Dean's Story

When I started my coaching career with a large, global consulting firm, I was told, "Dean, we know you're a psychologist, but just deal with people's behaviors. Don't bring in any psychology!" But for the business leaders I was coaching, I soon saw that simply focusing on their behaviors wasn't enough. Many of these executives had already used coaches. And they'd already been told some of what they should be doing differently. Yet they continued doing the same exact things and bumping up against the same limitations.

More than that, I knew that people can't change unless they understand what's keeping them caught in their old, self-limiting patterns. And for each of the leaders I was coaching, I saw what was holding them back – and what would free them. I saw I could teach them about their personal psychology in ways that were fascinating to them, eye-opening, uplifting and, ultimately, liberating.

So I started identifying for my clients their Core Personality Themes – those unique strengths that largely described who they were, and which had within them the seeds of their key difficulties. And I also began identifying for my clients their central, underlying challenges while providing many tools and solutions for overcoming them.

Initially, I wondered if perhaps I was going too far, if I was exposing something too private, too real, for my clients. But I found this approach typically led to major openings and growth for the executives I served – so much so that I was increasingly invited to coach leaders around the world, not just in places like San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta, but also in cities such as London, Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart, Beijing, Seoul and Singapore.

In many of these locales, I worried whether my approach would be culturally fitting. But it was never a problem. The executives I worked with universally came to recognize that just as they needed a deeper understanding of their businesses, industries, and customers to be most successful, so, too, did they need a deeper understanding of themselves in order to achieve greater personal and business success.

Everywhere I used my approach, the clients on a personal level seemed to deeply appreciate it. So often I heard, "Wow, you really see me!" I came to realize I'd developed a way of working with leaders that was especially potent. And I wanted to take it further. So I built on it until it became the Power Optimization Program that my colleagues and I provide today. (By the way, when I use the term "power," I mean internal power, not power over others.)

Clients still tell us how much they feel truly seen. I've learned that when this happens, then they can really see themselves. This typically triggers a dynamic growth process that is exhilarating for my clients to experience – and for us to witness.

If this sounds appealing to you, contact me. Let's talk and begin to explore if we're a good fit for each other. I'd love for us to create some meaningful change together.

In the meantime, you can see my professional bio here.