Dennis Pierce is a truly blessed individual, with incredible energy, optimism, and a passion to make the world better than He found it. He had the unique experience of growing up in the neighborhood his parents grew up in, with both sets of grandparents within a stone’s throw of his home. From this, he learned early on to tap into the wealth of others’ knowledge and experience to make your journey in life more fulfilling. Wanting to see as much as he could in life, he booked a one-way plane ticket around the world and spent a year solo backpacking the world.
Dennis is an experienced leader with 30 years of managing multi-national enterprise account relationships and the teams that support them. He collaborated with top executives across all vertical markets to design, implement and support transformative workflows serving millions of customers. He is a passionate leader achieving business results through focus on the human side of business. Resilient in the face of change, he has successfully managed through the evolution of a Holding Company to Operating Company through successful merger and re-launch.
Key to his success is the ability to connect on a visionary level with cross-functional stakeholders to advance comprehensive organizational initiatives. He is a thought-leader promoting a culture of inclusivity and a platform of open expression without judgment, yielding results beyond expectations. Teams thrive where they feel valued, seen and heard which in turn fosters high levels of retention beyond the immediate productivity. Collaborating across various departments, teams expand their emotional intelligence while gaining a deeper understanding of and respect for their peers’ roles and responsibilities.
Connect with Dennis on Facebook, and LinkedIn.
What You’ll Learn In This Episode
- Startups/Integration
- Dynamic industry and competitive marketplace
- What is Executive Coaching, and how might it differ from other types of coaching
- Business is all about RESULTS, Executive Coaching is no different
- Design Development Plan and ROI with all of my clients
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Coach the Coach Radio brought to you by the Business RadioX ambassador program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to BRXAmbassador.com to learn more. Now here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one. Today we have with us Dennis Pierce and he is a master certified executive coach with Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching. Welcome, Dennis.
Dennis Pierce: [00:00:47] Thanks, Lee. Thanks for having me.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:49] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about your practice, how you serve in folks.
Dennis Pierce: [00:00:54] Terrific. Well, thank you for the opportunity. This is as an executive coach, my role and my responsibility. My wife is all about building mentors and helping to develop mentors. I’ve got a long, successful career inside of corporate America, 30 years in a variety of different sales and operational leadership roles. And my my goal is to share those tools, share that experience with others, to develop the type of workplace that I would want my children working in.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:25] Now, when you are working in your corporate job, did you have coaching with coaching available to you or your team?
Dennis Pierce: [00:01:33] It was it was also training was available. And I went through a variety of different types of training programs. And I think what was really missing in those, I was very fortunate and very thankful, but there was never that follow up that followed through. That’s where coaching comes into play. It really promotes that accountability, builds that rapport, and then designates a true result that you’re looking to achieve together with your coach.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:57] So now talk to me about how you differentiate some of these kind of terms. You mentioned training, training versus coaching versus maybe even consulting. How do you kind of define each of those?
Dennis Pierce: [00:02:09] Great question. So you look at training, there’s a variety of different training programs available out there, and all of them are very effective, specific to a particular type of niche. And with executive coaching, what we’re building is really working through the individuals that we’re coaching, the organizations that we’re coaching to really get to the core, understand their inner core so that we can take those strengths and build on those strengths and at the same time experience the ripple effect that we see with coaching and the impact that their organization is able to experience from as a result of this transformational leadership journey.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:50] Now, in your coaching practice, are you working primarily with folks in your in the industry you previously working in, or is the kind of coaching you’re doing kind of industry agnostic?
Dennis Pierce: [00:03:01] Now it’s industry agnostic, and I’ve had, as I mentioned earlier in my course of my corporate experience, I worked in a variety of different roles with everything from enterprise and global accounts to small and medium sized business. And throughout that, I was able to learn so much and apply different experience, different techniques to really consult with my customers, as well as leading a wide, diverse teams. And so this is at this point in my career, in this point in my coaching, I’m working with a wide variety of clients across all industries and at the same time working with both individuals as well as the teams they’re responsible for.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:45] Now, is your coaching primarily to folks that have never had a coach before you their first coach, or is it something that they’ve tried other coaches and are just kind of trying to find the right fit?
Dennis Pierce: [00:03:58] Well, a little bit of both, right, so it’s really the folks that I’m working with want to be coached, and so that’s most important. You don’t sell coaching it really there needs to be a connection with a coach. And at the same time, there needs to be that that vulnerability. There needs to be that propensity and that willingness to recognize and realize and truly want to unlock the potential inside each and every one of us. Right. So it’s a matter of once somebody has reached that point in their career, they know that they’re capable of more and they’re looking for someone to work with them throughout that process. Now you have, I’ll say, the perfect client, but really somebody who’s looking to to up their game and move it to the next level.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:43] Now, are you working primarily kind of with their mindset to help them kind of, you know, mentally be in the right space to achieve these goals? Or are you kind of in the weeds of, hey, I need to get my sales numbers up?
