The Coaching Edge Podcast

Get It Out of Your Head and Onto Paper: Colin Scotland on Why AI Rewards Coaches Who Know Themselves 01.07.2026 48min

AI will not run your coaching practice while you sip a drink on a beach. Colin Scotland, who heads the AI for Coaches mentorship at coaching.com, explains why the coaches getting real value from AI start somewhere unexpected: writing down who they are. He walks through context engineering, operational AI that completes tasks on its own, and why the first step toward using the technology well is knowing yourself. A grounded, human-first take on a tool most people still misunderstand.

Why Your Coaching Business Should Outlive You: Elle Oren on the Shift from Operator to Owner 30.06.2026 39min

You are the bottleneck in your own business. Elle Oren has seen it across tech giants and solo coaches alike. After years building go-to-market strategy for Microsoft, Cisco, and Equinix, Elle now helps small business owners shift from operator to owner. Your qualification is the delivery, not the solution. Build trust into the business instead of yourself, partner outward into an ecosystem, and you turn a job into an asset built to outlive you. A direct, practical conversation for any coach ready to think like a business owner.

The Answers Are in the Room: Paul Dupuis on Leading a Turnaround by Asking Better Questions 17.06.2026 44min

Paul Dupuis turned around a failing operation of around 75,000 people by asking questions, not giving orders. The former Randstad India and Japan CEO joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to share his belief: the answers are in the room. Learn his three-question approach to listening, the power of "What if," and his E5 Movement model of leadership. A practical conversation for coaches and leaders who want to lead change without pretending to know everything.

The Back End Most Experts Forget: Dr. Trudy Beerman on Building Digital Authority 10.06.2026 42min

A podcast spot, a book, or a TV interview gets you noticed once. Then most experts go quiet, and the attention disappears.Dr. Trudy Beerman has produced hundreds of expert interviews as CEO of PSI TV. She holds a doctorate in strategic leadership from Liberty University. In this episode she explains the back end most experts forget.Visibility now decides who gets hired. Search engines and AI recommend the people who show up with relevance, recency, and repetition. Your name and message need to match across every platform, or the algorithm reads you as a stranger.Trudy and hosts Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave map a clear starting point. Own your website first. Build outward from there. Play the long game, and your effort compounds.

Being a Great Coach Is Not the Same as Building a Business: Brooke Summer Adams on 8 Years of Coaching Coaches 03.06.2026 45min

Being a great coach will not build your business. Brooke Summer Adams learned this the hard way before she went full-time.Known as The Coach's Coach, Brooke recovered from body image struggles through life coaching, built a six-figure business in 18 months, and now helps new coaches replace their salary and work for themselves. In this episode she names the split most coaches miss: coaching gives people what they need, while marketing gives people what they want. Two skill sets, two learning curves. She shares the three questions behind a strong personal brand and explains why the cringe of the early days is the price of entry, not a sign you chose wrong. Practical, direct, and honest about the work involved.

Why Most People Find Self-Curiosity So Hard: Cynthia Loy Darst on 34 Years of Co-Active Coaching 27.05.2026 34min

Clients pick coaches for authenticity, not credentials. That was the ICF finding 20 years ago, and Cynthia Loy Darst says it still holds.A co-active coaching pioneer since 1992, Cynthia helped found the ICF, served as ACTO president, and now oversees leader development at CTI. She talks with Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave about presence, the difficulty of self-curiosity, the inside team approach to internal voices, and where AI fits in coaching. Direct, grounded, and drawn from 34 years inside the profession.

Champion Conversations and the Power of Agency: Gaby Jordan on Bridging Education and Business Through Coaching 20.05.2026 41min

Most teams avoid the conversations that would solve their biggest problems. Gaby Jordan, founder of Source Elements Group, has spent 20+ years teaching leaders how to have them.A former Manhattan trial lawyer turned coach, Gaby has taught at MIT, NYU, Stanford, and over 80 institutions worldwide. She joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to unpack champion conversations, the role of agency in leadership, and why a $2 billion company hit its targets by focusing on people, not sales. A practical episode for coaches and leaders working with teams in transition.

