We received a touching email from one of our former clients, Ken Toltz. He let us know that he had written an essay on Medium.com to thank the coaches who had helped him change his life and his career for the better. He specifically wanted to show gratitude to our own Evelyn Hottenstein for her guidance early in his career.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Somehow I was able to find and attract mentors and professional role models who helped me get a foothold in life after school. It was one of those mentors who took an interest in my leadership and management potential and referred me to a professional coach who worked with business executives, back in 1987.
“I still remember our first meeting, as the purpose of the referral to meet with her, by a senior executive in the large commercial bank where I had a junior management position, was a mystery. All I knew was an appointment had been made and I was to come to her office for an initial meeting which was unconnected to my professional responsibilities with the bank. In fact I wasn’t aware of the person who made the referral until I sat down to meet with the coach.
“’Ken,’ Evelyn said, ‘the reason Beverly set up this meeting at the bank’s expense is she believes you are smart and talented and have a great career ahead of you, but you rub some senior managers the wrong way.’ I remember feeling something like ‘oh shit, I was sent to the principal’s office’!
“Turns out that in my quest to perform and achieve results, while being recognized for my abilities and accomplishments in a large corporate environment, my personal style was going to be a significant barrier and possibly cost me the job. To this day, I feel Beverly did a huge favor for me, which I can’t truly repay. Not only did she take an interest, she took an action outside of the traditional corporate human resources guidebook and performance review process. Ever since that first meeting I realized that coaching was a good thing, not a punishment which if embraced could make a real difference in my life. At the time I was about 26 or 27 years old.
“Another realization was that coaches had dedicated their time to researching and mastering all sorts of new methodologies and assessment tools which they were bringing to their work with me. I was going to get the benefit of their knowledge and they would be advising me on the basis of actual proven ways to uncover my weaknesses and limiting patterns, while offering powerful alternative tools for my use. And the rest is history!”
You can read the full essay here.
Thanks for the email, Ken. We’re honored everyday to be able to help our clients to become their best selves and achieve success.
