What Clients Say

The Government of Alberta, Ministry of Human Services embarked on a journey to heighten the awareness and skill level of our leaders in leadership coaching. In 2010 the Coaching Connections Initiative was launched, and over 1,200 internal leaders have learned Essential Impact’s Excelerator Coaching Model. Fifty-two people took further training, and these internal coaches were then provided with opportunities within the ministry to use and practice their coaching skills. Essential Impact has also worked with our coaches on developing their team coaching skills.

Coaching is now beginning to be seen and talked about as a legitimate "leadership tool" within Human Services, and is filtering through the culture and system organically. The demand and request for internal coaching is increasing, and beginning to spread to other ministries and departments such as Justice and Solicitor General, Tourism, Parks and Rec/Culture.

Marj, Dave, and Carollyne’s support and coaching expertise have been instrumental in moving the Coaching Connections Initiative forward over the past three years. It is likely that we would not have been as successful in integrating "coaching" into the leadership culture, or be where we are at today without their support. 

Cathy Gretzinger
Manager, Human Resources Programs/Coaching Connections
Alberta Human Services

Marj was recommended as a coach. I started working with Marj on communication issues. Now I am much more willing and better at resolving conflicts at work. I have a different and better way of looking at them. This has been very beneficial to me and to the company. The owner trusts me implicitly to run the company when he’s away, which is much of the time.

Marj doesn’t give answers; she starts with the problem and gives you tools to ask your own questions to solve it. If you ask enough of the right questions, you get the answers you need. She is very straightforward, asks provocative questions, but not in a judgmental way. ‘Why do you think that?’ She’s quick and has a great sense of humour and I felt comfortable with her right away.

I’ve always asked questions. Now I’ve learned to ask different questions. And the majority are about my internal motivation. Often the question is, ‘What am I doing this for?’”

Lisa Woods COO
CG Industrial Specialties
Vancouver BC

The biggest benefit we have from Marj's coaching is that we have a resource we can go to when we're stuck. The three of us in management that she has coached trust her and she has a skill set that really works for us. She gets us unstuck when we don't have the resources we need internally. We're going to have the whole executive teamwork with her.

Sometimes there are situations in which I don't know what I don't know. Marj is able to give examples that shine a light on the situation that give me clarity. I can see new territory—and what I need to do to work in it. I look at the results Marj has helped us produce and I see that we have more tools to work with. Now that I have them I'm more relaxed in handling issues that used to be obstacles. I don't get stuck as often and can resolve more on my own. When I can't, I know I can call for help.

Ross Waters CEO
CG Industrial Specialties
Vancouver BC

I’ve seen incredible development in our staff since they participated in Essential Impact’s coach training. I’ve watched them mature and advance into confident and competent leaders of their branch/department. They face challenges “head on” instead of trying to ignore or sweep them under the rug. They’re comfortable having coaching conversations with their staff and reaching out when they need one for themselves. Our culture has continued to move into a space where coaching conversations happen anywhere, at any time, with any number of staff who’ve had the coach training. It’s amazing – you only have to pick up the phone or walk across the hall to find a coach.

Cindy Millar
Chief People Officer
Horizon Credit Union

When you find a business partner that takes the time to truly understand your needs and support you like an internal staff member, you stay connected with them wherever your career takes you. Over the past 15 years I have had the privilege of working with the Essential impact team, and they have provided me with the support and expertise I required to achieve my desired outcomes.

Over the past 5 years, Essential Impact has played an integral role in creating an internally self-generating coaching culture within the JOEY Restaurant Group. This culture has altered how our leaders develop their reports and also the openness with which they develop themselves. It has created an environment where people are engaging in more open and meaningful conversations, and it is providing ways for individuals to drive their performance to new levels. Our coaching program and culture has become internationally recognized. In 2010 JOEY received the International Prism Award competing against the likes of NASA and the CIA! This success is directly attributable to the skill, expertise and personalities of the Essential Impact team.

Andrew Martin
Vice President, Human Resources
JOEY Restaurant Group

We have been using coaching in our company for five years now, and I am finding that we have formed bonds and relationships across the country that have helped connect our restaurants. We've networked our company into a thriving and collaborative community that is working to the same common goal.

Before working with Essential Impact, partners would be faced with a challenge and wouldn't have the tools to overcome it. We would see partners who were frustrated and at times couldn't move past their struggle, which could cause them to stagnate in their role. Now with coaching, we notice partners are able to move past potential obstacles with clarity and understanding, which benefits all aspects of the company, whether it is in sales, profits, turnover or overall morale. Essential Impact has been invaluable, and the coaching process has accelerated the success of our partners and our growing, thriving company.

Chris Kaiser
Regional Chef
JOEY Restaurant Group

Since 2010 we has worked with Essential Impact in a variety of capacities. They have facilitated discussions with our leadership around establishing our church's vision, values and rebranding process, and have helped us with financial sustainability. These discussions have enabled us to make some pivotal changes in a relatively short time, and to move in a direction where we are better equipped to offer our best to our local and wider community. 

