Greg Brodsky Greg Brodsky has been coaching, training, and helping people develop themselves since the early 1960s. An executive coach since 1978, he counsels Silicon Valley company founders and senior executives regarding their personal growth, professional performance, human relations, and organizational development. |
![]() |
Greg Brodsky Greg Brodsky has been coaching, training, and helping people grow since the early 1960s. An executive coach since 1978, he counsels Silicon Valley company founders and senior executives regarding their personal growth, professional performance, human relations, and organizational development. |
![]() |
Principles | Services | Background | Clients | Client Comments |Contact | Tai Chi| Blog
Principles The first responsibility of a manager is to manage oneself. Exceptional executives work on upgrading their own thinking and behavior while they fulfill their business missions. These executives become more effective and balanced over time because they keep growing. By continuously developing themselves, these executives cultivate peace of mind as they build the prosperity of their organizations. They serve the interests of their stakeholders as they build their inner lives. Over the course of successful careers, they thrive personally and professionally, grow lasting, productive relationships, and become the people they want to become. The right coach can play a key role in generating these results.
Great executives value coaching. The problem today is similar for all executives: you must find new ways to develop yourself. A client put it this way: "Once you become an executive, the people around you expect to be focused on their goals, not training you. To fuel your development, you need an expert in maturing leaders—one who understands you in both your personal context and the context of your job. Only an outside coach can do that." The challenge becomes more complex as you rise to positions of greater responsibility; even the best executives can become blindsided as attaining confidential, apolitical, growth-oriented feedback and reflection becomes increasingly difficult. At such times, the counsel of an insightful, experienced coach from outside your organization can spark the difference between a good and great career.
Clients report that coaching helps them to: • Know themselves. They understand their true nature more deeply, enabling them to do what they are built to do and fulfill their potential. • Learn from feedback. They finally get to hear what others have been trying to tell them. This catalyzes a new wave of professional development, improves their effectiveness, and raises all their relationships to higher levels. • Maintain balance. By engaging their roles from new perspectives, and by renewing their learning and self development, coached executives experience greater satisfaction and peace of mind. • Deliver to the bottom line. "We achieved our growth plan with net revenues and margins exceeding our previous year by 90% while developing two additional business units. Greg was highly instrumental in enabling us to achieve our goals."
The results can be pervasive. • Organizations perform at higher levels. Inspired by their leader's renewed learning, teams find innovative ways to resolve difficult organizational problems. They invest themselves in substantive change because they see proof that change is possible. • Working relationships improve. By concentrating on creating productive interactions, teams make personal and professional fulfillment more likely for themselves and everyone around them. As interactions become more straightforward and effective, people feel greater respect and confidence in each other. Executives become the leaders they intend to be. Leadership arises throughout an organization when people experience role models that personify what they believe leadership should be. Supported by their teams, the leaders become stronger. Successful leadership and personal fulfillment emerge together. |
Services Greg Brodsky offers coaching, consulting, and facilitation services that enable clients to improve in three areas:
Coaching is one-to-one or team counseling. Greg has coached mid-level and senior executives in a broad range of industries and circumstances. Consulting addresses organizational issues, situational problem solving, and operational implementation. Greg is a process specialist with a focus on performance management. Facilitation provides assurance that executive teams will achieve their goals in meetings and planning sessions. Greg keeps executive teams on track when volatility threatens the outcome of a meeting. In coaching, Greg provides busy executives with expert feedback, uncompromising support, safe and confidential reflection, and unique ways to accelerate their learning on terms that suit their roles, responsibilities, and schedules. His ability to bridge their personal and professional lives enables them to reconcile their inner and outer drives. Greg's method is to help clients structure their own coaching process on terms that suit them. He typically gathers 360º feedback data in interviews with people selected by his clients and generates a written report followed by an initial coaching session. He and his client develop the coaching process plan at the end of that session. Greg's approach is very direct. His clients address their critical issues and learn from the information that surrounds them. In the coaching process, they accelerate their natural maturation and move rapidly toward their performance goals and personal goals. At the organizational level, Greg guides teams into functional relationships characterized by respect, common purpose, and enjoyment. He enables working groups to resolve long-standing conflicts by addressing their hard realities honestly, directly, and successfully. Through the coaching process, they learn how to implement their strategic plans and perform to their targeted standards. Clients describe Greg's style as skillful, fearlessly insightful, gentle, and warm. He engenders humor and candor among his clients in ways that make it easier to address and resolve difficult issues.