Dennis Pierce: [00:04:58] Definitely the former, not the latter. So it begins with an inner core assessment and really understanding their mindset where they’re at and then where they want to go. But ultimately, through the assessment process, the the the inner assessment process, I’m going to look to find and identify their strengths, those dominant traits that they’ll be able to then utilize as they’re managing the group of individuals that they work with, they’re responsible for, at the same time, looking for areas of development as well as maturity, making sure that I’m helping them to develop those areas that they’re not as strong in, but helping them in that process to identify others on their teams that may possess that very skill set so that together they’re greater than the sum of the parts.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:45] Now, when you’re working with a firm, are you kind of getting to work at kind of a macro level where the leadership brings you in? You kind of talk to all the leaders or maybe high potentials, and then you work out a plan that helps each of them kind of be the best them they can be. Or are you primarily working with kind of the senior leader?
Dennis Pierce: [00:06:06] So it is with all organizations, the higher the engagement, the higher the commitment, then the bigger the impact, right. So I’ve worked with people that are contracting on an individual basis, wanting to unlock their potential at the same time have been brought in by leaders who are looking to augment the leaders that they have in place today or possibly even identifying those emerging leaders, a talent pool that they’re looking to develop along the leadership path.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:37] Now, in your career, what was that transition like for you, working in a fairly large organization that probably had a robust team around you and a lot of resources to kind of being, you know, your own boss, entrepreneur, taking on the world? Was that a difficult transition for you?
Dennis Pierce: [00:06:56] Not at all. It’s so I grew up in the office services office equipment space, very competitive, very much a grinder type of mentality. So we were restacking a reorg every 12 to twenty four months. And during the course of that, when I first began, I began with a holding company where I was allowed to. I was really encouraged to unlock that entrepreneurial spirit. Treat your business as your personal business. Right. And I’ve never really lost touch with that. However, what I learned in the process of becoming a much larger operating company and then ultimately working through a merger and an integration of two large companies, two large organizations, I realized that all this change, while people talk about change and change management, I lived it for the course of almost 30 years, the same organization just constantly evolving as a result between my experiences in my own company as well as all those companies that I worked with. I realized that there’s so much out there, there’s so much potential with all these organizations. And there’s a very small group that are selected as the best places to work as a result of their culture every year. I want to nurture more of those. I want to help to create, take my experience and then make those places that pay that much more powerful. And that really comes down to the individual and the organizations and wanting to get to that level. So for me, that that wide variety, while at the time it may have seemed frustrating early on, I realized that really that’s what that’s what the business world is all about. And that’s really what is more demanding than ever right now in this in this point in time.
Lee Kantor: [00:08:39] Now, if you would, walk me through what it looks like if somebody say if you’re onboarding somebody if somebody raises their hand and go, you know what, I’m going to take a swing at this. This sounds just what I need. I’m struggling. I’ve hit a plateau. Maybe I’m frustrated a little bit. I’m going to call Dennis and his team. I want to kind of work through this. What is those first conversations look like when you’re, first of all, maybe seeing if it were the right fit to work together and how to get me going and what those initial kind of coaching sessions look like.
Dennis Pierce: [00:09:15] Absolutely. So every one of these engagements has begun with one or two meetings where we’ve tried to establish is there a connection? First and foremost, once you’ve unlocked or you’ve determined that you do want to pursue professional support, at that point, you need to find a coach that you can trust, a coach that you feel there’s a connection with much the same as the team that you’re responsible for managing. Right. So that journey begins with that connection. Once we’ve established that connection is there, then we will the focus becomes one hundred percent on my client and what they’re looking to achieve. As I mentioned before, we’ll go through an assessment process and really looking to unlock their why. What is it that they’re looking to accomplish, not simply from a business standpoint, but ultimately what motivates them, what are their drivers? And then building that into taking that purpose statement, that core purpose statement and then really working together. And any individual development plan which will set the milestones, set kind of a course work and set the grounds that we’re going to develop over the next six to nine to 12 months and really its course correcting where necessary, but at the same time celebrating those successes as we hit each one of those milestones.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:35] So you set up milestones that said this is very kind of results oriented work. This isn’t just like, oh, it’s it’s always nice to talk to Dennis. You know, it’s not like kind of a feel good. I think I’m making progress. You’re really trying to measure some some success?
Dennis Pierce: [00:10:54] Well, I hope that they feel good throughout the course of the journey, but it will be tough. There will be points. Every high points, there’ll be low points. But absolutely. This is this is you know, I respect life coaches and wellness coaches, all of that. There are there’s value to every single one of these particular professionals. But as an executive coach, I understand that there needs to be a return on investment. There needs to be a definable result at the end of our journey together. And so for me and its being from the business world and being all about achieving, quote, achieving results, I’m looking at building something that at be and they’re going to feel great about, but at the same time have some quantifiable victories, if you will.
