leadership coaching

life is change.

We’re constantly in-motion.

New seasons, new startups, new relationships — the things we plan for and the stuff we never saw coming. Leaders face the added vulnerability of running all the new routes with an audience looking on.

And practicing in public?
Well, it’s hard.

The temptation is to HIDE behind expertise— to build better skills. Nine times out of ten, It’s the wrong leadership move.

There’s a world of difference between technical skills and the power of true, adaptive leadership.

Inside of hard & messy places – sometimes even growth – it’s tempting to scramble for solutions in our own strength. We double-down on our own expertise. We over-assert our authority.

It’s nearly always the wrong leadership move.

Navigating broken systems…
Stepping courageously into calling…
Venturing deep into collaboration…

The gaps in these places are rarely about skill, expertise, or living into one’s own power.

The essence of good work in these places hinges on the health of our soul — our capacity for collaboration, sacrifice, and servant-hearted leadership. A call to curiosity at the expense of our own comfort. At times, forfeiting speed for patient endurance.

We don’t need another class. We don’t need another book. We need relentless curiosity, shame-free awareness, deep courage — and usually a helpful mirror or two.

We call this discovery process coaching — and we’ve never seen it not work.

When capable creatives decide to dig in – messy with the work of their own new awareness, system-improvement, relational growth — they find promise and untapped potential every time.

Your context is our curriculum. Your progress is our metric.

Working from a foundation of neuroscience and growth-mindset, we facilitate an action-driven discovery process, positioning you to gain fresh insights & test new routes. Then we support you in setting the right goals, building the right systems & growing healthy relationships — calibrating for growth where it matters most.

Unlocking this kind of potential is hard work, but the discoveries are real & the change is transformational.

Best of all: it’s yours.

Make a change, Book a call

IS COACHING FOR ME?

Do you struggle with issues rooted in your past, but impacting your current life? Do you wrestle with depression, anxiety, or addiction? Are you tangled up in a toxic relationship? Therapy is probably the best route for you.
Do you feel blocked in your relationship with God — struggling to find freedom or traction in your spiritual journey? Are you hungry to hear God’s voice in the context of your life? Spiritual Direction or Pastoral Care may be the best next step.
Do you have healthy foundations in place, but feel like you’ve lost your footing? Do you generally know how to move through change — but this time you’re stuck? Have you been haunted by the same performance issues or growth areas year after year? Are you making a vocational pivot or pursuing a dream? Are you hungry for honest mirrors & helpful insights so you can “close the gap” between who you are & who you want to be? Coaching could be just the thing.
It’s tricky, huh?! People often do mean different things when they talk about coaching…
The wide semantic range is confusing, at best. (At worst, it raises legitimate concerns — is this all a bunch of woo woo or a giant waste of time?!)
Perhaps it’s telling that even amidst such broad & amorphous language, the coaching industry continues to grow, with thousands who testify to the transformational power of coaching.
At Storyboard Coaching, we most often define coaching in simple + memorable terms:
Coaching is an action-driven discovery process.
Coaching equips leaders for embodied growth.
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) — the world’s largest organization of professional coaches — defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.
Brilliant!
The ICF has also established a standard of Core Competencies for coaches. They offer a number of pathways to formal accreditation — including partnership with the Neuroleadership Institute, the organization where JT received her formal training.
While formal accreditation can hold value, it must be named that some of the best coaches — like some of the best teachers & leaders — develop & refine their skills by other means.
We like the way Ron Heifetz understands leadership as an “activity” and think of coaching in much the same way.
We love the language Jason Jaggard uses in the context of his Executive Coaching. We can’t improve upon it, so we offer it here to you — alongside attribution and commendation of his coaching.
Coaching is NOT a fit if…
— You think it’s the coach’s job to tell you what to do.
— You’re doing this because someone else is paying for it and you don’t want to look bad by turning it down.
— You’re committed to being defensive during feedback.
— You blame your problems on external circumstances.
— You don’t want to get clear on what you want out of the coaching.
— You do not want to have a vision that requires you to grow to accomplish it.
— You are unwilling to be vulnerable and explore your weaknesses.
— You are not open to new ways of looking at a situation that you’re currently sure you’re right about.
— You are unwilling to experiment with new behaviors.
— You are unwilling to stay with new behaviors.
— You’re not willing to suffer for the results you want to create.
— You’re not excited about exploring generosity or leaving a positive impact in the world.
Three thoughts here …
1. It’s been clear from the start — the work we’re called to at Storyboard Coaching is fundamentally about YOU and YOUR STORY.
  
