Discovering a New Path

My Journey into Coaching

In my 30+ years in the tech industry, I’ve worn many hats – software engineer, startup founder, VP of Engineering, and now Director at Google. But perhaps the most transformative role I’ve stepped into wasn’t about climbing the corporate ladder. It was about learning to climb down and meet people where they are.

My journey into coaching began with a simple desire: to become a better leader. As I navigated increasingly complex leadership roles, I realized that technical expertise and strategic thinking, while crucial, weren’t enough. The real magic in leadership happens in the spaces between decisions – in the conversations that inspire, the questions that challenge, and the silence that allows others to find their own answers.

This realization led me to the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI), where I embarked on my professional coaching certification journey. I expected to learn new leadership tools. What I discovered instead was an entirely new way of being with people.

The Power of Not Solving

As technology leaders, we’re trained to solve problems. See a bug? Fix it. Encounter an obstacle? Find a way around it. Through my coaching training, I learned something counterintuitive: sometimes the most powerful thing we can do as leaders is not to solve, but to listen. Not to direct, but to inquire.

The Co-Active methodology introduced me to a fundamental truth that has transformed my approach to leadership: people are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. They don’t need fixing. They need space, support, and sometimes a gentle challenge to discover their own solutions.

Finding Joy in Coaching

What started as a path to better leadership has blossomed into something unexpected – a passion for coaching itself. There’s an indescribable joy in witnessing someone’s moment of discovery, in being present as they step into their power, in seeing them light up as they uncover their own answers.

Now, as a Co-Active Coach, I have the privilege of working with individuals beyond my immediate team. Each coaching session is an adventure, a co-created space where insights emerge, limiting beliefs dissolve, and new possibilities take shape.

This journey feels like just the beginning. As I continue my leadership role while building my coaching practice, I’m excited to explore how these worlds intersect and enhance each other. What started as a quest to become a better leader has opened up a whole new world of possibilities, and I’m thrilled to see where this path leads next.