team more productive and I would not have the time to even think of such an ambitious plan for 2006.

My name is Daniel Stewart and I am the General Manager of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Bakersfield, California. I have worked for KK for a little over 2 years. I was hired into our management training program and then immediately promoted to the GM position to head the store over here in Bakersfield. My background is ten years in retail, most of those in the grocery store chain business.

My store is in a market that has less expendable income than others. The unemployment rate is high with few qualified employee prospects to choose from. My store opened back on Halloween day 2000. During the beginning of our opening week we were so busy there was little time to breathe, let alone speak to each other. It was a very stressful few weeks followed by some of the initial fallout most stores experience during the beginning.

I was always taught how to manage aggressively and assertively, especially in times of chaos and confusion. You know, take charge and be in control. It was the only management style I had ever known until one day when I met a wonderful human being, Susan Inouye. This lady has single handedly made one of the biggest impacts in my life, my stores hard profit numbers, my staffs morale, my relationship with my management team and other subordinate employees, my wife and children. Need I go on?

I learned a lot of brutal management from the grocery chain business. Working in a unionized, volatile environment shapes you into a dictator management style very easily, pitting management against employee. It was easy to take a hard line stand because the environment called for it. So I thought. Well it traveled with me into this company and caused real grief for me. During the first six months of my store being open I had so many Human Resource issues, too numerous and unimportant to even name. The important part is that I had most of my management team and a good portion of my staff turning against me with the help of some creative phone campaigns spurred on by these managers. My life was a nightmare and I wanted it all to end soon. I thought, “What is wrong with these people? I’m leading them into battle in which I know we will be victorious.” The problem was I only thought I was leading. How can you lead where no one will willingly follow?

I had been very successful at all of my past employers. I found myself struggling here with numbers that were off the mark, most of the time only hitting about 30% of my stores budgeted numbers. And no one would help me. Until my District Manager, Dave Woodard asked Susan if she could work with me to be, quote, unquote, “nice!” She called and planted seeds in my head and I was too into myself to recognize help when I had it right in front of me. She never pushed me into anything. In hind site that wouldn’t have lasted and I would not have received everything that I needed to. She just planted seeds and then one day it dawned on me. I’ll just call her and see what she’s talking about.

We agreed to meet and discuss this further. Before we had a chance I was scheduled with other GM’s to attend a DISC workshop that she was facilitating. It was at that point I was totally convinced that I needed the change and Susan made me feel like there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish. She listened to me like I was the only person in the room. She never let me wallow in my pity blanket. One thing that amazed me about her was the real life giving usable tools she gave to us to actually put to use what we were learning. I’ve been to a lot of rah rah sessions, and this was so much more than that. She helped us all identify our management style by traits and behaviors. This was so revealing to me that I was just a jerk and had a lot of growing up to do to learn real leadership. For some it may come so naturally but others like me need a 2×4 in the head for a reality check.

Although Susan never makes anybody feel anything that they don’t discover on their own. It’s truly amazing this gift of hers. When I got up from that session with her she stayed and listened to some personal issues that I related to her and she took the time and compassion to help me formulate a game plan towards success. If I could have only knew what was in store for my life after that.

We finally met after that and discussed each problem within the store and how I perceived it and how others perceived it. We met again in about four weeks. I could tell that she had really thought about our discussion because she was so well prepared for our meeting. I was so impressed with her. She changed my life without me having a clue. Her probing questions and her masterful way of changing or altering a thought process was unequivocal. Now let me fast forward for you.

It’s been a little more than a year since our first meeting. I have had one human resource issue in the last year. This stores numbers are on target for 100% budgeted expectations. The employee morale has sky rocketed. My managers and I share the same desire for the direct approach. We’ve established a leadership team within our store that has changed so many bad behaviors within the ranks. I have one of the lowest turnover rates in the entire company. More than 90% of my staff that was here at the beginning is still here. This has become so powerful that we now meet with all of the GM’s in this entire district. We have even started our Unit Managers and our Training leaders on this program. They are learning how to set up systems and frameworks for multiple projects. I have seen the light come on in so many people. There is an excitement that has been created and it fosters integrity, unity, and honor, respect, and good will towards others. These things may sound like basic life applications, however it’s amazing how much the workplace can take out of a person if the right environment is not created and fostered.

