Design Coaching for Business = Jean and Michael have developed a unique and effective model for improving business performance through supporting individuals and teams to step beyond their limitations. It invites participants into a new level of awareness of the dynamics in their business and within themselves. They are remarkable individuals who bring depth, insight and wisdom to their interactions with others.

Terryll Bailey, The Allison Group, Seattle, USA. ________________________________________________________________________

Learning in Workshop = “Michael Keller and Jean Singer are a fabulous team of gifted facilitators who make learning not only fun but informative. Their easy going and encouraging ways of involvement brought a room full of strangers together quickly and comfortably so that we could learn from each other as well. I thoroughly appreciated the one-on-one time they offered and their genuine interest in hearing and seeing what everyone had to say and share. They know their stuff and share it in a way that feels tailor made to the participant. I would happily take another workshop from them.”

– Frances Litman
Master of Photographic Arts and Founder of www.creativelyunitedfortheplanet.com
Frances Litman Photography Inc.

www.franceslitman.com … ________________________________________________________________________

Healthy Culture in the Workplace = “Michael and Jean are masters in creating and supporting the conditions for greater capacity and real transformation. As a visual scribe, I collaborate with facilitators and change agents around the world. Michael and Jean are amongst the very best. With remarkable clarity, integrity, deep experience and extremely caring ways, every interaction with them offers valuable learning ground.

In service as consultants and facilitators, they bear the hallmarks of true experts – they assume nothing and listen deeply, they respond authentically on the spot to whatever emerges, and they ask powerful questions to engage people in making meaning and spotting connections. Working in perfect harmony, Michael and Jean lead people through a smooth process that energizes them, taps into the humor of the human experience and expands their thinking to see new possibilities and choices.”

– Lisa Arora, Victoria, BC, Canada Get the Picture  … _________________________________________________________________________

Professional Development = “Michael is an excellent person to work with.  My recent experience working with Michael included organizing 2 workshops and supporting his facilitation of difficult change management session.  In all these learning activities, he is organized and responsive, thoughtful and committed, he is interested in work that has the greatest value to his client, he combines deep knowledge with excellent facilitation skills, he is fun and engaging, he is there for the long haul, and he keeps the most important topics in the foreground.  For me Michael is a pleasure to work with.

Michael’s work helped my team to work more closely together, it gave us a “language” and news ways to think about our work,  it honoured our work and the people who are part of it helping us to recognize our contributions, it helped set some foundations and provided some ways to move forward, it allowed people to be heard and for new ideas to emerge.” Read more about this Case Study

– Rhys Andrews, RPF, MA
Dean of Health and Human Services, Environment and Geomatics, and Kootenay School of the Arts
Selkirk College
Castlegar, BC, Canada ________________________________________________________________________

Coaching = “Michael has an incredible ability to focus in on the core patterns that are keeping us from reaching our potential. He does it in such a gentle, organic, collaborative and fun way. This creates a safety net that allows us to play and have fun with even the most difficult issues. It really is a unique and special thing to experience; one that I feel very grateful to have been a part of.”

Rudy Koch, Producer in Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA, USA ________________________________________________________________________

Coaching = “How to describe the value that Michael adds…. The best might be an example. I found myself feeling overwhelmed, not good enough, not happy with my results, and not seeing solutions. After the first 10 min of telling Michael what was going on and owning where I was, he posed amazing questions that opened up other perspectives that were SO helpful. An hour later I was laughing and taking action towards the outcomes that are important to me. And the best part is that — from the learning that I’ve done with all of the IA participants — I can often do this myself! And when I am stuck, I have a community of learners that are supportive and often provide shortcuts as how to get “unstuck”. What a gift!!! Thank you!!”

– Sibylle Stipp, Entrepreneur, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Coaching = “Michael’s presence, coaching style and guidance were perfect for me. I suspect this is not because we were naturally a good match, rather that it is a skill that he applies to each coaching relationships. I found his skill in asking questions, sharing insights and framing conversations and experiences very revealing, empowering and beneficial. I enjoyed and appreciated from every moment of my engagement with Michael.”