"Greg Brodsky is an Executive Renaissance Catalyst."
Coaching Examples The Disconnected Leader While consulting on another project, Greg interviewed the executive. They hit it off. Greg casually suggested that some feedback about why the projects were slowing might be valuable. His data-gathering interviews produced several troubling surprises which motivated the executive to examine his style and methods. The subsequent coaching and team building process produced sustained changes in the executive's methods, plus warmed his relations with his staff, spouse, and peers. The projects went on to completion. Turnaround from Feedback Five days later, he turned to her in private and asked, "Do you have any idea what it is like to work for you?" As she reports it, the ensuing conversation was a turning point in her professional life, one for which she continually expresses gratitude. Greg coached her for several months. She now leads her own company and enjoys a much more comfortable style. A Team at War with Itself Explosive Leaders Promising Executive Coaching engagements come in three forms. Short Term Interventions: An individual or team wants facilitation to ensure the success of a meeting, or needs to resolve a specific issue that lends itself to one or two coaching sessions. Individual Coaching Projects: An executive wants to upgrade his or her performance with the help of a coach. Candid, confidential feedback from a variety of sources about specific work issues would be more useful than measurements from an off-the-shelf instrument. Putting the feedback to use and making substantive changes is a priority. Teambuilding or Organizational Development Projects: A team or organization is underperforming due to issues that must be addressed by the group as a whole. Individual coaching might be included, but the team recognizes the systemic nature of the problem. Typical projects have two phases. Discovery: Through interviews, company literature, and web research, Greg gathers relevant data, articulates goals and requirements for a successful outcome, and proposes an approach to addressing the project. Once the data are verified with the client and goals are set, delivery can proceed. Delivery: Coaching, training, and group communications occur for an agreed upon time. Individuals and/or teams meet periodically. Success is measured by criteria set by the client. Fees are hourly during discovery; by project, retainer, or hourly during delivery. |
© 2007 Greg Brodsky |
Professional Background Greg Brodsky's pre-consulting business experience includes sales, operations, and small business management. He began working in high-tech environments in 1968 as a franchise sales person with the Electronic Computer Programming Institute in New York City, then the world's largest computer programming educator. Subsequently, he was Sales and marketing Manager for Modern Data Techniques, in Parsippany, New Jersey, and served as Total Quality Manager for SEFRAC, a luxury fiber manufacturer in Montpellier, France. Greg left the business world in the early 70s to practice Chinese medicine and to counsel individuals on their health and well being. He began consulting in the late 70s, as a by-product of his practice, when psychotherapists started sending him intractable patients. Many of these patients were business people who were dealing with work related issues.
