Workplace/Executive Coaching

Occupying the majority of the hours of a week, the workplace is typically a dominant fixture in most peoples’ lives. Navigating the workplace can be challenging as well as rewarding. Growth can come at many levels, ranging from communication, to skills, to management, to in-depth knowledge and expertise, and more. Integration of workplace life into peoples’ personal lives also needs to be done to ensure that balance is achieved.

Opportunities for Growth

My workplace and executive coaching follows my philosophy of melding the mind, body, and spirit. Working with all three aspects, we will work together to resolve blocks and barriers to reaching your desired goals in your career. Common coaching topics include organization, management, working with others, communication, and more. We will work towards improving your areas of growth and find resolutions to all of them.

Alignment of Passion and Purpose

Uncovering your passions and purpose can further enrich your future in the workplace. Alignment with these aspects can bring more enjoyment and reward to your career. After blocks and barriers are addressed, coaching can help you see where you belong in the corporate world and how it may fulfill you in more ways than just the paycheck.

Balance

Often our work consumes the entirety of our waking lives. For many, this has yielded negative feelings and thoughts, and even a degradation of health. Finding balance in our lives, given the many demands on our time and attention, can bring more fulfillment in your life overall. Working towards a better understanding of how your employment fits into your whole life and then adjusting it to make it so will create a much more rewarding sense of being.

Mentoring

Many of my clients look for guidance in the workplace and want to leverage my extensive business experience in their own work lives. Mentoring is woven throughout the relationship along with coaching so that you can get valuable insight from a seasoned professional. Areas of expertise include:

  • Communication skills.
  • People management skills.
  • Managing up.
  • Strategy for advancing in an organization.
  • Leadership.
  • Team organization and management
  • Product, project, design management and strategy.
  • Startup guidance, from company building, to fund raising, to strategy and more.
  • Shifting to a new position in your current company, or another company.
  • Discovery of and shifting to a new career.
  • Interviewing, resume development, conducting the job search.

Experience

My company experience spans positions from individual contributor to manager to Director to Vice President where I managed a team of 100+. I have worked in big companies (Apple, Yahoo!) and small (frogdesign- a design consultancy) as well as a startup (Yahoo!) before it went public and after. I also have experience working all over the world and have worked through the cultural challenges it brings. After I left the corporate world, I worked for many years as an angel investor and in venture capital at Launch Capital, where I worked with many startups to build their business, obtain funding, and grow to success. My experiences have provided me with real world knowledge on how the workplace operates at all levels of management and in companies in all stages of their evolution.

Supporting Corporate Clients

In addition to working directly with me, I also coach for the Unalome Agency, supporting corporate clients and executives and helping them through barriers and reach optimal performance in both their companies and their personal lives. You can also find me on Modern Health or BetterUp if your employer offers either to their employees as a benefit. Email their support to match with me on either platform!

Testimonials

Dave has played a crucial role in helping me refocus, better aligning my professional and personal life with my true passions and values. His own passion for personal development is evident and fuels his dedication to coaching.

Working with Dave doesn’t feel like a traditional process, but rather like a supportive journey with a friend who’s invested in your growth. His unique blend of professionalism and personal connection is a differentiator compared to other coaches I’ve worked with.

I wholeheartedly endorse Dave. His guidance can be a game-changer for anyone seeking to enhance their personal and professional life. – NS

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Coach Shen which has had a profound impact on my professional growth. He has helped me navigate tactical challenges at the office and think about where I want to go long-term. We’ve had challenging conversations that’s forced me to be honest with myself which has helped me find a sustainable path for my career. It’s made me a better colleague. Coach Shen has helped me find confidence in myself and given me clarity for how to navigate my career going forward. – NY

I met Dave through a tech connection and thought it would be a good exercise to review some career options with him, given his broad background. But working with Dave has been so much more than analyzing work options. He has led me to examine more of what drives me, what my stumbling blocks are, and what makes for meaningful growth. He works patiently and earnestly, with wisdom and humor, and doesn’t let a single session go to waste. Highly, highly recommend working with him. – ML

Dave provided valuable insight and mentorship many years ago as an advisor on our startup and I knew he would do the same for me at a crossroads in my career and personal life. His professional coaching style, extensive resources and approachable demeanor helped me navigate several significant decisions and emotions related to career transitions, grief and loss, relocation, and long term planning. 

In these circumstances it can feel natural to expect or hope that a coach will give you all the answers to your difficult questions, and there were some questions Dave helped answer immediately, but primarily he provided tools, recommendations and frameworks that empowered me to find the answers for myself in a way that was ultimately more rewarding than being handed all the answers. 

Going into our first session amidst the broader economic / job market conditions and my own personal state, I definitely did not anticipate the pace of radical transformation over ~8 sessions that resulted in a new job, confident relocation decision, mostly processed grief, and a lifestyle that is significantly more aligned to my passions with the necessary tools for continued progress. 

I believe Dave’s coaching can help just about anyone, but especially those who are looking for what the best coaches offer: the guidance and toolkit to learn how to fish, and to accept or even appreciate the varied weather conditions life throws at you. I highly recommend working with Coach DShen if you get the opportunity. – AP

How can we work together to help you advance in your career and discover more how it fits into your life?