Alan Kittner

Most clients are founders, first-time CEOs, or senior leaders of early-stage, mission-driven organizations.

These individuals share common characteristics: they are highly motivated, purpose-driven, curious, and anticipating – or amidst – rapid organizational change.

My insights and instincts draw on decades of experience as a founder, CEO, venture investor, board member, and corporate development leader. I am also a trained and credentialed coach.

This multi-stakeholder perspective, coupled with my approach, is particularly relevant to leaders seeking to enhance and accelerate impact through managing teams, boards, and investors. My clients benefit from the pattern recognition I’ve developed through the scars and successes I’ve lived through, not just heard about.

My clients describe my approach as collaborative, focused, and informed by experience as a founder, CEO, institutional investor, board director, and acquirer.

My collaborative or Co-active™ orientation means that I view the coach/client relationship as an alliance between two equal partners. My role is to create a safe environment that enables a focused conversation that supports my client in clarifying choices and making changes. The client's role is to approach our work together courageously, with motivation, curiosity, and creativity.

My focus on self-awareness stems from a belief that paying attention is a prerequisite to becoming better at anything. Some call this mindfulness. This Presence-Based© approach is necessary for a clearer view of oneself, others, and any situation. My role is to facilitate self-awareness and support the expansion of your inherent character and competencies.

My coaching style is differentiated by my 360° experiences with start-ups and emerging growth companies. This orientation informs my work as an executive coach and an advisor. In this role, I act as a sounding board, a leadership guide, a problem-solver, and a confidant. When appropriate, I offer experienced, confidential advice to support my client in addressing the challenges of their specific situation. This dual role - coach and advisor - helps leaders define and accomplish their version of success. Ultimately, it is your vision, values, and needs that matter.

Executive Coaching & Advisory

As a coach and advisor, I can act as a sounding board, a leadership guide, a problem-solver, and a confidante. My objective is to help you define and accomplish your version of success.

Mission, Vision, and Values

I can lead and collaborate with your team to create, update, or refine your company’s mission statement, vision of success, and core values. A participatory, multi-step, structured process can generate and foster alignment, understanding, and inspiration.

Leadership Insights™ 360° Assessment and Development Plans

I can provide candid and confidential feedback on a leader’s strengths and weaknesses and create an individual development plan for leaders who want to take their skills to the next level.

To do so, I draw from FMG Leading’s proprietary 360° digital assessment tool (see more about my affiliation with FMG Leading below) and direct interviews that provide broad and deep insights from the collective feedback.

Identifying Leadership Team Alignments and Misalignments

I can help a team build alignment and trust, enabling quick decision-making and agile team execution. In this process, I often interview key players and use FMG Leading’s proprietary Team Insights electronic survey. The survey measures six key areas that clear the path to exceptional team performance when optimized. The outcomes of this online team assessment often form the foundation of ongoing team performance advisory services.

FMG Leading Solutions

I am affiliated with FMG Leading Solutions, a firm that partners with investors, boards, and executive leaders across various industries to build the human capital capabilities required to deliver on strategy, mitigate risk, and outpace the competition. Organizational alignment and optimizing team performance frequently involves working across leadership and sometimes deep into the enterprise. My FMG Leading affiliation provides access to various human capital solutions and a deep bench of subject matter experts for broader engagements.

Most clients initially engage with me for three months, assessing fit and value, then continue collaborating with me, often for multiple years.

Regularly scheduled sessions usually occur weekly and last for 50-60 minutes. These sessions are supplemented with “field work” for clients to practice and progress on a particular topic on their own time. Many contact me between sessions to discuss timely and sometimes urgent issues. This enables you to respond to challenging interactions or events as they unfold quickly.

Many prospective clients want to understand what an initial and ongoing relationship looks like:

Initial sessions

A strong coach/client relationship begins by designing a mutually effective working relationship, completing assessment exercise(s), and setting objectives. This process usually takes one to three sessions. When possible, a ninety-minute first session is helpful to accelerate engagement.

On-going sessions

In the bulk of our time together, you come to each session with a topic or issue to explore, understand, and move through. This could be forward or backward-looking: a challenging interaction, a difficult decision, a problem to think through, or a habit that limits your ability to achieve your desired outcome.

My clients are the best, if not the only judge, of my value. The qualitative nature of coaching and advising defies simple measurement. However, I assess success through client feedback, cumulative and repeat referrals, and the high percentage (86%) of my business based on relationships renewed beyond the initial retainer.

Ultimately, I enable my clients to define and accomplish their version of success. It is your vision, values, and needs that matter.

What are some of your client's real-world outcomes?

The accomplishments of my clients are their own “doing,” even if I might facilitate some of their “being” in the process.

These include:

· Scaling a business through shifting leadership style, building a high-performance team, and learning how to lead and when to “let go.”

· Successfully navigating challenging relationships with a team member, co-founder, board member, or investor.

· Maintaining composure and level-headedness through multiple financings, reductions in workforce, a business model pivot, and a liquidity event while facing market and shareholder turmoil.

I encourage prospective clients to have an initial conversation with me and take a “test drive” with a complimentary session. It’s also helpful to assess potential fit with other experienced coaches.

Ed Batista’s article “How to Find (and Choose) a Coach” is a valuable resource for reflecting on this decision.

No. I work with a variety of founders, CEOs, and senior leaders. My multi-stakeholder experience and coaching skills are applicable across disciplines. You bring your unique experience and domain expertise. My role is to support your learning and growth.

If it’s relevant to you, my industry background can provide incremental value to healthcare leaders. In the past, I have introduced CEOs to angel investors, outside directors, and senior leaders with experience in operations, sales, and marketing. I have also introduced companies to potential corporate partners and advisory firms that work with management teams to craft strategic direction and drive corporate growth.

My services are priced on a sliding scale retainer that varies based on whether my client is a company, tax-exempt organization, or individual paying out of pocket. A retainer enables us to invest in our relationship without watching the clock. When possible, I accept a portion of my fee in equity.

Additional services beyond executive coaching are priced on a project basis.