Stefan’s background, experience, and obsession with his clients’ success have led him to an irreplaceable and powerful coaching method. More than 4,000 leaders across 60 organizations, including Navy SEALs, have chosen to work with Stefan for one simple reason: he offers something no other coach does.
Endorsements
“I was fortunate to have Stefan recommended to me as I stepped into the leadership position for enterprise risk management. In this role I was expanding my responsibilities, managing a larger team, engaging more strategically with executive leadership, including frequent interaction with the board of directors. Over this time, Stefan provided me guidance and insight on how best to prepare for these engagements, providing a structure which I had not previously used, and has been incredibly valuable. What I appreciate most about Stefan and his coaching, it that he and his approach are so very different than who I am, providing me with a perspective I was not aware I was lacking, and assisting me with harnessing my capabilities. Each and every discussion with Stefan, I learn something new, something that is not only applicable to me, but who I am and strive to be as a leader.“
— Andrew, Chief Risk Officer
“Very quickly after starting to work with Stefan and his methods, I realized that before I have at most operated on 30 percent of my potential. Most of the things I did before were based on habit without much attention to details or actual results. The new way to approach my work makes every day more meaningful and fun.“
— Larry, Chairman of the Board
“The first time I met with Stefan the focus was to agree on how I could develop in my role as a Financial Controller. Stefan asked me what dreams and aspirations I had. I told him that I really, really wanted to become a CFO, a Chief Financial Officer, but that my shyness and the multitude of skills and behaviors I needed to develop were overwhelming and beyond reach. Stefan disagreed and said that we should let my aspiration to become a CFO guide our work together. He also proposed that we should set a deadline for when I should be ready to be viewed as a serious candidate for a CFO position in one of the company’s business divisions. He pushed me to accept a deadline of 12 months, which made me quite anxious. But Stefan helped to break down the journey into very concrete development areas, which I was able to address in a practical way that improved my performance in my current role while also made it possible for me to work toward and to track my progress toward my ultimate dream almost on a daily basis. This turned the anxiety into excitement very quickly. Did I reach my dream? Yes, after 12 months I was seriously considered for a CFO position but did not get it. But after an additional 6 months I got my first CFO position in one of the business units. Stefan has really taught me that no dream is impossible to work toward and to make happen.“
— Robert, Chief Financial Officer
“For me, the real gift of working with my intrinsic motivation is that I have accelerated my self-awareness. Being upfront in thinking about the challenges involved in my workday and what would excite me has taught me a lot about what I usually try to avoid, which means that before I was not truly been expanding my skills. By thinking through the challenges, they become easy to understand and overcome. This has made my work satisfaction and sense control over my destiny grow immensely. “
— Cyndi, Chief Financial Officer
“Stefan has worked together with myself and my team for more than 3 years now. During that period I have myself, as leader and as a person, developed and become a better version of myself. Stefan has definitely been a major contributor to that. He has also been an invaluable sounding board when it comes to assess the performance of my team, and has hands on supported myself in the improvement and turnaround of the performance of key individuals in my team. I have seen several cases where team members have gone from struggling to become high performing leaders in a very short time frame. The main reason why I and my team enjoy working with Stefan is because he has a unique ability of explaining science and theory and then deploy it into concrete advice of what to do in order to change your own behavior to maximize the positive impact you can have as a leader. While Stefan has a big heart, he is also refreshingly honest and you can always rely on him telling you his views and opinions straight, even if it sometimes hurt. The combination of care and honesty has allowed him to embed himself and gain a lot of trust within my team.“
— Jens, Chief Executive Officer
“I have collaborated with Stefan for almost 2 years. During this time we have worked together to set and implement personal development goals that have materially improved my performance as a leader within my organization. As a coach, he has helped me to empower and challenge my teams and helped me re-imagine my approach to new demanding situations. I have learned to handle demanding situations in a more proactive and objective way, which has drastically improved my personal productivity and well-being as well as my relationships with senior people in the business. Stefan’s flexible and objective coaching style has been critical for my development, including the transition to a new role and an international move, and it has equipped me with insights, tools, and techniques that will be highly valuable for the rest of my career.“
— Amalia, Senior Vice President
“Stefan Falk is a quite remarkable person who combines a unique ability to understand your needs and how to break them down into a work that not only is successful but also extremely rewarding and enjoyable. I engaged with Stefan so that he could help counsel and coach our most high performing up and coming leaders. The program that Stefan is leading is an amazing success and he constantly gets the highest feedback scores we ever have seen using external coaches or consultants, or in our own internal programs. I would also claim that the impact in helping our up and coming leaders finding their path in our firm and by that helping us unleashing more leadership potential, is unbelievably good.“
— Axel, Managing Partner