Personal Background B. A. cum laude, 1974, University of California, Santa Cruz, in Healing Arts, a major he designed. Master Practitioner, Neurolinguistic Programming, 1976; taught over 100 NLP seminars between 1975-80 in the U. S. and Europe. Student of martial arts since 1960: 20 years of Aikido; Aikido instructor from 1966-81, having taught in the U. S. and Europe. (See 1978 Aiki News Interview at http://www.aikidojournal.com/article.php?articleID=197) Practitioner of T'ai Chi Ch'uan since 1964; instructor since 1972; student of Grandmasters Cheng M'an-Ching and William Chi-Cheng Chen; certified by Grandmaster Chen. L. Ac. State of California 1975. Diploma, The College of Chinese Medicine , Kenilworth, England; practiced Chinese medicine for 12 years. Published over 40 magazine articles on health and personal performance and a book on natural healing. A resident of Santa Cruz, California, Greg is married and has three sons. He has lived in new York, Paris, London, and Kihei, and is conversant in French. His community activities have included: American Lung Association, Head Start Program in New York City, Board of Directors of the Mental Health Association in Maui, Maui Economic development Board, Pop Warner Football, and the Boy Scouts of America. |
|
Selected Clients Amdahl — Over nine years, Greg coached executives, delivered training programs on managing organizational performance, and consulted on key initiatives. Brio Technology — Coached the founders and executive team through a transition to new leadership. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of the State of Hawaii — Designed and implemented the department's performance management system; trained 450 professionals in customer service and teamwork. Intel — Over five years, developed and delivered training programs; coached executives regarding performance, working relations, and customer relations. Long and Melone — Over four years advised this family business through the transition from founder to the next generation. Neoforma — Coached the founders through their IPO. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe — Coached 24 partners regarding their business development and professional development. Platys Communications — Coached key executives of this startup through their acquisition by Adaptec, called "the smoothest in Adaptec's history." Quovera — Coached the founding partners and key executives. Sun Microsystems — Coached the team conducting customer councils. Xtime — Coached the founding CEO. Plus coaching or training for: Backflip, Fenwick & West, Financial Engines, Force Computers, inSilica, Interwoven, Portal Software, Strategic, Inc., Ungermann-Bass, the United States Army, Santa Clara County, the Mayor and Mayor's Cabinet of Kauai County, and the Governor and Governor's Cabinet of the State of Hawaii, professionals in private practice, and numerous partnerships. |
|
Greg Brodsky
The Brodsky Group
204 Frederick Street
Santa Cruz, California 95062-3440
831-325-3312
Client Comments "Greg Brodsky has been my coach and mentor for many years. During two critical periods of leadership challenge, one while I was Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs for the State of Hawaii, and one in my current role. His advice, and even more the mental processes he put me through made the essential difference. Greg is an extraordinary human being to work with on tough issues. He cares deeply and personally about your success, and he judges success in entirely holistic terms. The Hawaiians have a term, "pono" which means to make right or to be right. Greg's sense of pono comes from his very core to yours. Combine that with a great sense of humor and a good handle on his own ego, and you have a truly great coach and mentor. Call him if you are serious about real change." Robbie Alm, Senior Vice-President, Hawaiian
Electric Company "Greg coached me off and on from 1992 until 1998. Over that time I was in a number of senior executive positions with Amdahl Corp. Greg is an excellent coach. I find that as we reach higher levels of an organization, it is tough to get valuable feedback. Greg offers that plus a gentle style in taking proscriptive steps to use the feedback. I liked Greg's style so much that I had him coach many people on my staff. His presence as a performance coach in staff meetings and group processes was invaluable. As a team we achieved productivity levels that we would not have approached without his help. I highly recommend using Greg as both a personal and as a team coach." Dave Anderson, Chairman, Sendmail "Working with Greg Brodsky is an exhilarating experience. 