The skills I've learned in the 24 hour and 36 hour Excelerator™ courses have brought much more clarity to my leadership, equipped me more effectively in my pastoral care responsibilities, and have changed my approach to overseeing and facilitation of other leaders and teams. I personally use a coach from Essential Impact and have found this relationship invaluable to me as a leader. Through our conversations I am able to talk through my thoughts and ideas, process them, and act on them much faster and with more clarity and understanding than ever before.

We as a church community also partner with Essential Impact in the SEEDS Program. This has been an awesome privilege as we have together sought ways to make the Excelerator™ courses available to charities and not-for-profit organizations across Canada. I personally, and we as a church community are grateful to the team at Essential Impact for journeying with us.

Robert Gray
Lead Pastor
Legacy – A Church of the Nazarene

I began working with Essential Impact in early 2013 when their formal training workshops were delivered internally to over 30 coach candidates at our firm. The workshops were intensive but fun. We were all impressed with Carollyne's coaching demos and the quality of the coaching curriculum. I had been exposed to some coach training through another organization but Essential Impact took the training to another level. 

I want to single out my coach Molly Edge for the work she did with me as part of my ongoing coach training. Molly and I had a number of one-to-one sessions. She is a fantastic coach and a great mentor! I am currently coaching four individuals within MDPS and I have seen first-hand the benefits of having a coach to those individuals and to our organization. I would recommend the Essential Impact team to any company or individual looking to develop a coaching culture in their organization.

Larry Sloan
Regional Vice-President
MD Management Ltd.

I was fortunate enough to attend a three-day seminar called “Leading Great Teams” through my employer, Rogers Communications, along with many of my colleagues. I then had follow-up one-on-one coaching with an Essential Impact coach.

The positive change in our management style was immediate and remarkable. Our ability to listen without pre-judging, guide a conversation to the benefit of the person being coached, and the change in our relationships with each other had an incredibly positive impact on our organization and our direct reports. For me personally, the experience reaffirmed all of my beliefs around what makes a good manager and coach, and allowed me to put into confident practice what my instincts always guided me to do.

Months after the session, I still use all of the tools the Essential Impact team taught me, and in our management group we still reference our time with them as a turning point. I can’t thank them enough and would encourage anyone to go through this transformative process.

Treena Wood
News Director, News 1130 Radio
Rogers Communications

The Surrey Food Bank employees started our 'coaching journey' with Essential Impact in 2008 and we haven't looked back since!! We had no idea when we entered into a coaching culture the many remarkable outcomes we would see as a team. Coaching language has become the norm in our culture. We introduce the concept of the coach approach when interviewing potential new employees, as well as in our job offer letters.

New staff quickly become aware of the concept of coaching as we work together, as well as its importance in our workplace. Coaching promotes, reinforces and strengthens our collaborative culture. We have more effective employees who feel valued, and we provide them with a 'tool' to use as they establish, realize and re-establish private personal goals, as well as team-based organizational goals.

Marilyn Herrmann
Executive Director
Surrey Food Bank
President, Food Banks BC

Old dogs can learn new tricks. Our company is a leading provider of pressure pumping in the oilfield. Our company is managed by a set of Core Values instead of a rulebook. As the company grew, the management determined that many of the newer employees, including some of the executives, did not quite understand this culture of values and they determined they should do something about that. A class was created for the executives, and one created for managers. A key goal in both of these classes was to create a "Coaching Culture."

We enlisted Essential Impact to help us achieve this goal. Since October, 2011, Essential Impact has been training our executives and managers in the skills of coaching. The results speak loudly. Our "directive" type executives and managers are now coaching their direct reports and others instead of dictating. As a result, our employee satisfaction is up; our retention is up; and we are growing. The coaching culture combined with managing by Core Values has allowed us to attain new markets, goals, and a better workforce.

Everyone on the Essential Impact team has impeccable credentials. They are extremely good at what they do. We are grateful for the relationship and, obviously, the results. They have worked with us to adjust the program while they have maintained the highest level of integrity with Instructors and materials. We appreciate the support and expertise of all the Essential Impact team.

Ken Kenner
Manager, Leadership Development Training
Trican Well Services

Several UBC staff and faculty had an eye on coaching in its infancy and watched it emerge as a trend in leadership development in the early 90’s. Many of UBC’s earliest adopters of coaching were introduced to it when Carollyne Conlinn facilitated some of our first coach trainings.

In 2002, UBC Human Resources designed and funded a one-year pilot project to measure the impact coaching would have in our organization. The successful results led to the funding and formation of UBC Coaching Services in 2003, and we received the 2005 ICF Vancouver Chapter Prism Award in partnership with Carollyne.

Carollyne is an acknowledged mentor to our first generation of coaches. When Coaching@UBC was established in 2013 we required mentorship from a Master Certified Coach (MCC) for our community of 70 coaches, to support our ICF credentialing. Carollyne was not only our natural choice based on our long and successful relationship, but she was the most qualified choice. She is one of only 18 MCC’s in British Columbia, and has received national awards for her contributions to the coaching profession.

Carollyne has been mentoring me and our community of coaches since August 2013, and the results of our collaboration have been remarkable. “How easy can this be?” is a question she often asks when we come together for a session. She lightens my load, and the depth and breadth of her knowledge and understanding is at once an inspiration and a comfort. Her skill and agility as a coach is unsurpassed in my experience.

Julia McLaughlin
Human Resources, Team Lead
Coaching@UBC