choice Magazine

Garry Schleifer

5.0 (3)
Entrepreneurship
Semiweekly

choice Magazine is the vehicle that forwards the global conversation about professional coaching by providing: diverse perspectives, thought-provoking commentary, insightful discussion and access to services, tools, resources and practical information.

1d ago

Episode 213: The Gift Of Presence In Team Coaching with guest, Michelle Chambers

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever left a leadership team session thinking, “We talked a lot but nothing really moved,” the missing ingredient might be presence, not preparation. Garry Schleifer sits down with executive and team coach Michelle Chambers, author of “Beyond Paying Attention: Presence as a Systemic Practice in Team Coaching,” to unpack what presence actually looks like when you’re working with a whole system instead of one person. We get concrete about why newer team coaches struggle with the shift from one-on-one coaching to team coaching: it’s not just tracking individuals, it’s tracking interactions, energy, and meaning-making across the group. Michelle explains how “team of teams coaching” raises the stakes even more during organizational change, restructures, and mergers, where multiple leadership teams need to reduce silos and build real collaboration. You’ll also hear the neuroscience behind why teams show up scattered and reactive, how fight-or-flight can quietly run the meeting, and why a coach’s pace can reset the room. Michelle shares practical moves you can use right away: short pulse checks with leaders before sessions, intentional pauses, round robins, reflection prompts, and even brief grounding practices that support psychological safety and deeper dialogue. The throughline is simple and challenging: do less, hold more space, and let collective wisdom emerge. If this resonates, subscribe to Beyond the Page, share the episode with a coach or team leader, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about Michelle here. Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/
Nov 4

Episode 212: Before The First Word with guest, André Politzer

Send us Fan Mail The moment you walk into a room, leadership is already happening. Before you share the first slide, answer the first question, or say hello, people are reading your posture, your pace, your face, and your energy and that “quiet data” shapes how everything you say will land. I sit down with executive coach André Politzer, author of “Before the First Word: Designing Empowering Conversations Through Presence and Choice,” to get practical about executive presence. We dig into what visibility does to capable leaders, why some people freeze in high stakes meetings, and how the same leader can look grounded in one environment and disconnected in another. André makes a strong case for situational presence and explains why coaches should stay curious about culture instead of pushing a single model of confidence or charisma. Then we take an unexpected turn into actor training and the Stanislavsky method, not to encourage “performing,” but to highlight preparation that supports authenticity. André introduces the spotlight mindset and a simple reset that sounds almost too small to matter until you try it: one intentional breath before you speak. If you care about leadership coaching, communication skills, relational leadership, and building real presence under pressure, this conversation offers tools you can use immediately. Subscribe, share this with a coach or leader who lives in high visibility moments, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about André here. Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/
Oct 28

Episode 211: Presence is Not Enough with guest, Scott Drexler

Send us Fan Mail Presence gets talked about like it’s the gold standard in coaching, but we’ve both felt the gap: the client looks engaged, the questions sound “right,” and somehow nothing truly shifts. Leadership strategist Scott Drexler joins us to name what’s missing and to make it usable: attunement. It’s the moment when coach and client stop operating on parallel tracks and start transmitting on the same frequency, where the static clears and the work finally gets honest. We dig into what attunement looks like in real time, including the subtle nonverbals that signal a client is about to drop into something more somatic and more true, then quickly pulls back to safer, scripted language. Scott shares why silence is not a trick, and why the coach has to “hold” long enough for the next, deeper signal to arrive. One line lands hard: when a client experiences presence they feel heard, but when coach and client are attuned the client feels found. Scott also brings research and field experience from high-stakes leadership, including special operations and emergency environments, where experts learn to read external cues so well that internal signals can get dampened to reduce noise. We connect that to executive coaching, intuition as accelerated cue matching, and why role transitions can expose bias in how leaders interpret new arenas. Finally, we challenge the standard coaching intake process and share a practical reframe: keep the form, then revisit it live with fresh wording so neither the client nor the coach can hide behind a script. If this conversation helps you coach with more depth, subscribe, share it with a coach friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about Scott here. Listener gift: Arena Attunement Intake (AAI), a 15-question conversational intake guide for coaches working with vocational and high-stakes leaders. It puts the article's approach into practice so coaches can hear all three layers from the first session. Link here. Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/
Oct 21

Episode 210: The Gift of Presence with guest, Aikyna Finch

Send us Fan Mail A coach can look present and still miss what matters. Garry Schleifer sits down with DEIB leader, educator, and PCC coach Dr. Aikyna Finch to get concrete about what coaching presence really is and what it is not. We dig into the difference between a calm “presence pose” and the active, grounded attention that tracks a client’s words, tone, pacing, body language, and meaning in real time. From there, we get practical about two tools many coaches underuse: silence and reflection. We talk about why humans rush to fill space, how breaking silence too early can disrupt a client’s transformational moment, and how to invite clients to play back their own learning so they can hear what changed. Along the way we touch somatic awareness, values-based questions, and the simple discipline of letting go of the brilliant question you planned when the client has already moved on. We also explore inclusive coaching through identity, culture, and context without reducing a person to a label. Dr. Finch shares how curiosity and humility sound in practice, including naming what you don’t know, asking how someone wants to be addressed, seeking permission to go deeper, and respecting a clear no. If you care about coaching mastery, psychological safety, DEIB, and client-centered outcomes, this conversation offers a grounded pause you can bring into your very next session. Subscribe for more, share this episode with a coach who needs it, and leave a review so more listeners can find Beyond the Page. Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about Aikyna here. Gift: The Coaching Presence Reflection Guide is a practical companion resource designed to help coaches strengthen how they show up before, during, and after a coaching conversation. Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/
Oct 14

