Testimonials
Russ worked with me for over a year and it was time well spent and totally worth it. He asked insightful questions that helped me dig deep into the areas that I wanted to focus on and made me better methodically. His recommendations were fantastic and shows his experience working with other leaders.
Russ is a great listener and a great observer. It helps him get to you know, your space, and your personality at a deeper level which helps him provide sound recommendations and advice.
Over a period of time, Russ became a trusted advisor and I value his opinions immensely.
If you ever get a chance to work with Russ, it will be pure joy and extremely gratifying. I look forward to working with him in the future!
SVP Engineering – Salesforce Alphabet gave me a list of coaches I could select from and I chose Russ because of the instant connection and trust I felt in our first iteration. As a new female senior leader in a challenging new industry, I needed a lot of guidance on career growth, creating systems and tools to manage by exception and how to gain a voice as a female leader in a male-dominated environment. Russ earned my trust quickly and was also fast in incorporating feedback on how our relationship could be improved and more efficient. He shared practical tips and also best practices, but always empowered me to find the answers myself. I super recommend him!
Head of Ride Hauling Operations at Waymo It was a true pleasure working with Russ. I would highly recommend him – he is an amazing executive coach and person. While working with Russ, I learned a lot about myself, gained more confidence in my leadership, delivered better projects, and have walked away with more tools to proceed with anything that comes next in work or life. His coaching style puts you at ease and I felt he was truly championing me and my growth. He also has so much knowledge about culture, HR, leadership, life, and freely shares his own wins, mistakes, and journey, I learned so much. The world is definitely better with Russ in it and his coaching is very effective.
VP Talent Experience, Salesforce I had the opportunity to work with Russ over several months as part of a leadership coaching program at Cisco – and it was a transformative experience! Russ is great at drawing you out of your shell and pushing you to both crystallize your aspirations as well as expose your misgivings that are roadblocks. Very unassuming and down to earth, he puts you at ease, but doesn’t hesitate to push you to have the uncomfortable conversations that lead to real breakthroughs. My sessions with him were invaluable – I came away with a clear understanding of what energizes me and what I should be doing next in my career. Two thumbs up for Russ!!
Director Business Operations and Strategy, Cisco My executive coaching experience with Russ was transformational, both in the professional as well as personal sphere. Russ brought a deep empathy to understand where I was coming from and what I wanted to achieve. We put a plan together, and during our sessions he acted often as a sounding board. He would help label behaviors and motivations, and offer me a conscious decision point on whether each was an asset to amplify, or a detractors to goals that should be minimized. Additionally, Russ drew from his extensive experience to offer thoughtful insights on any situation we discussed. And actionable ‘homework’ in between sessions brought everything concretely into the real world. I am a much better executive, and a better and probably happier person, having been through this experience. I wholeheartedly recommend Russ as an executive coach.
SVP Engineering, Salesforce When my manager set up time for me to meet with a coach, I didn’t know what to expect, and I went into it with some hesitation. In the end, however, I loved working with Russ. The time was well spent and I found his mentorship extremely useful in dealing with some specific challenges I was facing at work. I have been able to put many of the ideas we discussed into practice, and it has improved my outlook on my job and refocused me on specific goals.
Technical Lead, Cisco Russ’ coaching and guidance allowed me to bring my authentic voice to leadership. He has a way of unpacking complex practices and ideas into the simplest of terms to promote thoughtful dialogue. I am a more capable, confident, and considerate leader due to my time with Russ. He’s a phenomenal coach and any executive would benefit from his approach!
Sales Leader, We Pay Russ is a great coach and human being. He has challenged my paradigms of thinking, given me new tools to lead, influence and communicate. He also helped me better understand my personality and how it influences my thinking. Would love to work with Russ again.
VP, Salesforce What an amazing experience to be part of the Executive Coaching sessions with Russ. His ability to help you see through and beyond what is in front of you and develop clear goals is just brilliant. Russ has helped me further improve and shape my leadership style. He has that unique ability to guide you to the outcome without giving you the answers. He is a genuine, caring person who has a plethora of knowledge in culture, leadership and helping today’s leaders grow. Highly recommend Russ.
Regional Director, Head of Commercial Sales, Cisco Australia & New Zealand I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Russ as my executive coach. I had the pleasure of partnering with Russ over the past year to identify goals, collect feedback, and put together an actionable plan to drive my professional development. He’s truly gifted in his approach to coaching: Russ’ deep empathy for the human condition and active listening skills meant I always felt heard – while his years of organizational experience meant he was able to offer his own insights and perspective when invited. Most importantly, he was able to provide support while still challenging me to find the path forward. The work we did together was transformational as I was offered a much deeper sense of my own professional purpose which will pay dividends for the rest of my career.
