The Importance of Being Yourself: A CEO’s Journey to Authentic Leadership Through Executive Coaching

The Importance of Being Yourself: A CEO's Journey to Authentic Leadership Through Executive Coaching

One of the greatest pleasures of executive coaching is seeing your clients achieve their goals and reach new heights of success. For me, Pete November, the CEO of Ochsner Health, has been one of those success stories.

Seven years ago, when Pete first joined the E-team at Ochsner, one of my first tasks was to work with him on his executive presentations. However, during his first speech to thousands of employees, I was shocked by his delivery and asked him backstage, “Who was that?”

Pete remembers the story differently!

He heard a message of “That was horrible.”

It turned out that Pete had been trying to be someone else on stage, rather than embracing his natural talents and strengths. As a result, he was not as effective as he could be in connecting with his audience, highlighting the importance of being authentic as a leader.

In other words, “Perfection = Disconnection.”

However, with executive coaching, Pete was able to embrace his strengths as a high people, high-action leader and now speaks from the heart, inspiring audiences to act boldly.

He has become a role model for how Connection Drives Results.

Thank you, Pete November, for trusting me to provide executive coaching and helping you shine so brightly as CEO of a 36,000-employee healthcare system.

Learn more about Pete’s journey from lawyer to CEO by tuning in to the final episode of my very first season of The Seismic Shift podcast.