If I had to put a price on what Susan has developed and helped me personally develop, it is absolutely priceless. I don’t see how companies run without people like her to help guide them and keep them focused in the right direction. What an asset it must be to have a coach like that by your side. People say they have noticed a huge change in me – the way I talk to people, the way I hold myself, and the way I treat people. I can’t say it hasn’t been hard work but I wouldn’t have even known how to facilitate the change in me without Susan.

We’re expecting to have the best year financially that this store has ever done. We have also developed exciting employee incentive programs to continue our morale boost. Our team is a true team now and is operating like one. We all respect each other and the results are in the numbers. As Susan continues to help some of my managers and other managers throughout the district we will continue to see bottom line profits rise as a result of creating that corporate culture that fosters the type of environment that allows employees to grow. Thank you so much for the Susan Inouye’s of this world. She’s a quality person. I wish we had more like her to get around the company faster. We’ll be patient for each of our turn with her.

I just can’t say enough about what Susan does for Great Circle Family Foods. Thanks for people like her. They truly make the world a better place.

When Susan Inouye first entered IRWA a year ago, there were numerous challenges within our organization. After doing a thorough assessment of our departments, she found that many of the challenges lied within the management style of our Senior Staff. As CFO for IRWA and a member of the Senior Staff, I was taken aback by her findings, yet I was open to hearing what my staff thought of my management style and open to finding a more effective way to work with my team that would make me a better leader and help my team be more productive.

Although I was one of the first persons of our Senior Staff to step forward and asked to be coached by Susan, I felt at the time that she did not think I was a good candidate for coaching, because of my extremely busy schedule. To give you an idea, I work for IRWA an average of 50 hours per week. I also work for another company part time and I do at least ten to twelve hours of consulting each week. This busy schedule means that I did not have much time to spend with my family and friends. She mentioned that I would have to be willing to commit time to the practices she would assign to me. She really wanted me to know that if I did not take the time, I would not get the results. I assured her that when I make a decision to do something it will get done.

I followed the coaching path that Susan set for me as closely as possible. Now almost eight months later, I can clearly see major improvement in productivity. I attribute that to adding “human touch” to my management style. It was an eye opening experience for me to see that it was possible to take a few minutes here and there to talk to my staff about topics unrelated to work, to build personal relationships with them which resulted in more work done in less time. One of the many things that Susan taught me was the process of non–violent communication (NVC). This alone has saved me countless hours and overwhelming stress by converting a few old “enemies” to “friends”. It has improved my image in the eyes of my staff, my colleagues, and our Board of Directors.

I am advocating the NVC process to my colleagues and staff in order to create a more relaxed work environment; an environment in which people feel free to express their concerns to each other in a respectful manner.

Another difference that is abundantly clear to me is that my open door policy now works! I mean that despite the fact that I told my staff that my door is always open to them; rarely did anyone come to my office. Currently I have several visits each day. This change has resulted in more deliberations of various issues and finding better solutions together.

I must admit that I never thought that practices that Susan gave me would result in the changes I’ve seen in myself. The positive feedback from my staff in my change as a leader is eye opening. Even my wife is pleased with the changes she has seen in me. That probably means the most to me!

I am still a work–in–progress but for the first time I am having a more balanced life. I took over a two weeks vacation in June and will also take another vacation in December. I can not remember having ever taken two vacations in one year. I attribute all this progress to having a team that is truly behind me.

