Purpose, Presence and Power

“There’s something really awesome about helping someone see themselves differently,” said Neena Newberry of Newberry Executive Solutions in reference to her role as an executive coach. Most of Newberry’s clients are high performers who readily focus on a goal. Oftentimes, the goal, however, creates a tunnel vision that obscures the world immediately surrounding them. They aren’t seeing the forest for the trees.

Even the most successful executive might be in a bit of denial about how their team sees them. The leader wants results; the company wants to keep the entire team functioning at its peak. Newberry steps in—usually at the request of the company—to help refine and balance an executive’s approach, to make her or him more successful.

Newberry’s clients are high performers, both male and female. She helps leaders to get results that they couldn’t achieve before. She encourages and coaches high-achieving women who want to advance in their careers without compromising their values or what’s important to them.  Newberry loves helping to develop women leaders by helping women get unstuck.  She’s known for her practicality and her ability to move people forward in a way that works for them.

Newberry’s vast experience includes sixteen years in management consulting and on the HR executive team leading performance management and career planning for Deloitte’s U.S. employees. She developed teams and engaged people.  When Deloitte announced its intent to return to a national consulting model, Newberry thought, “been there, done that.” She desired to have greater impact in human resources but found that life on the road no longer suited her. Her next challenge was the culmination of years of experience in managing women’s initiatives, performance management and career planning…Newberry Executive Solutions.

The move was a natural progression for Newberry who “every 3-4 years had made a switch and reinvented herself anyway.” Her goal was to coach people, especially women, to transition to new roles and new lives. Newberry teaches executives to play to their strengths but also makes them aware of how playing only to their strengths might negatively impact results. Why? Most high performance individuals are results oriented, however, that may make them appear overly demanding or lacking empathy. A team that believes they cannot meet the demands of the leader might lose focus and momentum.

The right fit, openness and understanding between coach and client fosters a relationship where they can work proactively and deliberately in an environment where it’s safe to talk candidly. Therefore, Newberry initially interviews the client she will coach. She then interviews the client’s coworkers to find out how they see the client in the work environment. Often a coworker will be more objective about our performance in the workplace than we can be about ourselves. The goal is to understand fully how the client is coming across. A coworker might mention, “This person needs to show more confidence.” Newberry even pays attention to body language, eye contact and tone of voice. Her unique strategy might seem a bit unconventional, but companies see quick results.

Newberry Executive Solutions advises women to focus on three P’s: purpose, presence and power to achieve results.

Purpose: Where can you have the biggest impact? Know who you are as a leader by knowing your strengths. Have you defined your purpose and created a strategy that aligns your actions with your intent? Are you making the best use of your strengths and skills?

Presence: Your presence reinforces you as a leader; it helps you optimize your impact. Ask yourself, “How do I want to show up?” Newberry recommends focusing on the big picture and clearly defining goals. Make certain that every action and communication reiterates your stated goal and tastefully promotes you by helping the right people notice you in the right way.

Power: Think of your own influence. It doesn’t matter if you have strong interpersonal skills. So what? What is the impact of those skills? Power comes from knowing how you influence those around you.  Do you have a strong network? Ask yourself, “Who else can I lift up and help grow to increase the impact and influence of the team?”

Newberry said there is a “dual focus in everything I do.” She advocates finding out what fuels you and what brings greater value to your company. Coaching is, after all, an investment that the company makes to increase their ROI. That said, working with an executive coach should never feel like work. You should not feel, “oh, I have to make time for this” as if the experience is pure drudgery. You ought to feel jazzed and energized about the time you dedicate to your executive coach. Let your purpose, presence and power take you to greater career heights than you ever dreamed were possible.