Clients pick coaches for authenticity, not credentials. That was the ICF finding 20 years ago, and Cynthia Loy Darst says it still holds.

A co-active coaching pioneer since 1992, Cynthia helped found the ICF, served as ACTO president, and now oversees leader development at CTI. She talks with Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave about presence, the difficulty of self-curiosity, the inside team approach to internal voices, and where AI fits in coaching. Direct, grounded, and drawn from 34 years inside the profession.

Most teams avoid the conversations that would solve their biggest problems. Gaby Jordan, founder of Source Elements Group, has spent 20+ years teaching leaders how to have them.

A former Manhattan trial lawyer turned coach, Gaby has taught at MIT, NYU, Stanford, and over 80 institutions worldwide. She joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to unpack champion conversations, the role of agency in leadership, and why a $2 billion company hit its targets by focusing on people, not sales. A practical episode for coaches and leaders working with teams in transition.

Sports coach turned practice developer Simon Harling joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to challenge how coaches build their work. Author of Good Coach, Bad Coach, Simon brings 15+ years from pro football, squash, and national governing bodies into a conversation about environmental design, stakeholder alignment, and the tension between development and performance. Hear why moving from "am I good enough?" to "I know what my practice is for" changes everything, and how the conditions of practice matter more than chasing peak moments. Practical, direct, and grounded in real examples.

Most leadership programs teach skills. Max Klau teaches wholeness. The founder of the Center for Courageous Wholeness and a Harvard-trained leadership scholar, Max joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to explain why shadow-integrated servant leadership is the missing piece in how we develop leaders. Learn why shadow is not the opposite of light, how a 90-minute session gets total strangers to share their shadow mission, and what the Inner Development Goals movement signals about where global leadership development is heading. If you work with leaders or are one, this conversation will change how you think about growth.

A horse won't follow you because of your title. It follows you because of your presence. Wencke Meteling, leadership coach and former historian, joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to explain how equine coaching makes invisible leadership patterns visible. From energy work in the arena to the lead rope team exercise, this episode connects somatic awareness, authentic presence, and practical leadership development in ways that stay with you long after the conversation ends.

82% of coaches fail within two years of starting a business. Laura Berman Fortgang, MCC, has spent 30 years solving that problem.

Laura is a founding member of the International Coaching Federation, student number 16 at Coach U, and author of five books. She now runs the A-List Coach, a program for coaches who want to build a practice that actually works.

In this episode, she shares why speaking is the fastest route to a full pipeline, how to handle sales calls the same way you handle a coaching conversation, and what the rise of AI means for the future of professional coaching.

What happens when a coach stops worrying about labels and starts contracting for what the client actually needs? Dr. Clare Beckett-McInroy, ICF MCC and EMCC Master Practitioner, joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to discuss supervision, team coaching, neurodiversity, and why courage in contracting is the skill most coaches need right now.

Clare brings 25+ years across education, leadership development, and systemic coaching practice. A rich, grounded conversation with ideas you can apply today.

Coaching emerged to meet a need in the world. But what is that need right now? Tracy Sinclair, founder of Coach Advancement, joins Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave to explore why presence has become the most valuable thing a coach can offer. Leaders are burned out, disengaged, and running from one meeting to the next without a moment to think. Tracy makes the case that coaching's greatest opportunity is not helping people perform better. It is giving them space to be heard, settle their minds, and access the clarity that constant doing buries.