I am excited about the New Year and have set a strategic plan to bring our eighty chapters and ten regions in the U.S. and Canada together through an online system, so we are more productive and efficient. And the best part is that I’m going to do it by creating better relationships with them. Without Susan’s coaching, I know that I would not have seen the positive impact in my management style in such a short period of time that has made my team more productive and I would not have the time to even think of such an ambitious plan for 2006.

The year 2007 was a challenging one for our company financially. Profits were down and we were forced to look at cutting cost wherever we could. Susan Inouye’s passion in working with my partner and myself to improve our culture and assist us to become leaders is just what we needed. We always talk about building a great culture that would give the company an ability to hire great people and thrive but, we didn’t know how. After all, as we would say, “We are just a couple of sales guys!” (Susan had us stop saying that). She told us that if we were going to take our company to the next level, we had to step out of the mentality of “sales guys” and step into the mentality of leaders. And that is what she is helping my partner and I to do. We liked her straight forwardness and her ability to deal with our sarcasm and humor. We are not the easiest executives to work with.

After nine months of working with our company, Susan efforts and insight have changed our culture and left an indelible mark on Wingman. Her ability to work with our people to identify and articulate their concerns and help them to present viable solutions to issues has made a significant difference in the areas we are focused. For the first time, we have a company purpose, vision, mission and values that are allowing us to clarify the direction for ourselves and our people. We are thinking more strategically and working with Susan to create a better framework for how we do our business. We would have never been able to do this without her help and her skill to assist us articulate what we are so passionate about creating.

In addition, Susan has not only gain the trust, respect, and involvement of my partner and me, our people love her. She is someone that we all consider to be in the Wingman family. She has enriched our lives by the zeal, energy and talent that she brings to her work. We are excited to work with Susan this year and we thank and commend her for the value she brings to Wingman Media and our people.

About a year and a half ago, I honestly couldn’t say I was 100% sure my employees were motivated day in and day out. Sure, I thought they were and they said the right things when I was around. But was I sure? Not really. Business was growing steadily and after being in business 15 years, I had learned much of what I knew and practiced in terms of management on my own and I wasn’t too fond of changing. In 2010 I met Susan and learned for the first time about executive coaching. At first, there was this tiny fear that nagged at me when I considered diving in. What if I’m doing things wrong? Do I really want to fix me? I’m so busy, this is going to take me away from my business even more.

Well thankfully I listened to my heart and not my head. I went for it and discovered the opposite. Inside me were amazing gifts and talents that I started to learn to understand. Seeing these amazing things in me made me more aware of the gifts and talents of my team, and that awareness lead to renewed passion and productivity. Susan’s approach was tailored to me, and as a working mother of 2, this just made sense. Within the first 6 months of hiring Susan, we enjoyed record breaking sales. A year and half later, I can honestly say that I know my team is passionate and we will double what we did last year in sales.

Every CEO should consider the expense of a business coach like Susan an investment. If you want to sleep a little more at night, enjoy working with your team more than you ever dreamed, and make a lot more money, she’s the one to call.

When we began our sessions six months ago, I was hoping to pick up a few tips on time management, or how to better conduct meetings, or how to delegate so that I could get more done. Little did I know, I was going to begin a journey of real change, beginning by getting in touch with my feelings and learning to empathize. In just a few months, I have done the things I wished for, but so much more — and through a much different route than I anticipated.

Susan, your insight into me and others in the company has been extraordinary. You focused on my anger and inability to effectively communicate to my staff and to the other senior managers in the company. You showed me how my presentation style was getting in my way, and that I could change the way I was perceived by my fellow employees by observing feelings; my feelings and those with whom I was interacting.
Although I still struggle with my old nature, my impatience and anger, today I have the tools I need to work on these issues — to get to my natural state of compassion.

In my effort toward better communication to my staff and to the executives of the company, I have learned to notice when my audience is not “getting” my message. You have helped me to begin to understand that people don’t relate as much to things and ideas as they do to feelings and emotions. By learning to empathize with my audience, I was better able to get my message across, whether it was an Excel training session or an explanation of standard costs and the relevance to the Uniform Capitalization of inventory.

