The Abundance of Clarity

By David J. Brown

It’s an old story. The driven executive blasts through the door of his home, kicks the cat and screams at the kids. Pressures that simmered untended throughout the day boil over at work and then at home. Sadly, there are still otherwise successful executives living this cliché. If only they could find the key to handling the pressure. The answer may be just a few questions away.

“Do you feel like you’re trying to win a war rather than make a business work?”

“Could it be that you are leaving a trail of wounded as you climb the corporate ladder?”

“What would it be like to lead with intention without tension?”

These are the kinds of questions executive coach Dave Brown asks in order to navigate the aspirations and frustrations of his clients. Uncovering hidden obstacles to productivity, Brown guides the client through a process that identifies mind-sets and behaviors that impede progress. The COO whose combative style is known to intimidate those around him discovers the battle he really needs to win. He needs to conquer his belief that domination means effective leadership. He realizes he can get better results by listening and negotiating, both at work and at home. By gaining this insight and by learning a new communications approach, the COO transforms the pressure he puts on himself and others into an engine for success.

Whether an executive’s challenge is to manage up, or manage down, or work effectively with peers, Brown moves through a step-by-step process to identify the limiting factors that cause his clients to struggle. This coaching method uncovers the hidden obstacles to clear communication that sabotage many otherwise effective executives.

In all the extensive training executives undergo, one topic is rarely covered: the true meaning of verbal/nonverbal communication and how it effects one’s success. Brown delivers a conscious and systematic focus of non-verbal behavior to reveal how this critical area of leadership can and will multiply the effectiveness of any executive.

“Addressing the entire spectrum of expression, beginning with clarity of purpose and clear thinking, we work through a practical approach to using precise words, appropriate inflection and congruent body language,” says Brown. “Clarity, expressed in position and posture, creates communication that is inherently powerful. But when non-verbal expression doesn’t match one’s words, there is a scarcity of clarity. ”

Executives trained in this method can marshal support above and below them to get things done. They confidently move people to action along a planned path and time line to reach results.

Theresa, an executive who considered it unsafe to express her feminine traits at work, felt she needed to be authoritative and overbearing to get the job done. Her true personality was masked. As a result, she alienated those around her. Brown’s method of coaching enabled her to recognize and correct the disconnect between her behavior and her personality, resulting in an authentic expression of authority. This engaged others rather than repelling them.

Another of Brown’s clients, a chief scientific officer, was promoted to associate director and put in charge of 18 scientists who were formerly his peers. During his coaching experience, he learned to stop doing the work and start leading the work: In short: effective delegation. By managing upward, he also acquired the budget necessary for critical equipment purchases as well as vital staff training and education. He was promoted to director, and then to senior director. Despite an extremely difficult market for research and development expansion, the company received a third round of funding, which the investors attributed to the firm’s effective accomplishment of corporate objectives – attributed to his ability as an effective leader. These are the results of an abundance of clarity.

Ken Blanchard, founder of Ken Blanchard Companies and a Brown client, put it this way, “I have a personality type that drives faster than my body could keep up. For years I pushed myself at full throttle, at a pace that was hard to sustain. During our coaching sessions, I discovered how I sacrificed my well being at times for the sake of accomplishing my goals. Dave offered strategies, support and insight to help me find a level of balance that I had not found on my own. As a result I can now be more effective in everything I do. Coaching is a powerful process and Dave Brown is an excellent coach."

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Dave Brown is a Del Mar resident with offices at 1442 Camino Del Mar and can be reached at 858-775-4544.