I am a seasoned and high-performing sales professional. I was presented with an opportunity to work with a coach to support my leadership development, specifically in areas of more effective management of my teams, improved cross-functional collaboration and relationships, communicating with influence across the organization, and “managing up” to more senior leaders. Enter Julie. Over a period of six months, Julie and I worked on all of these areas of my development and others, with outstanding results. Throughout the coaching relationship, Julie supported me to create clarity of expectations for my sales and client success teams. My management style has evolved in ways that have engendered greater trust, better overall morale, more honest conversations about skills gaps enabling targeted trainings, and better performance. The coaching work has also supported me to more effectively communicate with peers and managers so as to influence them to make better business decisions that positively impact the organization at large. I’ve learned to regulate my emotions more effectively, to be more empathetic in my listening and my speaking, and to be more attuned to the positions and interests of colleagues in other functions. My professional relationships have become significantly stronger and more trusting. To be honest, I had some skepticism about coaching at the start. However, Julie’s humor and relationship-building skills allayed my concerns. Once I was onboard, which didn’t take long, I was able to leverage our work together to make significant and widely noticeable changes to my leadership. This was an unmitigated success, and I highly encourage other successful leaders in their fields to be open to coaching with Julie.