“Stefan has coached me across several topics, ranging from specific skills, for example, team leadership, stakeholder management, over career coaching, to work-life balance challenges. Stefan’s coaching has had significant impact on both my performance and lifestyle, for example, managing to reduce working hours by 20-25% while elevating my performance and delivering beyond expectations, including getting promoted well before I expected it to happen. The way Stefan’s coaching has enable this impact and distinguishes himself from other coaches are a couple of factors. Firstly, all his advice is usually anchored in fact-based scientific research, for example about the human mind, how top performers distinguishes themselves from average performers. Secondly, to anchoring the advice in fact based scientific research, Stefan has very concrete tools and actions or ideas that makes it easy to not only understand the theory but make a change the right after a coaching session. Lastly, Stefan has a broad and deep experience both as a leader and Executive as well as a coach, something that helps him to truly understand your specific situation. “
— Erik, Senior Client Adviser
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. The Serenity Prayer immediately comes to my mind when I think about the benefits I have experienced from working with Stefan and the methods he introduced to me. I have gained self-insight, created a sense of control and power, taken responsibility over my destiny, accepting ‘what is’ instead of wishing that things were different, and, most importantly, learned have to always move into action. For me, working with Stefan and his methods was and is a life-altering experience. Today the methods and learnings are my anchors in stormy times, and the sail I set when the winds are blowing in the right direction.“
— Catherine, Senior Management Consultant
“Stefan has literally supported me in the journey from project manager to elected partner at our Firm, and has enabled me accelerate my performance especially around senior client interaction and relationship building, and how to get the full potential out of people. While being rooted in scientific research on human performance, including many years of developing his methods, Stefan’s advice and support is always very practical and actionable. It is distinctive and unique in terms of breaking down longer-term goals to actionable short-term actions.“
— Markus, Partner
“When I first met Stefan, I was struck by how his personality, life experience, and approach to career development were so different from my own. It was those differences that actually persuaded me to work with him as a job coach. Stefan wasted no time showing his versatility, flexibility and exacting nature. He not only took the time to listen to my career goals, but to understand my work-life integration, my family and my personal goals. He’s taken all of this into account in demanding of me clear long- and short-term plans that fit my dreams and drive performance. Stefan is relentless in his positivity and confidence in me achieving my goals. He instills in me a confidence that I can bring to my work every day. But, he also consistently demonstrates this relentlessness in clearly identifying and articulating the realistic challenges I’m facing and progress I must make towards my goals. He does not pull punches in expecting more of me! He also has helped me to understand that the journey of reaching my career goals is itself fulfilling, rewarding and enjoyable. Stefan is not simply a coach, or even a life coach, now he’s a close friend.“
— Andrew, SVP & Deputy General Counsel
“Taking on a new role as the CEO of a mid-sized company, I reached out to Stefan for support and had the opportunity to work with him for about a year. Facing both operational and strategic challenges related mainly to productivity and cost efficiency, I highly valued Stefan’s support in helping me find the accurate priorities, and set up a structure for effective leadership empowering the management team to enable a turnaround resulting in 100 % increase of EBIT in just one year. Besides the tangible, economic results of the coaching program, Stefan’s methods catalyzed my personal growth and enabled a transition from management to empowering leadership, stimulating growth of individuals and hence the entire organization. For me, working with Stefan meant decreasing my working hours by 50 percent while improving both results and well-being significantly. For me, working with Stefan was a game changer transforming the way I think about work, sustainable development, productivity and well-being.“
— Emelie, Chief Executive Officer
“While I have only collaborated with Stefan for a short time, I already appreciate his depth of knowledge and experience coupled with a fundamental desire to help me improve my impact as both a manager and colleague. From the outset, Stefan asked tough, probing questions so that I could set meaningful goals for myself and my team. He has held me accountable – even in difficult situations – and encouraged me to develop the skills and tools to succeed. On a personal level, Stefan is a wonderful listener, with a deep, resonant voice and an excellent sense of humor, who makes our sessions enjoyable.“
— Mark, Chief Compliance Officer
“Stefan Falk started out as a coach and he quickly became a mentor, friend and role model.
He has a unique ability to translate complex scientific concepts and theory into the ordinary and familiar. He makes it easy to learn new skills and overcome personal obstacles. By doing so, it has given me the opportunity to achieve the extraordinary. I am a more effective and self-aware leader and have developed a wider set of professional skills. Yes, his methods can help us all build leadership and management skills. The professional growth is invigorating – especially when we start to feel successes and results. But, even more valuable, is that Stefan makes it easier to realize that human growth and intrinsic motivation is what we’re all really striving for. Coaching is Stefan’s passion and my goals quickly became his goals for me. Working together is both challenging and enjoyable. Challenging because he helps you hold yourself more accountable. Enjoyable because he cares as much as you do. It’s not often that we get to have someone like that in our corner.”
— Brian, Chief Executive Officer