'Management Coach' doesn't really describe what he does. In fact, it's sometimes hard to make the connection between what he's doing and what is happening to you. Breathing, for example. About the last thing I expected was to have this guy start off by talking to me about the value of breathing deeply; it's not like I didn't know about breathing already. But he showed me how to apply it to what was going on with me at work. Power through relaxation. Maintaining an internal state. We started during a particularly difficult time for me. My cofounder, friend, and main conduit into what was going on in the company was leaving. We were in major business and cultural change. I felt cut out of the mainstream, unable to exercise my creativity. Greg directed me to the personal strength I needed to get through that period and be more effective in my job. Working with Greg is kind of eerie though. He sees through you, like you are transparent. He is direct, but deeply subtle. He pointed me toward parts of myself that I had either never seen or forgotten about. He seems like a therapist, but he's not a therapist. He acts as a Zen guru, but he's not a Zen guru (although I wonder). In fact, the main thing he does not act like is a management coach, and yet that is what he does, and does exceptionally well. Greg makes it clear that being an executive is something you never get "right," just like being a human being. You work on the process through your entire career. He points you to the internal tools you need to manage and get the most out of that process. He's not interested in quick fixes, although I experienced changes in myself almost immediately. It's been an exceptional experience." Eric Allman, Co-Founder, Sendmail "Greg is a true master. He is instinctive and quick to see the situation as it is, and uses that insight to move the individual and group to high-performance outcomes. Greg's inside-out approach means the results are lasting, though not simple. I cannot imagine a better man for the job we had to do, nor could I have expected any more in the results we realized together." John Stormer, Senior VP, Timebridge "I began working with Greg to resolve a longstanding difficulty in communicating with a colleague. The best possible outcome, I anticipated, would be a truce. But through Greg�s coaching, we achieved full and lasting resolution plus new, deep footing from which to work together. I wanted to go further, and follow-up sessions have been a post-graduate course in effective management. I now have a much better understanding of how to get the best out of myself and my team. We achieve more in shorter times, and my colleagues remark that I am much easier to work with. Greg�s approach is direct, truthful, methodical, and enjoyable. He sees through one�s masks, yet is very accepting and never condescending. I am indebted to Greg and recommend him without qualification as a coach." Matt Kesner, CTO, Fenwick & West LLP "As a partner in a multinational law firm, I consider Greg to be a highly trustworthy coach and business advisor. His solid, insightful advice was invaluable in building my practice. I will not hesitate to call upon him throughout the course of my career and highly recommend Greg to any lawyer who would like to further develop his or her business." Kathy Woeber-Gardner, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe "Greg Brodsky has a truly extraordinary ability to see deeply within me for answers to whatever management issues I might be facing externally. His integrity, personal generosity, and rich life experience all engender an extremely strong trust relationship that enabled us to consistently work at these levels. The results were productive sessions, profound insights, and remarkable progress towards my professional and personal goals. If you believe that management performance starts from within, then I cannot recommend Greg more highly to you." John Stewart Lee, Founder and CEO, Xtime "I meet many good executives who don't seem to be able to make it over that last hurdle to becoming great executives. Once they reach 'the top,' there is no one above them to watch, critique, and grow their skills. These talented people need someone who can slice through the facade and deliver the tough messages that get them to the next level. I have seen Greg play this role many times, and he does it with an adroitness that is truly developmental, not just tough medicine." Charles A. Foley, CEO, TimeSight Systems "I enlisted Greg Brodsky as a coach in conjunction with a critical multi-company, multi-national alliance project in 1999. Greg worked with me personally in the areas of group leadership, management of difficult individuals, and keeping centered and effective in the chaos that is inherent in multi-company, multi-national endeavors. I was very satisfied with the results. If you are in a significant leadership position, Greg can make a difference that will be reflected in the effectiveness of your work group and company." Tom Incorvia, former VP, Microsoft Alliance, Amdahl Corporation "While I have been successfully representing clients in complex litigation for more than thirty years, Greg's laser-like focus and uncanny intuition have enabled me to see new opportunities for business, practice, and team development, as well as ways to improve all my relationships. He has enhanced my professional and personal life and the lives of those around me. He cut through my resistance to change with gentle humor, direct intervention and useful strategies for taking effective action. Using his methods, I am realizing the personal and professional satisfaction that comes with focus and balance. And, perhaps most satisfying of all, we have formed a deep friendship. Greg is the real deal." Bill Alderman, Partner, Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe,