Lee Kantor: [00:11:41] Now you mentioned in your previous life every 12 to 24 months, there was some sort of a reorg or kind of maybe a pivot in the plan. What is a reasonable amount of time to tell if you’re executive coaching is working or not?
Dennis Pierce: [00:11:56] Well, you should begin seeing that over the first 60 to 90 days. My goal is that in working through that inner core assessment, my my clients and I have established that connection to define what the status quo and where they are and at the same time, what they need to achieve in order to get greater fulfillment, greater satisfaction from the workings of their team and the mission that they’re working on together. Right. So I expect that as we begin our series of bi weekly or monthly sessions that they’re experiencing incremental improvement, incremental satisfaction right from the get go.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:40] And can you share a story? Don’t name names, but maybe set up what kind of challenge that the person you were coaching was going through and then how you were able to help them get to a new level.
Dennis Pierce: [00:12:53] Absolutely. So I have one particular client where I’m working with their senior leadership team and within that team, you have a terrific visionary at the top of the organization who’s created this this institution from scratch and achieved all of her goals in getting to this particular point, has a tremendous following, has grown their organization, I think even beyond her expectations and has in the course of this, has found tremendous leadership. Talent is trying to figure out what do I do with this talent? Where do we go? So her idea is very scalable in terms of going out and replicating this type of of an organization and this type of an institution throughout the country, throughout the world. But first, she needs to feel comfortable with succession planning, understanding that the senior leadership team has the capabilities, has the instruction and has the direction to really continue building on the foundation that they’ve all constructed together. And so that’s that’s probably the most satisfying that I’ve been working on recently, simply because I’m watching these folks grow. This is really a first leadership role for each of these three individuals. But at the same time, watching this, this powerful director, executive director, now move her game to the next level. So for me, that’s been I’m experiencing this ripple effect and it’s in the educational sector. So I’m also knowing that the impact and the ripple effect will be felt throughout the the students that they work with and their impact on the world as they go on.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:38] Now, having kind of now been on both sides of this table in terms of being in kind of a corporate environment now entrepreneurial environment and looking in and serving corporate environments, are you seeing coaching and executive coaching specifically at one time maybe was a nice to have or only for a select group of people, but it’s now being kind of almost built into people’s benefits packages because it’s so valuable and the results are so. Obvious, I think that for people who have gone through it, it really does make a dramatic difference in a lot of people’s lives. Are you seeing organizations kind of lean into this and embrace this as just part of this is part of what you get when you work at this firm?
Dennis Pierce: [00:15:22] I am most certainly and for those organizations that have maybe thought about it but haven’t taken steps, they’re behind in the process, you really now more than ever, I think it’s easy to point back to the pandemic and talk about transformation. Talk about pivoting. Right. But for literally my entire career, I’ve been talking about transformational transformation, digital transformation and so on and so forth. But really now, more than ever, I think you have more experienced executives retiring early. You have this tremendous amount of talent coming up through the ranks. And at the same time, you have probably the lowest loyalty and the lowest retention in my career as far as retaining, attracting and retaining quality employees. Right. And I think there are several factors to this, but I believe that the up and coming workforce and the generations to come are looking for more from their from their employer. They’re looking for more from the organization where they’re investing up to a third or more their of their lives. So it’s critical that we’re making we’re nurturing the type of culture and the type of setting that people want to be a part of, that they want to contribute. They can rally around, grab on to that mission and really own it. And it begins with the Y. And so I think that it’s been maybe a little taboo in the past. Don’t bring personal into the workspace, but it’s inevitable and more so than ever over the last 18 months. Right. You say you’ve got a separate business and personal, but people are working from home. So I think people are looking for that connectedness and whatever organization they’re working for. And it’s incumbent on us as leaders to really build that type of a platform where they feel safe, where they feel that they’re heard, they feel that they’re seen and they feel that they’re valued. And that begins with coaching. That culture begins with leadership. And that’s why we’re seeing more and more demand around executive coaching.
Lee Kantor: [00:17:28] Well, Dennis, if there is and business leader out there that is looking for some transformational leadership help and they want to get a hold of you or somebody on your team, what’s the website?
Dennis Pierce: [00:17:40] Thank you, the my website is Dennis Pierce, that intelligent leadership, X.com, again, that’s Dennis Pearce, that intelligent leadership, X.com. And if there’s anything that they heard today that may have struck a nerve may have resonated. I encourage you, you can schedule time with me through my website, but I’m happy. I’m very excited to to have a conversation, see if there may be a fit and see if there may be something there for you and for your organization.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:11] Good stuff. Dennis, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.
Dennis Pierce: [00:18:17] Thank you, Lee. I feel the same way about you and Stan.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:20] All right, this is Lee Kantor Wilson next time on Coach the Coach Radio.
