We recently connected with Debby Stone and have shared our conversation below.

Debby, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

As coaches and workshop leaders, we traditionally met with our clients face-to-face. When Covid hit, we immediately pivoted to an online only model. While we had occasionally met with clients by phone or video, we moved everything to remote. Now almost all of our coaching work is done via video and the effectiveness is just as high as it was when we met in-person. We also shifted all of our training and workshops to video. Our workshops are all highly interactive and our team learned quickly how to fully leverage the tools available on platforms like Zoom and Teams to build interactivity and engagement remotely. We incorporate chat, polls and breakout rooms to keep participants involved and hands-on.

Now that people are going to their offices and conferences and retreats have restarted, we have begun presenting workshops in-person again. I recently delivered a keynote at a retreat and it was my first in-person speaking engagement in over 2 years! I am scheduled to deliver more live workshops over the next several months, and members of our team have been facilitating retreats, presenting workshops and giving speeches.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I became an executive coach in 2002. At that time the industry was still fairly new, and when I said I was a coach, many people asked “What sport?” Since then, coaching has moved into the mainstream and is a recognized leadership and executive development tool. I had been a practicing lawyer for over a decade when I made the move into coaching. I had founded my own law practice and discovered that I was naturally entrepreneurial so starting a new business wasn’t scary to me. I chose coaching because as a corporate lawyer, I knew intellectually that I was helping people but I did not feel that connection, so I wanted to move into a business where I had more direct interaction with people rather than paperwork and coaching fit the bill.

At Novateur Partners, our approach is holistic in the sense that we coach each person as the individual they are and work with them in light of their values, goals, strengths, challenges and personality. No two clients are the same, and therefore, our work is never identical from client to client.

We work with lawyers, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. There are not many lawyers who have become coaches so we are unique in that regard since we have several on our team. Everyone on our team has significant experience interacting with lawyers and working within the legal community.

The coaching engagements we take on fall into several main categories: Executive coaching for senior leaders and high potentials, Career coaching for those in career transition or seeking to better manage their careers, Outplacement coaching for individuals whose companies or firms are downsizing or letting them go to smooth their transition, and Business Development coaching for lawyers and other professional services providers who want to grow their client bases.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source for new clients for us is referrals. So, how do you build referrals? For us, it is about doing a great job with the clients we have and asking
them for referrals and testimonials as appropriate. We do a great job by being fully present, by being responsive and by being highly skilled and experienced at what we do.

The other way we generate referrals is by speaking. Some of our team members speak frequently and are recognized experts in areas like time management, self-promotion, leadership resilience, business development, cross-cultural competence and coaching skills for leaders. By participating in conferences and speaking to business groups, we have generated fans in the business and legal communities that recommend us to others.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Our team is completely remote so managing them and keeping them engaged is critical to our success. In addition to being available for one-on-one consultations with the coaches whenever they want or need input, I organize several team meetings each year for the group. We meet either in person or via Zoom with an agenda that includes company updates as well as check-ins and the opportunity for each team member to talk about their work and what they want going forward. I also encourage team members to meet with each other so they can share resources, best practices and referrals. I provide feedback to team members on a frequent basis and particularly focus on reinforcing what is going well while ensuring that they have the constructive feedback they need to continue to develop. All of this has led us to have strong morale and a loyal team.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.novateurpartners.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NovateurPartners
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbystonenovateur/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpeakerDebby
• Other: www.debbystone.com