– Andrew Outhwaite, Executive Officer, Pollinators Inc , Geraldton, W Australia.
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Print Profile Coaching for Couples = “Michael took us on an awesome journey of exploration as a couple; seeing ourselves and each other through the lens of our Print profiles created distance and perspective on some of our individual patterns and how we “dance” with those patterns together. Whether you’ve done Print before or are new to it, you will find value in the process. We took away useful simple tools and enriching conversations – and felt more empowered to handle what life will bring …”

Vonny and Liz, Calgary, AB Canada
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Building a healthy workplace culture = “I don’t think I have the words to describe how much all of the learning and tools you gifted me with has transformed my life. It has been very helpful professionally but personally it has been a game changer, not only in dealing with my family, but being able to view the whole dynamic and who they are through a totally different lens.

The big learning and lessons for me are:

  • Treating everyone with caring regard as a minimum standard
  • Differentiating, yet communicating
  • Listening for understanding
  • Understanding  that when I choose to see a person in only one way I limit myself, not them

By doing all the work, working through my resistance to the changes and checking myself every time I go to my resistance place, I can step outside my comfort zone with far greater ease and give myself the opportunity to learn and grow. I’ve found that if I’m resistant to the learning it usually ends up being a lesson I truly needed.

Still peeling the onion and finding a remarkable quiet strength residing within.”

For Michael, with much respect and gratefulness.

Karen Langford, British Columbia
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Building a healthy workplace culture = Michael has been providing support to our organization — building a healthy workplace culture — for about 5 years now. We have worked our way through establishing shared values, defining the behavior that supports the values, developing self-awareness and learning how to have authentic conversations. Many of our staff say that our commitment to this work has been “life changing” for them. Developing a solid foundation of good communication to work from has had an incredible positive impact on our workplace culture.

Lynn Wark, Recreation and Culture Manager
City of Campbell River
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Coaching = In a world where the only certainty is uncertainty, working with Michael as my leadership dynamics coach allows me to show up, be present, and lead in a more intentional and authentic way in times of stress and anxiety (aka everyday life).  My work with Michael has led me to be more aware of not only how I operate within myself, teams, and broader human systems, but also helped me gain clarity about my criteria that I now apply to my decision making process.  My ability to lead and manage in a relational and collaborative way within cross-cultural settings has only been enhanced with Michael’s insights.  Michael’s guidance is invaluable on my own personal journey to be a life-long learner, explorer and discoverer.  In short, I am the adaptive and resilient leader I am today through my coaching with Michael.
Noah Metheny, Global Fund
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Coaching = Words will not capture my eight plus year relationship with Michael, and yet I would like to try. I have come to accept, over many years, that shadow is best invited to our awareness. Humble and confident, giving and taking, caring and detached, highly intellectual and embodied, deeply disciplined and playful, strong and vulnerable…the word pairs go on, and on to describe the quality of consciousness and engagement Michael presence for generating presencing. It is with this narrow focus, and wide embrace that Michael makes such conditions generative, holding momentary and lasting openings to look at what I am seeing with grace.That being said, if anything, you would discover your own word pairs or triads, simply because, that’s what Michael is to me; an occasion to be as transparent as I can with self and others. Some may call this gift all sort of THINGS. The best word I have found for my experience with Michael is accompaniment. Michael is mostly present to emergence that is potential for being and becoming. This is a rare quality in anyone I have met. May I risk calling it Love?
Jean Trudel, Triaxiom9 – Organisational Design Inc. Member of the Pyxis Network ________________________________________________________________________
Building a healthy workplace: Nursing Charter = Michael showed us that by letting go of our own personal agendas and being flexible with routine, that we could bring a better outcome for our patients and their family while at the same time increasing our own job satisfaction. Building trust with family and team, adding passion to our practice and belief in this process gave us huge gifts. He encouraged us to sprinkle curiosity on our consistent knowledge, compassion, and caring in order to honor the sacred work and increase our validation and support within the nursing team. He pushed us to strengthen those connections we don’t have and use ‘straight talk’ to give us the courage to learn how instead of simply accommodating. Each of us has personal stories of the impact this process has had on our work life, and we are richer for this experience. Our hope is to share Michael’s gift with other nursing teams…and we are so grateful for being a part of this charter stewardship.