SVP Customer Experience, Salesforce Russ did a great job figuring me out, then helping me figure myself out — and that has led to real change in the way I interact with others, both at work and in my personal life. One thing that stood out was his ability to role play situations, giving me new and better ways to interact with others. Thanks Russ.
VP Engineering, Salesforce I’ve had great experience being coached by Russ. He has a strong focus on actions and personal change, and taking most value from one’s strengths. Russ did a good job at pushing me towards my goals, and keeping me honest on the actions and changes needed from me. I can wholeheartedly recommend him.
Director of Engineering, Cisco I was given the opportunity to work with Russ. Russ is a great executive coach. He leads you to the answers as opposed to offering answers. His experience shows as he quickly taps into his intuition to identify underlying issues of complex situations. Russ has a lot of empathy and a bias for action. Thank you Russ!
VP Strategy, WePay It was a great pleasure to have Russ as my executive coach during GILD in October 2018. Russ has a gift to bring out the best in people, not only as a coach but also as a person. His continued soft approach to instill self-reflection, evaluating and looking at different ways to approach challenges are helpful and practical. I truly appreciated and valued the guidance he provided during our sessions. Russ, I very much enjoyed our conversations, you are truly inspirational, thank you!
General Manager, The Crossing Russ has worked with me as an executive coach during my time at Salesforce. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect to get out of an exec coach when we started working together. What I can say is that it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me. At the heart of it, Russ has helped me find my true, authentic self and has helped me identify what I love to do and *why* I love to do it. He has helped me discover and pursue challenges that allow me to do the things that I love. I don’t think I could have asked for anything more out of a coach. It wasn’t about rounding out skills that I didn’t have or didn’t want to use…it was about maximizing the value of what I can do and what I do well. I wouldn’t change a thing about our time together.
SVP Engineering, Salesforce Russ is a highly skilled leadership coach. His in depth 360 survey quickly pinpoints missing or out of date leadership traits. He provides exemplary, personalized coaching to provide clients with the skills needed for leading a 21st century team.
CTO, Applied Motion Russ was assigned to be my executive coach by my HR team at work. Over the last few months, Russ and I had multiple sessions to help me become a better leader. Russ is an empathetic listener and has a good knack at peeling the metaphorical onion about your strengths, worries and fears. He equips you with the right methods to overcome obstacles and bad habits to become an effective leader. While Russ has a calm demeanor, he is not afraid to hold you accountable to your commitments and follows up on your previously identified goals to keep you focused. Russ comes across as a mentor that helps you become a better human being and in process enrich the culture of the organization you are associated with. This helped not only develop my leadership skills but has also sensitized me to have much more empathy for other people. I looked forward to and enjoyed my sessions with Russ over the last few months. I highly recommend Russ if you are looking for someone to help you grow as a leader or develop your organization’s culture to be top-notch.
VP Risk, WePay Russ is a phenomenal coach and had a great impact on the lives of the employees that I support. I worked with Russ at the Global Institute of Leadership Development conference and he was fantastic to partner with. Russ was assigned to our group of employees as an executive coach and having his presence throughout the week and in the months after was a critical component in turning the concepts and ideas into value. Russ is compassionate and he made the effort to understand individuals and our organization as a whole. I would recommend Russ to anyone that is looking to break through the obstacles in their organization or career. Even after 1 hour you will see results.
Performance and Innovation Consultant, SAP I had the great opportunity to have Russ as my coach during my GILD 2017 participation. Russ helped to reflect in order to find my purpose as a leader and as a human being as well. He showed me the path to develop a realistic and effective plan to grow professionally based on my strengths and weaknesses. After our sessions I became a person more conscious about my self and more confident to achieve what I want. I feel gratitude and joy for had met Russ on my leadership journey! Russ, thanks for everything!
Customer Support Team Leader, SAP I was fortunate enough to be assigned to Russ as my coach during my GILD experience in October this fall. The interaction and discussions that we’ve had during and since have been incredibly helpful to me as I further define and implement my leadership purpose. Russ has a calming perspective that is attributed to both the guidance he offers and at the same time allowing you to find your own way. He kept my objectives clear and organized and ensured that specifics I learned at GILD were intertwined with what I want to become. I also really appreciate how Russ holds me accountable to my commitments made to myself and others, as application of the GILD experience is the most critical part of it. I highly recommend Russ for consideration of executive coaching and team facilitating. He will most definitely help identify and enhance company culture needs, whether it be in a one on one or group setting. Thank you, Russ…I truly value our time spent together!
General Manager, Mike’s Hard Lemonade 