From External Validation to Internal Belonging: Simon Harling on Designing a Coaching Practice That Works 13.05.2026 44min

Sports coach turned practice developer Simon Harling joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to challenge how coaches build their work. Author of Good Coach, Bad Coach, Simon brings 15+ years from pro football, squash, and national governing bodies into a conversation about environmental design, stakeholder alignment, and the tension between development and performance. Hear why moving from "am I good enough?" to "I know what my practice is for" changes everything, and how the conditions of practice matter more than chasing peak moments. Practical, direct, and grounded in real examples.

Shadow-Integrated Servant Leadership: Max Klau on Why Wholeness Is the Missing Piece in Leadership Development 06.05.2026 40min

Most leadership programs teach skills. Max Klau teaches wholeness. The founder of the Center for Courageous Wholeness and a Harvard-trained leadership scholar, Max joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to explain why shadow-integrated servant leadership is the missing piece in how we develop leaders. Learn why shadow is not the opposite of light, how a 90-minute session gets total strangers to share their shadow mission, and what the Inner Development Goals movement signals about where global leadership development is heading. If you work with leaders or are one, this conversation will change how you think about growth.

What Horses Reveal About Leadership That Humans Miss: Wencke Meteling on Equine Coaching and Authentic Presence 29.04.2026 46min

A horse won't follow you because of your title. It follows you because of your presence. Wencke Meteling, leadership coach and former historian, joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to explain how equine coaching makes invisible leadership patterns visible. From energy work in the arena to the lead rope team exercise, this episode connects somatic awareness, authentic presence, and practical leadership development in ways that stay with you long after the conversation ends.

The Business Skills Most Coaches Never Learn: Laura Berman Fortgang on 30 Years of Building a Coaching Practice 22.04.2026 41min

82% of coaches fail within two years of starting a business. Laura Berman Fortgang, MCC, has spent 30 years solving that problem.Laura is a founding member of the International Coaching Federation, student number 16 at Coach U, and author of five books. She now runs the A-List Coach, a program for coaches who want to build a practice that actually works.In this episode, she shares why speaking is the fastest route to a full pipeline, how to handle sales calls the same way you handle a coaching conversation, and what the rise of AI means for the future of professional coaching.

From Imposter to MCC: Dr. Clare Beckett-McInroy on Supervision, Team Coaching, and the Courage to Contract 15.04.2026 45min

What happens when a coach stops worrying about labels and starts contracting for what the client actually needs? Dr. Clare Beckett-McInroy, ICF MCC and EMCC Master Practitioner, joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to discuss supervision, team coaching, neurodiversity, and why courage in contracting is the skill most coaches need right now. Clare brings 25+ years across education, leadership development, and systemic coaching practice. A rich, grounded conversation with ideas you can apply today.

Presence Is the New Performance: Tracy Sinclair on What Coaching Must Offer in a Distracted World 08.04.2026 47min

Coaching emerged to meet a need in the world. But what is that need right now? Tracy Sinclair, founder of Coach Advancement, joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to explore why presence has become the most valuable thing a coach can offer. Leaders are burned out, disengaged, and running from one meeting to the next without a moment to think. Tracy makes the case that coaching's greatest opportunity is not helping people perform better. It is giving them space to be heard, settle their minds, and access the clarity that constant doing buries.

Why the Comfort Zone Is a Zone of Self-Limitation: Alex Verlek on 20 Years of Coaching the Whole Human 01.04.2026 42min

Your comfort zone is not comfortable. It is a zone of self-limitation. Alex Verlek, coach and author with nearly 20 years of experience, explains why.In this episode, Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave talk with Alex about the frameworks he uses with business owners, high potentials, and coaches in training. Topics include the awareness cycle, limiting beliefs, impact versus legacy, and what the future of coaching looks like as AI enters the picture.Alex also shares how writing three books at 60 became an act of professional legacy. A thought-provoking conversation for coaches and leaders who want to work with the whole human, not just the presenting problem.

