Evolving leadership in tandem with rapid growth

Each time my coach and I speak, I feel like I’m talking with a wise, present, and courageous friend—one who listens so carefully, connects dots to past sessions, and always asks the hard questions in a context that welcomes me to explore the hard answers.”

Kate Williams  |

CEO, 1% for the Planet

Kate was looking for a coach to help her navigate the myriad of challenges and new circumstances that come with being a CEO—from leading an organization, to managing people, to growing impact. The role of CEO can be lonely, as you operate in a space between staff, board, and stakeholders—meaningfully connected to each group, but not part of any one of them. Kate sought a coach to be her partner in this work in a way no one else could. Plus, as the leader of a rapidly growing organization, she needed help scaling her leadership team in a way that kept pace with organizational growth. Kate knew CO2 Managing Partner and Coach, Gary B. Cohen, from their work together when CO2 became a member of 1% for the Planet. Finding a mission-aligned coaching partner who could provide what she needed for her team felt perfectly serendipitous.

The core of Kate and Gary’s work together focused on questions. Gary asked the right questions to inspire Kate to dig deeper and look at her business challenges differently. Almost always, the overcoming or revealing came about through these questions—which was powerful, as it led Kate to forge the responses in her own words. This way, they truly stuck. Kate also appreciated how authentically relational Gary was in their work together. She recalls a time when she came to a session with a lot of emotion about a personal situation that she was experiencing. Gary met her right there and demonstrated so much understanding from all of their prior sessions—it was clear he’d been listening closely, and keeping track of what makes Kate tick. The awareness of self that Gary helped her connect with was so deep and complete that it’s fed into both Kate’s personal and professional approaches.

But what she found was that working with CO2 is a powerful balance of a thoughtful, well-supported coaching model and a meaningful relationship between coach and client. This effective balance helped Kate evolve her coaching with her own leadership team, and use thoughtful questions to move herself out of the center of their work.

At the start of her coaching journey, Kate expected the experience to be a bit more arms-length professional. But what she found was that working with CO2 is a powerful balance of a thoughtful, well-supported coaching model and a meaningful relationship between coach and client. This effective balance helped Kate evolve her coaching with her own leadership team, and use thoughtful questions to move herself out of the center of their work. This enabled her to activate more power overall, build more strength and accountability in the people she works with, and be more effective in her role at the head of a quickly growing organization.