LLP "Creating and managing a thriving startup does not come without costs. As we prepared for our IPO at Neoforma, and I had to remain cheerful and productive on the outside, stress was eating away at my inner core. Greg’s insight and practical advice were invaluable in getting my team and me through that tough time." Wayne McVicker, Co-Founder, Neoforma, Inc. "As a result of Greg's coaching, I look at everything differently. I am much more focused on business development opportunities and am confident that I have the necessary tools to analyze and take advantage of those opportunities. There has been a complete shift in my thought process." Scott Elliot, Partner, Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe,
LLP "Greg was my coach when I was the VP of Strategy for Amdahl Corporation. I was also the leader for several corporate change initiatives. Greg helped me to transform my approach from one in which I viewed myself as a "farmer pulling on a mule" (read: getting other senior executives to move) to one of "water flowing over the landscape" (cannot be denied, will always reach its destination). I will be a better executive for the rest of my career because of his coaching." Linda Alepin, Partner, Center for New Futures "Prior to meeting Greg, I was a bit of an untamed horse. My habits didn't work in my new environment and it showed. Greg helped me change for the better. The coaching was rapid but comfortable - even pleasant. The insights that Greg has provided me now extend deep into the rest of my life. I'm grateful for what Greg has done for me." Dave McGuerty, former Director of e-Commerce
and Business Development, Neoforma "I initially chose to work with Greg because of the extraordinary insights he had during our first meeting. He was incredibly perceptive, and always direct and straightforward in providing feedback. He helped me work in some areas where nobody else had ever realized there were even areas. We did a remarkable variety of things together in support of the work, from reading and talking to music and boxing. I think Greg is a remarkable guy, an outstanding coach, and you're guaranteed to think about some things that you just won't get to any other way." Alex Lapidus, retired "I had the pleasure of working with Greg last year and would highly recommend him to any company seeking coaching and consulting. I didn't want stock textbook recommendations from a management consultant, and Greg showed a great ability to blend management technique with personal insight. I am grateful to Greg for putting the fun back in my company." Steve Troy, CEO, AeroFund Financial "Greg has a remarkable instinct and a deep sense of mission, backed by his carefully constructed system to help people develop themselves, their skills, and their capabilities. With him as coach, one can move forward with foresight, understanding, and heart. He can take on the largest systems, and is able to recognize the subtle relational and personal nuances that are often central to that system's achievements and limitations. Over the last year he has become a valued advisor and friend on whom I rely to set me right, to hear me out, and to understand what I say. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in his work." Paul Skenazy, former Provost, Kresge College,
UCSC "Many of the people I work with are truly impressed
with the return on investment Greg's coaching has provided. In a very
short time, he helped me understand my '360,' and more importantly
the whys, and what to do about it. His coaching enabled me to modify
my behavior with very positive results including: I must admit that initially I was somewhat skeptical of what a management coach could do. Never having worked with a consultant of this type, I naturally assumed that I was in store for some touchy-feely sessions, which would go painfully slowly. Fortunately, his style and skills were able to overcome this expectation to the point that we were able to quickly build a personal relationship and move from there. As background for anyone reading this letter, I am VP Marketing & Business Development at a $100M software company in Silicon Valley. Our VP of HR perceived that I was stressed and somewhat defensive in my interactions/style, and recommended some management coaching to help me become more effective in managing my department and interacting with my peers. I skeptically agreed to meet with a coach; no commitment from either side. I found in Greg Brodsky an extremely direct and perceptive individual who is definitely not your typical touchy-feely HR type. Greg proposed a straightforward methodology to assess the situation (a '360'), consolidate the feedback, and then start the coaching process. I was free to terminate the process at any time. Greg astutely focused on both my strengths and weaknesses. We very quickly built up an excellent interpersonal relationship. On a somewhat personal note, his martial arts and Asian philosophy background, international/diverse living experiences, and