Catherine Larade, Victoria Hospice ________________________________________________________________________

Building a healthy workplace: Nursing Charter = Michael Keller expertly and respectfully guided and supported our team in achieving our goal of developing a value based Nursing Charter. Michael created a safe environment where we were able to be vulnerable and authentic with each other. He pushed when we faltered and reigned us in when we got off track using his great humor and wit. He is extremely organized and efficient and most incredible to work with! I would work with Michael again and in fact hope to do so.

Jill Sartorio, RN CHPCN(C), Victoria Hospice ________________________________________________________________________

Strengthening Effective Communication = We are first point of contact for the City of Nanaimo’s Parks and Recreation facilities. Michael came to help us with our communication skills.  His approach was nothing like the typical workshops we have had in the past as we were introduced to tools such as the Self Talk Triangle, Ladder of Inference and Understanding our Lens.  There were many takeaways for us such as:

  • understanding others viewpoints
  • I am starting to look at my thinking and judgements before my interactions
  • Personal development must precede professional development
  • Identifying self-talk when it happens
  • That each moment is new and we can accelerate success when we see this way, instead of prejudging a person/situation
  • Stay open and do not personalize customer complaints
  • Adjusting my self-talk to approach all situations in a positive light

Thank you Michael for taking us through the incredible journey of understanding good communication skills start within ourselves.

Chris Robinson, Business Support Supervisor, Parks and Recreation, City of Nanaimo, BC, Canada ________________________________________________________________________

Utilizing the ACE-it! process = Working with Michael and Jean through the ACE-it process has had benefits well beyond the challenge I presented to peer consultants. The whole process taught me to listen differently, empowered me to not need to have all the answers but to be open to discovering them, and it showed me the power of putting your challenge out into the world.

The most challenging part of ACE-it for me was listening to peer dialogue about my challenge and not being able to interject—or even just join into a good discussion! But it was also the most rewarding part. As I started to let go of wanting to join in, I started to immerse myself in the value going on around me. I started to see my own challenge in a way that was opening up possibilities as opposed to hearing “answers.”

Today I’ve had the honor of being able to walk others through the ACE-it process – with Jean and Michael’s coaching and support—and have continued to be amazed by the power of dialogue.

Kiersten Rippeteau, Business Consultant, Chicago, Illinois, USA ________________________________________________________________________

Peer-to-Peer Consulting using the ACE-it! process — Jean Singer and Michael Keller have used their complimentary skills and abilities to provide extraordinary value to the global organization design community.

We invited them to present at our 2015 annual conference where they demonstrated the simple and powerful ACE-It process.Over the next year, they guided our Practitioner Development Team through the process of piloting the tool virtually as well as simulcasting at our 2016 Conference. Their extra-ordinary contributions have led to the ACE-It to successfully become our Peer to Peer Consulting offering, one of our foundations of our online offerings.

What makes this offering so unique is that although it is framed as helping the presenter of the issue expand their options, which it does, above and beyond that, because of how Michael and Jean designed the process, the volunteer consultants for each session find as much value as the presenter.

Jean and Michael have created and transferred to our community theperfect container for tapping into human potential. It allows the unanticipated and sometimes, the unimaginable to emerge. Because they are both passionate about sharing ideas that build a better world, their methods are easy to understand and readily transferable.  Many of our community members who have experienced ACE-it as participants or consultants, have gone on to use and teach the method.  Thus, Michael and Jean’s contribution to our community has multiplied around the world. 

From our perspective, there is no greater testament to the gift they are and have provided us, as the replication of their method among our community members. We are indebted to them for their generosity and gracious contributions to the ODF mission of helping organizations around the world to become more effective, successful and inspiring.

Organization Design Forum (ODF) Board – http://organizationdesignforum.org/

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