Before we started on this journey, my department was a mess. Now, I feel like I have a team behind me. Who would have thought that my whole department would change because I changed.

Now, I am trusting my people more — it’s not all up to me. I am learning to let go, delegating more and allowing my people to make mistakes as they learn new functions. I am praising my people more. I am better able to hone in on the skills of my staff, giving them tasks at which they can excel.

I am learning to watch for reactions and (unspoken) attitudes of my audience. If I have to give a presentation with difficult information, either technical or just bad news, I am able to read people better, knowing when they “don’t get it”. This allows me to modify or tailor my message. I am more compassionate, paying more attention to people’s feelings.

I am much more balanced. The stress is still there, but I am handling it better. This is allowing me to work on the big things and not worry about the petty stuff. My team is more productive — they are working together and taking initiative. The team members are more focused on goals and accountability — because I am.

Susan, I can’t thank you enough for getting me started along this path. We have made so much progress in these last six months; I can’t wait to see what happens as I continue to learn how to be a better communicator and manager.

My name is Daniel Stewart and I am the General Manager of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Bakersfield, California. I have worked for KK for a little over 2 years. I was hired into our management training program and then immediately promoted to the GM position to head the store over here in Bakersfield. My background is ten years in retail, most of those in the grocery store chain business.

My store is in a market that has less expendable income than others. The unemployment rate is high with few qualified employee prospects to choose from. My store opened back on Halloween day 2000. During the beginning of our opening week we were so busy there was little time to breathe, let alone speak to each other. It was a very stressful few weeks followed by some of the initial fallout most stores experience during the beginning.

I was always taught how to manage aggressively and assertively, especially in times of chaos and confusion. You know, take charge and be in control. It was the only management style I had ever known until one day when I met a wonderful human being, Susan Inouye. This lady has single handedly made one of the biggest impacts in my life, my stores hard profit numbers, my staffs morale, my relationship with my management team and other subordinate employees, my wife and children. Need I go on?

I learned a lot of brutal management from the grocery chain business. Working in a unionized, volatile environment shapes you into a dictator management style very easily, pitting management against employee. It was easy to take a hard line stand because the environment called for it. So I thought. Well it traveled with me into this company and caused real grief for me. During the first six months of my store being open I had so many Human Resource issues, too numerous and unimportant to even name. The important part is that I had most of my management team and a good portion of my staff turning against me with the help of some creative phone campaigns spurred on by these managers. My life was a nightmare and I wanted it all to end soon. I thought, “What is wrong with these people? I’m leading them into battle in which I know we will be victorious.” The problem was I only thought I was leading. How can you lead where no one will willingly follow?

I had been very successful at all of my past employers. I found myself struggling here with numbers that were off the mark, most of the time only hitting about 30% of my stores budgeted numbers. And no one would help me. Until my District Manager, Dave Woodard asked Susan if she could work with me to be, quote, unquote, “nice!” She called and planted seeds in my head and I was too into myself to recognize help when I had it right in front of me. She never pushed me into anything. In hind site that wouldn’t have lasted and I would not have received everything that I needed to. She just planted seeds and then one day it dawned on me. I’ll just call her and see what she’s talking about.

We agreed to meet and discuss this further. Before we had a chance I was scheduled with other GM’s to attend a DISC workshop that she was facilitating. It was at that point I was totally convinced that I needed the change and Susan made me feel like there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish. She listened to me like I was the only person in the room. She never let me wallow in my pity blanket. One thing that amazed me about her was the real life giving usable tools she gave to us to actually put to use what we were learning. I’ve been to a lot of rah rah sessions, and this was so much more than that. She helped us all identify our management style by traits and behaviors. This was so revealing to me that I was just a jerk and had a lot of growing up to do to learn real leadership. For some it may come so naturally but others like me need a 2×4 in the head for a reality check.

