👋 Hello there!

My name is Blake. I am a practicing Professional Coach, an experienced Agile Coach, and a former Engineer (once upon a time).

This space is a way to get to know more about me: what gives me purpose, what motivates me, my experiences, and my philosophy on things from coaching to organizational development.

If you want to get in touch to connect, discuss anything, or collaborate, you can message me on LinkedIn!

To be energized and overjoyed through positively impacting the lives of others (and the world) by supporting them to discover the next best version of themselves.

I believe it is important to be myself and not try to be something that I am not. I believe in sharing openly (with sufficient safety) about who I am.

Feeling trusted leads to me taking more risks, speaking up, and moving forward. I start with trusting others by default until there is a violation in that trust, which puts everything else on pause for me.

Everyone is safe to share ideas, express healthy dissent, to challenge the status quo, to be vulnerable, and to not be perfect. I believe that psychological safety in teams, groups, organizations is paramount.

People are treated fairly and the systems for which we interact have fairness and equality in mind.

I do not value competition, victory over all else, or unhealthy conflict for the sport of it. Harmony does not mean avoiding conflict; I don’t fear healthy conflict where all work together to become better humans.

Pausing to take the time to admire the beauty in the world is important to me. I can get cranky when I haven't connected with nature in awhile.

I believe in planning for setting an initial direction, leaving space for learning and iterating as we go. Order for the sense of control does not appeal to me. I think it is important for us to recognize that there are many things not within our control and to let our plans live with that recognition.

Lifelong learning is important to grow and experience life to the fullest. I always look forward to meeting the next version of myself.

I have a strong sensor of reading the mood of the "room" and can adapt to build trust with others and create a safe environment for vulnerability and learning. It can sometimes be overly sensitive (see my high need of Trust in my RMP), but I find that it serves me well regardless.

I can easily empathize and have compassion for others, feel their predicament and am moved to help (either directly or through coaching so that they can help themselves).

I strive to always be self-aware, pausing before reacting, and having a deeper understanding of my emotions and triggers. In situations of conflict, I externally express the trigger, reaction, and what I am learning from each experience in order to create a safe space for others to do so as well.

I believe in modeling curiousity, especially in situations where I don't agree or have an initial, negative reaction.

• Book: Leadership is Language by L. David Marquet
• Book: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg
• Book: Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity by Jennifer Garvey Burger
• Book: The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth by Amy C. Edmondson
• Training: Agile People
• Training: Kansas Leadership Institute: Leadership Coach Intensive
• Coaches (who have coached me and/or that I have had the pleasure to partner with): Susie Coultis, Rachel Salzberg, Barbara Acevedo Visser
• Self-Assessment and Training: Reiss Motivation Profile
• Book: Actionable Agile by Daniel S. Vacanti
• Book: The Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Z. Muller