Episode 209: The Loving Gaze with guest, Christi Byerly

Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to change might be the last thing most high-achievers want to hear: stop trying to fix yourself for a moment and let yourself be loved. We sit down with master certified coach and Awaken Coach Institute founder Christi Byerly to talk about her Choice Magazine article, “The Loving Gaze,” and the lived reality behind it: what happens when a coach meets a client in the now with compassion instead of performance. We unpack the Jung paradox, the tension between goal-focused coaching and the subtle message of “you aren’t enough yet.” Christi shares why resistance often shows up when we lean too hard on outcomes, and how returning to rapport, witnessing, and unconditional positive regard can make change feel almost effortless. We also talk about the pressure many coaches carry to be more healed than the people they serve, and how being imperfect, honest, and present can deepen trust rather than weaken it. You’ll hear a vivid origin story from Nairobi where three simple coaching questions created a breakthrough, plus a thoughtful look at spirituality in coaching, the difference between organized religion and spiritual direction, and why “presence” can be understood as a boundless awareness that holds both coach and client. If you’re searching for practical tools to strengthen coach presence, build a more trauma-informed coaching stance, and reconnect with the heart of professional coaching, this conversation is for you. Subscribe for more conversations with choice authors, share this episode with a coach friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what helps you feel truly seen? Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about Christi here. Gift: A 4-lesson journey that changes how you see yourself, your path and what's possible. Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/
Oct 7

Episode 208: The Presence Problem with guest, Gloria Custodio

Send us Fan Mail Your best coaching is not the moment you land the perfect question. It is the moment you stop performing and actually meet the person in front of you. Garry Schleifer sits down with social leadership coach Gloria Custodio to unpack what she calls “The Presence Problem” and why coaching presence is less a trait you have and more a practice you return to, over and over, in real time. We talk about the quiet ways coaches lose the room: over-preparing, clinging to frameworks, and running an internal scorecard while the client is still speaking. Gloria shares how self-monitoring can spike during the ICF credentialing process and recorded sessions, where “hitting markers” can feel rewarded even when it pulls you away from human connection. We also dig into the line between healthy self-awareness and the kind that turns the session into your show. Then we get practical. You will hear a story where one offhand comment about a client’s dad becomes the thread that opens a deeper, more valuable conversation about motivation and choice. Gloria offers simple tools you can use immediately, like taking a breath, pausing, and tracking after the session when your attention drifts, so you can rebuild trust in yourself and in the coaching relationship. If you care about better coaching conversations, executive coaching presence, and sustainable leadership, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a coach who needs the reminder, and leave a review so more listeners can find Beyond the Page. Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about Gloria here. Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/
Sep 30

Episode 207: Listen Beyond Words with guest, Cheryl Procter-Rogers

Send us Fan Mail Some clients say all the right things and still leave you with a quiet feeling that something is missing. That gap is where real coaching happens, and it starts with how you listen. We sit down with master certified executive coach Cheryl Procter-Rogers to unpack her core idea from choice Magazine: listening beyond words. Together, we walk through the three levels of listening, from tracking the story to hearing meaning to noticing the signals underneath the language. Cheryl shares what it looks like to coach with your entire body, how breath and pace can shift the quality of presence, and why restraint is often the most powerful move a coach can make when the urge to fix shows up. We also get practical about intuition in coaching. Instead of treating intuition like a verdict, we explore how to offer it with curiosity, invite the client to confirm or reject it, and protect psychological safety. Along the way, we talk about timing, well placed interruptions to surface patterns, and why leaders who listen deeply recognize misalignment faster and build trust more quickly in meetings and high stakes conversations. If you want stronger coaching skills, better leadership communication, and more effective deep listening, hit play. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts, share this episode with a coach or leader who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about Cheryl here. Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/
Sep 23

Episode 206: Deep Presence In Coaching with guest, Nancy Hauschildt

Send us Fan Mail You can be a technically solid coach and still feel that something is missing and your client can feel it too. That subtle gap is what we dig into with leadership and executive coach Nancy Hauschild, author of “The Observed and the Observer: Stripping Away the Layers to Find Your Deepest Presence,” from Choice Magazine’s theme on The Gift of Presence. We talk about the difference between the observed and the observer: the surface identities we can list on a resume versus the meta-awareness that can watch our thoughts, urges, and “coach persona” in real time. When the inner performer shows up as the fixer, the expert, or the relentlessly helpful coach, it can contaminate the conversation and quietly pull us out of true coaching presence. Nandi shares how noticing that impulse without acting on it changes how we listen, how we build trust, and how clients feel genuinely seen. From there, we reframe presence as transmission. It is not only what we think we bring to the session, but what the client actually receives from the quality of our attention. We unpack the “glass pane” phenomenon where a session can check all the ICF boxes but still feel disconnected, and we map three layers of presence: being with another, being with yourself, and creating an environment where deeper client insight becomes possible. Nandi also makes it clear that trauma is not the price of admission for depth; the real doorway is willingness to do your own work through curiosity, mentoring, and supervision. Listen through, try the five-minute presence exercise we link in the show notes, and then tell us what changed. If you found this helpful, subscribe, share the episode with a coach friend, and leave a review so more coaches can find it. Watch the full interview by clicking here. Read the full article here. Learn more about Nancy here. A Free Gift from Nancy: A one page reflective guide titled "How Present Are You, Really? A Five-Minute Self-Inquiry for Coaches" Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/

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choice Magazine is the vehicle that forwards the global conversation about professional coaching by providing: diverse perspectives, thought-provoking commentary, insightful discussion and access to services, tools, resources and practical information.

Creator

Garry Schleifer
Years Active

2022 - 2026
Episodes

213
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 choice Magazine
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choice Magazine

Self-Improvement

Self-Improvement

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