Although Susan never makes anybody feel anything that they don’t discover on their own. It’s truly amazing this gift of hers. When I got up from that session with her she stayed and listened to some personal issues that I related to her and she took the time and compassion to help me formulate a game plan towards success. If I could have only knew what was in store for my life after that.

We finally met after that and discussed each problem within the store and how I perceived it and how others perceived it. We met again in about four weeks. I could tell that she had really thought about our discussion because she was so well prepared for our meeting. I was so impressed with her. She changed my life without me having a clue. Her probing questions and her masterful way of changing or altering a thought process was unequivocal. Now let me fast forward for you.

It’s been a little more than a year since our first meeting. I have had one human resource issue in the last year. This stores numbers are on target for 100% budgeted expectations. The employee morale has sky rocketed. My managers and I share the same desire for the direct approach. We’ve established a leadership team within our store that has changed so many bad behaviors within the ranks. I have one of the lowest turnover rates in the entire company. More than 90% of my staff that was here at the beginning is still here. This has become so powerful that we now meet with all of the GM’s in this entire district. We have even started our Unit Managers and our Training leaders on this program. They are learning how to set up systems and frameworks for multiple projects. I have seen the light come on in so many people. There is an excitement that has been created and it fosters integrity, unity, and honor, respect, and good will towards others. These things may sound like basic life applications, however it’s amazing how much the workplace can take out of a person if the right environment is not created and fostered.

If I had to put a price on what Susan has developed and helped me personally develop, it is absolutely priceless. I don’t see how companies run without people like her to help guide them and keep them focused in the right direction. What an asset it must be to have a coach like that by your side. People say they have noticed a huge change in me – the way I talk to people, the way I hold myself, and the way I treat people. I can’t say it hasn’t been hard work but I wouldn’t have even known how to facilitate the change in me without Susan.

We’re expecting to have the best year financially that this store has ever done. We have also developed exciting employee incentive programs to continue our morale boost. Our team is a true team now and is operating like one. We all respect each other and the results are in the numbers. As Susan continues to help some of my managers and other managers throughout the district we will continue to see bottom line profits rise as a result of creating that corporate culture that fosters the type of environment that allows employees to grow. Thank you so much for the Susan Inouye’s of this world. She’s a quality person. I wish we had more like her to get around the company faster. We’ll be patient for each of our turn with her.

I just can’t say enough about what Susan does for Great Circle Family Foods. Thanks for people like her. They truly make the world a better place.

Susan’s coaching style is inspirational and thought provoking. She does not do the coaching work for you – you must have the courage to open up to new ways of being, seeing and hearing. For nearly two years, she nurtured and guided me to understand a number of things personally and professionally. I am the real leader I was always meant to be by seeing the “gifts” of others – derived from “Sawubona” leadership, the methodology Susan practices. For example, by supporting my former colleagues’ gifts, we soared to new heights producing the highest number of annual philanthropic gifts raised for the USC Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting. This summer, with an open approach to work and life, I was recently presented a fantastic career opportunity aligning my passions for the visual arts and education – after ten years at USC, I accepted a position to serve as the Campaign Director for the Orange County of Museum Art (OCMA) in Newport Beach. I love my new career and finally, have the time and energy to give back to others and my community–it is a joy. Susan, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your dedicated support, friendship and love. I am relishing my new way of being and embracing my life’s journey. It is magnifique!

It was approximately June/July 2004 that Susan first started working with the staff of the International Right of Way Association (IRWA). The entire staff of IRWA was going through a very difficult transition period. A few major factors were the hiring of a new Executive Vice President and the continued loss of financial reserves for the IRWA. The transition period involved the revamping of the Association’s revenue structure, which included restructuring staff’s roles and responsibilities within IRWA. There were lay offs that affected three (3) full–time employees. During that difficult time Susan conducted brainstorming sessions with the support staff to identify the challenges that needed to be addressed and more importantly the solutions that needed to be implemented.

