I know what it’s like when you’re stuck. That place where you realize you’re getting in your own way. I’ve been there and I’ve guided leaders through it. And I’m always learning.
What the Army War College called VUCA in the ’80s — volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity — those were the foothills. Now disruptions stack, conditions shift faster than we can adapt, and the ground heaves under our feet.
Most leadership development responds by adding skills. More tools, more frameworks, more techniques. Branches and fruit. But the leaders I work with aren’t short on competence. They’re at the edge of capacity — and the terrain ahead demands deeper roots.
The Serving Way exists to grow those roots.
Georgetown-certified executive leadership coach. ICF Professional Certified Coach. Servant leadership certified through the Greenleaf Center. Trained in vertical leadership development. Mentor coach to fellow practitioners.
For thirty-five years I led strategic initiatives at major universities and a global nonprofit. My primary job wasn’t delivering programs. It was developing the leaders who’d run them after I moved on. The last twelve years, I’ve coached executives across healthcare, tech, nonprofit, government, family business, and military-to-civilian transitions.
The Serving Way is a 501(c)(3) because I coach leaders who serve purposes greater than themselves. We work on a sliding scale to align with your mission and vision.
The skills that made me effective as a strategist — having answers, solving problems, driving results — became obstacles when I started developing leaders to become resourceful, capable, and creative within themselves. I had to learn what partnership actually means by walking my own stuck places, my own patterns that needed to shift.
Georgetown gave me frameworks. The real education came from walking the terrain myself. I coach from partnership, not prescription, because I know what it’s like to have all the answers and still be stuck. I know the difference between building capability and growing capacity because I’ve lived it.
I coach because I know the terrain. Not because I’ve mastered it. Because I’ve walked it.
As one leader put it: “Chris gets me in a way that colleagues, mentors, or even those closest to me don’t. Our partnership pushes me forward while holding me steady — exactly what I needed to make real change that sticks.”
The real trek isn’t out there. It’s within you.
Thirty minutes. Real coaching, not sales. You’ll walk away with clarity whether we work together or not.