other factors contributed to our good professional relationship. The two of us met every couple of weeks to discuss issues, perceptions, responses, situations, etc. The goal was initially to recognize certain triggers, behaviors, and control methods, hopefully internalizing them as reflexes over time, and then to build from there. The results have been great. I have significantly improved in both my effectiveness and personal satisfaction with how I'm handling all sorts of situations. The results have been very noticeable and appreciated by many, including me. I have strongly recommended Greg's services to other valuable executives in my company. The money Portal has spent on Greg as my management coach has had a phenomenal return on investment. Our CEO is amazed, my peers and subordinates are ecstatic. On reflection wish I had met Greg several years ago." Steve Sommer "I met Greg Brodsky in November 1999, when I was CEO of Brio Technology. Inc., the company I had founded 10 years earlier. We were struggling. A year earlier, as we went public, we had bought another company that was 90% our size and with a dramatically different culture. The assimilation of that company proved to be much more difficult and consuming than anyone had imagined. I was looking for a consultant who had total integrity and courage and who was bold enough to make rapid, insightful recommendations. Both professionally and personally, Greg's unique and broad experience gave him the "gut sense" beyond mere information I was looking for. What surprised me most when working with Greg was his focus on my inside. When we missed Wall Street's expectations and my board decided to bring in a new CEO, Greg's tools and principles made all the difference for me. An event that could have been totally traumatic ended up being almost liberating. Because Greg was working on my inside, he had made me aware of how much I really wanted to change both at Brio and in my life in general. Bringing in a new CEO became the catalyst I needed to embark on a new journey. I am now CEO of DecisionPoint Applications. We face many challenges, and I am addressing them one by one. I am implementing the management tools that Greg taught me. He has become a mentor and a friend to me. My time working with Greg was both more work and more rewarding than I could have imagined. I increased my skills and awareness about managing a high-performance company in a rapidly changing and competitive environment. More important still, I learned things about myself that enabled me to be more honest and courageous. Finally, I got to know a very unique and wonderful human being who I hope will be my friend for a very long time." Yorgen H. Edholm, Co-Founder, Brio Technology "Greg's distinctive coaching approach is valuable and compelling. He focuses on each individual, providing them with accurate feedback and valuable observations that help them deal with difficult situations. Most important, he offers deep insight and substantive advice on how to be better, more effective executives. I would not hesitate to recommend Greg for any executive or manager in any organization. I am very glad to have had the opportunity to work with Greg Brodsky." Katherine Glassey, Co-Founder, Brio Technology "Our return on the investment in Greg Brodsky as an organizational development consultant and executive coach has been significant. We achieved our growth plan, with net revenues and margins exceeding our previous year by 90%, while developing two additional business units. Greg was highly instrumental in enabling us to achieve both our organizational and operational goals. He is a tremendous asset to organizations committed to improvement. Greg has also consulted to me personally as an executive coach, and as a result, I am quantifiably more effective in my role. With pleasure, I give Greg Brodsky my highest recommendation." Austin Erlich, CEO and Founding Partner,
Quovera Other Comments "I am more comfortable and more influential with my colleagues. We clearly work better as a team." — CFO "Greg's success with senior executive teams at Intel is the result of his ability to apply relevant information and timely interventions so that our teams can attain their goals. His strengths as a consultant are drawn from his intelligence, his broad professional background, and his keen intuition." — VP Executive Development "Greg Brodsky diagnoses and solves communication problems quickly. He shows groups how to stop doing things that aren't working. — Sr. Director He is flexible, versatile, intelligent, and understands the nitty-gritty of people issues" — Consultant Greg coached our CEO, senior managers, and me through a successful change process that was both strategic and cultural. He was a stalwart advisor on all aspects of people management and processes." — VP "Brodsky has the rare intellectual capability to determine the underlying strengths behind the strategies of the most important corporations in America, and to translate them to the benefit of any organization, large or small." — Michael Killen "Greg Brodsky is a leader's inspiration." — John D. Waihee III, Former Governor of Hawaii |
|