Next, in an off–site senior staff retreat that Susan conducted, she used her facilitation skills to walk the senior staff through the results of the document. It was with Susan’s help that the senior staff was able to better understand the wants and needs of the support staff. Susan helped the senior staff filter and dissect the document in order to discover the root causes that were triggering the responses of the support staff. Without Susan’s help, the senior staff would have only skimmed the surface and would have not affected true change for the organization.

Through the 360° interviews that Susan conducted with direct reports of each department head (Armando, Fred and Valerie) she was able to compile an “Integral Coaching Program” for each department head. My personal coaching program started on January 27, 2005 after an intensive 2–three hour interview by Susan.

I must honestly state that at first I was a bit reluctant that the coaching program would change anything in my life (personally and professionally). Yet after doing the various practices and self–observations that Susan recommended, I can say that I was 100% wrong! It was shortly only after a few meetings with Susan that I gave 100% of myself to Susan and her designed coaching program.

Current: After 8 months with Susan and the coaching program, I am a different person (both personally and professionally). The practices, self–observations, recommended reading and most importantly the face–to–face sessions with Susan have been significant in my change from manager to leader. The benefits are too numerous to name but a few are as follows:

• I feel much more at peace with myself
• I feel much more confident in my job and my professional abilities (I went from managing to leading)
• I have more compassion and consideration for others
• I have a better relationship with wife, family and friends (I developed a deeper connection)
• I have a better relationship with my colleagues and direct–report staff

Both my family and professional colleagues have told me that they have noticed a dramatic improvement in me over the past eight months. My team is more productive because I am empowering them to do their job by being more open to what they have to offer. I am solving challenges not by offering solutions but by being a better listener and hearing what they have to say. My trust in them to do their jobs has freed them to be more proactive in coming up with solutions. And because I am taking more time to connect to my people and know who they are and where their talents lie, I am better able to address what I need to do to assist my team in being more effective in their positions.

I feel that one of the direct results of working with Susan was my recent promotion from Vice President to Chief Operating Officer. I would have never received this promotion if I had never worked with Susan on developing my management and leadership skills.

When we first met about a year ago, I had a division that was falling apart. I had employees that did not respect me, did not want to work with me and did not trust me. I could not figure out why or how I got to that point. I was absolutely sure I was not the one at fault. In my eyes all of my employees were at fault and they were the ones making our working situation unbearable.

Through your awesome approach of listening, focusing and teaching, you have shown me not only to look within myself first, but how to read, listen and understand other people. You showed me that I had wisdom, but was lacking understanding and compassion and that I was thinking from my head instead of my heart. That is a fine way to go through life if you don’t mind working alone and being alone. Thankfully, that was not what I wanted for my life and you were able to help create a way to change that.

In our first sessions we established that the problems I was having with my employees, for the most part was not their fault at all. Most, if not all of the problems that we were having had something to do with me. Every situation that came up with my employees was resolved by combining wisdom (which I had) and compassion (which I was lacking). Without your tools and support, I never would have been able to figure out on my own that my actions have a direct effect on every single situation, not only in my office but in my life as well.

The results were instant once I started doing the practices you created for me. You figured out a way for me to slow myself down, take time to realize what is going on around me, to see what people were doing and what they were saying. You created practices that were easy to do, which helped in actually doing them.

As our sessions went on over the past year, I have not only grown as an employer, but as a person too. I had forgotten what was important to me, not only in work but in my personal life as well. Through the continuation of the practices, I have been able to rebuild my relationship and regain the trust with my staff. I am now more effective as a manager of my employees and a better role model for other employees of the company. I have also gained the respect of people above me and below throughout the company.

Through your personal coaching techniques, I am now on right path to a more balanced and meaningful life. In the continuation of the practices, I am quite sure that I will be able to continue being a better role model and a better leader. I must say that I am a pretty lucky person to have been able to work with you. Thanks again for everything, I wish you the very best in life.