MEDIA: Frequently Asked Questions

• When was Leading Principles founded?
• What services does Leading Principles offer?
• What is the philosophy of Leading Principles?
• What is executive coaching?
• Why would a person or an organization hire an Executive Coach?
• How could Executive Coaching help me or my organization?
• What sets Leading Principles’ Executive Coaching Program apart from other programs?
• What should I look for in an Executive Coach?
• How do coaching sessions work?
• What kind of results can I expect from coaching?
• What is my return on investment?
• How do we begin working with Leading Principles?
• I would like to speak with someone to learn more. What do I do?

When was Leading Principles founded?
In 2003, President Noah Blumenthal founded Leading Principles as a vehicle to share his passion for leadership and personal development with a broader audience. This fulfilled a lifelong dream of his to start and build a business from the ground up that would serve others and improve the business community.

What services does Leading Principles offer?
Leading Principles is a consulting company specializing in executive coaching and leadership and team development. We also offer workshops and services in keynote speaking. Read more about our Services.

What is the philosophy of Leading Principles?
At Leading Principles, all of our services are driven by the same basic principle—
“Fresh Perspective Leads to Better Decisions.” Oftentimes, individuals and teams get stuck in patterns of thought and behaviors that make it difficult for them to recognize and take advantage of their opportunities. We ask pointed questions that encourage our clients to challenge their assumptions and find better solutions. Read more about Our Philosophy.

What is executive coaching?
Executive coaching is a one-on-one collaborative partnership. That relationship develops between a coach and an individual executive or manager interested in improving his or her performance in the workplace. Coaching focuses on empowering clients to take actions that build peak performance. An executive coach will capitalize on the existing strengths of individual leaders to increase their confidence and efficiency at work.

A coach can help you understand how others perceive you and your actions, address specific shortcomings in behavior and performance, build stronger, more influential relationships with your colleagues, become a better leader and make better decisions.

The core of any effective coaching relationship is based on trust and honesty. An executive coach is critical to executive development because executives rarely have the opportunity to speak with another professional with whom they can converse openly, without personal or political repercussions.

Executive coaching helps executives and their teams achieve positive change by asking thought-provoking questions, setting well-defined performance-related goals, and providing valuable feedback.

Why would a person or an organization hire an Executive Coach?
At Leading Principles, we have found that two of the most common reasons why executives and organizations hire an executive coach is because they want to improve relationships within the organization or they have become stalled in an ineffective pattern of behavior (such as negative thinking, perfectionism, or risk avoidance). Other reasons include:

How could Executive Coaching help me or my organization?
Executive coaching studies have shown ROI of over 500% for the client organization. Coaching improves communication, confidence, accountability and performance among individuals and their organizations. Executive coaching helps individuals get unstuck, realize their own potential, and see their situations from new perspectives so that they can make better decisions for their businesses and themselves.

What sets Leading Principles’ Executive Coaching Program apart from other programs?
Leading Principles specializes in the development of exceptional leaders and teams, helping them see the best in themselves so that they are more confident, energized, and productive in their work. Our driving philosophy – “Fresh Perspective Leads to Better Decisions” – is at the heart of all of the services we provide.

Through our tailor-made programs and creative solutions, we help individuals and organizations improve their performance, uncover the roadblocks that limit their success, hold themselves accountable to their own development and reach their goals faster and easier than they would on their own.

Our consultants are insightful, innovative, experienced and focused on bringing creative and energizing solutions to all of our clients' challenges. We help our clients to come up with effective strategies to change their behavior, lead their teams, navigate office politics, and run their businesses. We also help our clients see the challenges in front of them in very different ways. This helps them discover many more opportunities than they thought existed.

What should I look for in an Executive Coach?
The most important thing is a good fit. Different executive coaches have different styles, and you need to find the style that fits your needs. Some coaches are like silent therapists, requiring you to generate more conversation and push through your challenges on your own. Others push their suggestions on you from the very first moment. Some are soft-spoken, others aggressive. Style and personality will heavily influence the effectiveness of the coaching relationship. You need to feel comfortable with and confident in your coach.

The best way to determine this is to experience the coach firsthand. Ask for a trial session so that you get a sense for how they interact with you, what kinds of questions they ask, and what kind of suggestions they make. Your coach should be a confidant and trusted advisor. He or she should also ask difficult questions and make challenging statements to push you to consider new alternatives. In a trial session you will discover whether the coach listens, questions and challenges in a way that fulfills your needs.

How do coaching sessions work?
At Leading Principles, we believe coaching sessions are kind of like television dramas in that there are generally two things happening. There is the main plot which runs throughout the entire season, and there are sub-plots that may only run for a single show. The main plot is akin to the coachee’s big goal for the coaching. This could be defining a personal vision and taking steps to fulfill it. It could be a specific performance challenge that the coachee has to overcome. Whatever the big goal is, the coach’s job is to make sure that the coachee doesn’t lose sight of it.

The reason the coachee would lose sight of the big goal is the sub-plots. These are day-to-day challenges that arise for the coachee and occupy his/her mind. It is easy to get sucked into these and neglect the bigger picture. The coach’s role is to help the coachee process these challenges when time allows and put them aside when they are interfering with the coachee’s ability to achieve his/her big goal.

Our coaching sessions create a balance between the big goals and the sub-plots. We help clients define their big goals, create plans to reach them, monitor progress along the way, and adjust as needed. We also make time available to help our clients think through the day-to-day challenges that arise so they can clear their heads to focus on their big goals.

What kind of results can I expect from coaching?
When performed competently, with the right support, the results from coaching are astounding. Some of the benefits of coaching include being able to see challenges in radically different ways, increased efficiency and effectiveness, increased self-confidence, setting and achieving specific goals, discovering better strategies for running a business and leading people, the ability to work more effectively with different kinds of people, and a better ability to manage stressful and challenging situations.

What is my return on investment?
Studies have shown return on investment of over 500% from effective coaching programs. Of course, there are two main ingredients to this: your coach and yourself. The coach needs to be competent to achieve results, and you need to be ready, willing, and able to put in effort to make the coaching effective. For more on this question, read our article from the OD Practitioner, Keeping Your Coach Accountable.

How do we begin working with Leading Principles?
If you want to get the best from yourself and the people with whom you work, check out our Services, take a look at our Newsletter, or Contact Us directly today. We’d be happy to set up a complimentary consultation.

I would like to speak with someone to learn more. What do I do?
Please contact us anytime at info@leadingprinciples.com. Or, feel free to call us at
516-352-2744 and we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.