From Mindset to Embodiment: Erin Hutchins on What Leaders Are Missing in Their Coaching Journey 25.03.2026 44min

Most leadership coaching stops at mindset. Erin Hutchins, MCC and CEO of ACT Leadership, says the next layer of performance lives in the body.In this episode of The Coaching Edge Podcast, Erin joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to discuss how she helps senior leaders ground themselves before coaching conversations, why stuck emotions show up as physical pain, and how movement and music form the core of her new embodiment program.Erin also shares how she built ACT Leadership alongside her husband Mike Hutchins, hiring for trust and accountability while expanding their coach training programs across the United States.If you coach leaders or work in high-performance environments, this conversation offers a practical look at what happens when you bring the body into the room.

From Shoulds to Hell Yes: Sandra Stocks on Authenticity, Energy Coaching, and Living Your Own Life 18.03.2026 43min

What would your life look like if you stopped living by other people's expectations? Sandra Stocks, NLP practitioner, energy worker, and bestselling author, joins The Coaching Edge Podcast to explore authenticity, the inner voice, and the Hell Yes framework.Sandra explains why motivation alone rarely creates lasting change, why emotional goals matter more than outcome targets, and how curiosity opens the door when goal pressure closes it. A practical and thought-provoking conversation for coaches and anyone ready to start asking what they genuinely want.

The Self-Awareness Framework That Shapes Better Leaders: Margaret Andrews on 20 Years of Teaching at Harvard 11.03.2026 44min

Most leaders manage their teams without first managing themselves. Margaret Andrews, Harvard instructor and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others, has spent nearly 20 years closing that gap. In this episode, she shares the self-awareness framework she teaches at Harvard, covering emotional intelligence, values clarity, feedback patterns, and team resilience. Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave join her for a practical, direct conversation about what it takes to lead well from the inside out.

Why Emotional Presence Separates Great Coaches From Good Ones: Dr. Marcia Reynolds on 30 Years at the Edge of the Profession 04.03.2026 47min

Dr. Marcia Reynolds started coaching in 1995 and helped design the original ICF competencies. Her message today: AI is forcing coaches back to the one thing it cannot replicate — genuine emotional presence.In this episode, Marcia explains how a coach's emotional state co-regulates the client's nervous system, which is the actual mechanism behind coaching breakthroughs. She challenges the idea that following the rules makes you a better coach, and argues that mastery means learning the structure well enough to forget it and be fully present.She also covers why leadership development keeps failing in organizations, what KPIs Maersk used to make coaching skills measurable, and why the profession needs to stop treating human connection as a trend. Her book Coach the Person Not the Problem, second edition, released on March 3rd, 2026.

Why Your Sales Background Is an Asset, Not a Liability: Lisa Carver on Building a Coaching Business That Wins Clients 03.03.2026 48min

Coaches are trained to ask great questions. But most find selling deeply uncomfortable. Lisa Carver spent 16 years as a corporate sales leader before becoming a team and leadership coach, and she has a clear view on why.In this conversation with Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave, Lisa explains why a single LinkedIn message is only the first five minutes of a two-year campaign, how she traveled to meet a cold lead and kept that client for four and a half years, and why case studies are now more valuable than a perfect proposal in an AI world.She also covers how to measure coaching outcomes with simple, client-rated objectives so every engagement produces evidence you can use.Episode page: https://thecoachingedgepodcast.com/why-your-sales-background-is-an-asset-not-a-liability-lisa-carver-on-building-a-coaching-business-that-wins-clients/

Nic Woodthorpe-Wright on Building a 100-Coach Company and Selling What the World Needs 18.02.2026 46min

He built one of the largest coaching companies in the Middle East from nothing. Nic Woodthorpe-Wright spent 20 years educating a market that had never heard of coaching, and today leads a network of over 100 ICF-accredited coaches working with major corporations across the region.In this conversation with Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave, Nic shares his approach to selling coaching through passion rather than persuasion, what organizations look for when they hire coaches, and how to prove ROI in corporate coaching programs. He also addresses where AI fits in the future of coaching and why human connection remains at its core.Watch the full episode here: https://thecoachingedgepodcast.com/nic-woodthorpe-wright-on-building-a-100-coach-company-and-selling-what-the-world-needs/