VANDER ZANDEN INC.

Executive Coaching

 

 

 

Influence is everything.

 

There is a world of highly effective communication techniques that influential people know. This can be taught. It’s what we do.

For more than 30 years, we’ve coached everyone from C-level executives to young professionals on ways to strengthen their strategy, message, delivery, and presence. And we can do the same for you.

growing_seed

 

VANDER ZANDEN INC.

Executive Coaching

 

Influence is everything.

 

There is a world of highly effective communication techniques that influential people know. This can be taught. It’s what we do.

For more than 30 years, we’ve coached everyone from C-level executives to young professionals on ways to strengthen their strategy, message, delivery, and presence. And we can do the same for you.

growing_seed

 

Executive Coaching

key_lockLeaders are walking, talking brands.

Executive status is bigger than any individual. Leaders personify the brand. As such, they always have to be “on” because everything they do or say takes on a bigger meaning.

That’s why leaders need an experienced truth-teller. We’ve been that trusted resource for decades, partnering with dozens of global leaders from world-class companies and high-potential individuals with ambitious goals. Some need a big idea, while others just need the right words. We provide the guidance and insights required, helping deliver measurable results.

Sample coaching goals:

  • Storytelling and the power of legacy
  • Articulating your brand
  • Handling public visibility well
  • Compelling connections with audiences
  • Inspiring cultural change
  • Modeling leadership under pressure
  • Working effectively with a board of directors
We hired Sarah based on her results with other professional firms. Sarah taught us Enlightened Client Management. It’s clear that our new skills and confidence are already visible, we model the behaviors better for our teams, and we’re generating stronger results.
CEO, national law firm

Bios

Sarah

Sarah’s work focuses on influence in all its forms, including coaching for leadership insight, development, communication, and performance. She zeroes in on every client’s strengths and goals so that everyone’s best contributions are magnified as they solve problems, push distractions to the background, and explore new learning.

Clients seek Sarah’s counsel to manage their key relationships effectively, from one-on-one contact to major stage events to working with board members. Strategy, message, delivery, presence — it all matters. Leaders are expected to communicate vision, compel action, and inspire results.

For senior executives in global companies or emerging leaders in small start-ups, this often includes coaching for the various types of visibility their roles command as well as how to find the right words at the right time.

Sarah began her career in public and government affairs at Standard Oil Company (Amoco) headquarters, where she coached executive speakers preparing for congressional testimony and hosted quasi-lobbying events annually at the Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C.

After several years, Sarah was recruited to a Minneapolis ad agency to create a speaker consultancy for the agency’s clients and leaders in highly visible roles. Control Data Corporation (CDC) recruited Sarah to do the same for senior executives and international teams to present more effectively to the CDC board of directors. Sarah also designed their longstanding training series on effective presentation and interpersonal relationships, public speaking, and news media interviews.

Sarah started Vander Zanden Inc. in 1983 with CDC’s International Business as her first client, and has since worked with clients in many countries in corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors. This includes long-term relationships with Accenture, American Express, Apple, Intel, 3M, and numerous other organizations in consulting, healthcare and consumer products.

Sarah is a Jesuit Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Xavier University and lives in Minneapolis with her husband and business partner, Peter Marston, with whom she shares three grown children.

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Peter
True to his Ph.D. in clinical psych and post-doctoral training in management consulting, Peter reminds us often that anyone’s finest characteristics may never be known without a deeper look into the whole person, the family background, and more. He’s proudest of managing every assessment personally from start to finish in order to integrate testing results with a deep understanding of character.

Peter helps at-risk clients understand both their risks and their potential, and refuses to boilerplate or shortcut any judgment he intends to stand behind. He is an astute judge of character and that, combined with his compassion, delivers results that serve the individual and the organization best.

Peter loves classical music, plays piano beautifully, jumps at any chance for deep-sea fishing, devours history books, and frequently talks politics to anyone within earshot. His latest dedication to learn yoga is equally intense.

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Clients

While we can’t name names due to client confidentiality,
we work with a broad spectrum of industries, including:

  • Advertising
  • Architecture & Design
  • Authors & Keynote Speakers
  • Entrepreneurs (start-ups and growth mode)
  • Financial Services
  • Government & Utilities
  • Healthcare/Pharmaceutical
  • Law
  • Manufacturing
  • Marketing Communication & Consulting
  • Not-for-Profit/Philanthropy
  • Publishing
  • Retail
  • Technology Consulting
When our people are in transition, they’re under the microsope and under the gun for results. We’ve found that expert coaching returns six to ten times its investment. Sarah delivers results.
Chief of human resources, global food manufacturer

I’ve developed my expertise over several decades without any focus on my leadership. Sarah’s coaching is helping me to refine my presence and leverage my position of authority to get much more done for the whole organization. I wish I’d learned this when I was 20!
Senior executive, global manufacturing firm

Sarah’s the best. Her coaching should be required for anyone in an emerging leadership position. Never mind how you got there, what you do with it is critical. She offers real, practical counsel you put into play immediately.
Senior leader, innovation and design firm

We value Sarah’s understanding of what it’s like to be a woman with a full personal life in a high-test position. Think husband, children, aging parents, travel, the full catastrophe. I couldn’t have done this without her preparation, and I keep her in the wings as one of my essential advisors – for the last twelve years.
Senior IT leader, global services firm

What I learned blew me away, and that’s made all the difference.
New EVP and broker, commercial real estate company

Sarah’s work is great. I’ve sent six teams to her so far and others keep asking for their turn.
CMO, global technology company

Outstanding, personal, practical information and direction. Sarah is fantastic. No pretense, all performance.
COO, national financial services company

When our most critical pitches mean millions of dollars of potential revenue, and skillful communication with key people compresses the time-to-decision even by one hour, the firm’s investment is repaid. Sarah immediately relates her coaching to the business impact. She gets it.
Lead business development executive, international architecture firm

Executive coaches can have an abstract view of leadership that few mortals can attain. Sarah and Peter have proven for 15 years that they know what’s expected of our senior leaders across the organization and give us practical guidance we can act on.
CIO, global consulting company

Sarah is the consultant to our consultants. Her straightforward advice, and her breadth of experience in a number of industries keeps us on our toes, making the most of every opportunity whether we’re speaking with clients or at public conferences.
Senior information services executive, global technology consulting firm

We have a 20-year relationship with Sarah’s firm. She and Peter gave me courageous good counsel about myself, and how to inspire higher-value contributions from my team. She stays up-to-date on best practices and helps me stretch my thinking and my messages. It helps to have an independent mentor, advisor and coach.
CEO, national healthcare organization

Insights

When Opportunity Knocks
Ants_onewayEmployees want and need to hear from their leaders at key times. Some listen for inspiration to make sense of how much energy the work takes. Others value gratitude to help them stay engaged with constant change. Many welcome new stories to reinvigorate their efforts and reinforce their relationships. And more than a few seek to renew their sense of belonging in the work community.

Don’t miss the power of this opportunity, whether it comes in a casual gathering or a formal presentation. When it’s apparent you’ve taken the time to prepare thoughtfully, your potential for influence is at its peak, and employees and colleagues alike will talk about these experiences for a long time. They’ll repeat the lines, the stories, the laughs, and the gaffes. They’ll also note your reflections and how you present the challenges you’ll face together in the months ahead.

Trust yourself and take a risk. Personalize your message, and mean it. Words work, and those spoken when you’re face-to-face are trusted the most and remembered the longest. Genuine connection is still the way great leaders compel eager followers.