Coaching for Performance and Development

How do you engage and develop others, so they can achieve performance goals, develop skills, solve problems, work productively, and advance their careers? In a 10-year research endeavor dubbed Project Oxygen, Google, Inc discovered the key is leadership coaching. Many other research projects have reached similar results (e.g., HBR Leadership that Gets Results), concluding that leaders who coach their staff create productive, motivated, and successful employees, teams, and organizations.

Learning to coach — like learning to lead — is a journey, not a quick fix. In this exercise and practice driven introductory workshop, we will clarify the concept of coaching and hone our coaching skills.

Please come prepared with at least one personal or professional goal you are trying to achieve, a difficult decision you are trying to make, a problem you are struggling to solve, or a struggle you are addressing. There will be an opportunity to receive in-room coaching and to coach others on their goal, decision, problem, or struggle.

Learning Objectives
• Understand when coaching is useful and when it is not
• Develop skills for effective listening and asking powerful questions
• Learn how to sequence questions to lead from exploration to action
• Improve your coaching skill through practice and peer feedback

Nonprofit Austin reserves the right to postpone this opportunity if there is not adequate registration.

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Meet our Facilitators:

Ryan Soisson

As the founder and principal of Soisson & Associates, Ryan Soisson is committed to helping organizations, teams, and leaders achieve their most important goals in a sustainable manner. Ryan has considerable experience leading executive and management groups through strategic planning, organization design, change management, project planning, and process improvement initiatives. A dynamic trainer and instructional designer, Ryan has content expertise in a number of areas, including conflict resolution, coaching, and behavior change. As a certified team coach, Ryan specializes in team development and team interventions. Ryan has a passion for graphic facilitation and enjoys integrating this skill into all his work. 

Ryan has a broad array of industry certifications including: Team Coaching International Certified Coach, Leadership Strategies Certified Facilitator, Hay Group and Korn Ferry Multi-Rater Assessments, Myers-Briggs, Insights, and Strong Interest Inventory personality profiles, VitalSmarts: Influencer, VitalSmarts: Crucial Conversations, FranklinCovey: Speed of Trust, FranklinCovey: Project Management, LUMA Institute Human Centered Design, InsideOut Development: Inside Out Coaching, Ken Blanchard: Situational Leadership, and Six Sigma Green Belt. Ryan holds an MA in Human Resources from Texas State University, an MA in Philosophy from Texas A&M University, and a BA in Philosophy from Penn State University.

Van Soisson

Son of founder and CEO Ryan Soisson, Van Soisson is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Communications and Leadership from the Moody School of Communications. In the spring

of 2024, Van completed an internship with Soisson & Associates in which he learned meeting facilitation, meeting production, and coaching techniques. Van’s studies at UT covered the broad spectrum of communications, and also focused on the importance of leadership in solving interpersonal and societal communication issues. While in school, Van participated in the co-ed philanthropic organization Absolute Texxas (yes, it has 2 x’s), in which he worked on both fundraising opportunities to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, as well as working on outreach and recruitment for AT itself. In addition to school and philanthropy, Van works full-time for Eldorado Café in Austin, as an assistant manager and trainer.