  Not coaching.
  Not JT as bizz leader.
  
  To say it another way, we can’t imagine this world without you & the brilliant story you’re writing.
  
  We believe you’ve been given unique gifts + burdens + hardships + beauty — storylines — that only you can bring to our wider world. And our lives are richer and more dimensional because of your story unfolding. The stakes couldn’t be higher: everyone & everything is better when you’re living in the fullness of you.
2. Ira Glass has said that great stories happen to those who can tell them. We think he’s right (of course). But good storytelling — especially one’s own — is deceptively difficult.
  
  The craft of storyboarding is one of the most powerful tools we can access inside of this creative work. The discipline supports writers in better understanding the essence, the crucial movements, the conflict + timing + pacing of a story.
  
  In storyboarding, a writer untangles a complicated + contingent narrative into a series of short + simple frames that unfold one-by one. In stripping a story down to these essentials, the core purpose and essential themes emerge with more clarity & precision. Not surprisingly, the work of storyboarding can shave months off of a production schedule or save producers thousands of dollars. (Let the reader understand.)
  
  Want a nerdy deep-dive? Here’s a peek at storyboarding alongside the Cohn Brothers or poke around here for more on storyboarding.
  
  In oh-so-many ways, coaching is to life what storyboarding is to production — the practical & profound work of honing in on essentials, then bringing creativity + rigor + and skill to serve the story at every turn.
3. Though Storyboard Coaching launched with just one full-time employee (Founder, JT), the work on-hand here is impossible apart from deep & ongoing collaboration. Coaching — like storytelling — is a team sport. From the coaches JT hires to the mastermind group she tires to the content-experts she taps for real-time resourcing, JT’s coaching is richer for the community she brings alongside. And, of course, that’s only the start!
  
  The bravest & best collaboration unfolds as clients tap into their broader community — beginning with the coaching space itself, then onto existing stakeholders, and (soon enough!) engaging new partners + friends. Coaching reminds us that relationships are still the fulcrum on which powerful transformation hinges — and any good story depends on collaboration of this sort.
  
  We love that storyboards — from their earliest inception — positioned teams of people to create & share ideas that were bigger than themselves. (And, in the end, how could we resist a wink & smile to our beloved KC, where Walt Disney himself — headlong the first storyboards ever — was busy with the work of his own brave storytelling.)
Storyboard Clients routinely experience personal & professional growth, including…
— More clarity about the challenges & opportunities they’re navigating.
— Traction & goal-achievement NOT possible apart from radical candor & fearless coaching.
— Progress in hard change. (Change that’s not just incremental or additive, but paradigmatic and operational — brand new ways of thinking, being, and leading.)
— More capacity to bring a full + integrated “self” into into every part of leadership and life.
— Clear-eyed vision around hard realities (no pretending) + hope-filled leadership (no manipulating).
— Better skills in design-thinking and increased capacity to “build through” hard decisions and difficult realities.
— Insights & break throughs that ripple across projects, profits, team, family, and various life domains.
— Quicker recognition of fear, shame, and anger, alongside resilience, when these threaten to hijack goals & plans.
— Traction & support in next steps that compound to culminate in powerful outcomes.
Storyboard Coaching works with our clients on a retainer basis — usually 6, 9, or 12 months at a time, providing 2-3 sessions (120 minutes of coaching) each month + unlimited access to spot calls and personal support.
As we begin our coaching relationship together, we bring a structured approach to co-create compelling goals AND a correlating action plan — giving our clients a sense of the stages & steps up ahead.
Of course, there are limits to defining our approach up-front, since much of our work is “emergent” — work that rises afresh alongside real-time actions + discoveries inside of complex, interdependent systems.
After the initial scope & sequence — defining our work up-front — we move into a cadence of “Traction” and “Discovery” sessions…
Traction Sessions: action-steps + active learning = implementation
Discovery Sessions: interruptions + missteps + contextual hotspots = recalibration
Our Traction + Discovery cadence is organic — determined by each client and the content & context s/he brings to each session. We take seriously our role in powerful + guided facilitation, but our clients are always in the driver’s seat.
Our coaching relationship is designed to serve our clients week by week, equpping them to…
— Consider the most helpful questions
— Commit to the most effective actions
Our contract rates vary, depending on project timeline, individual/team coaching, and required support. Rest assured that we believe there’s no resource more precious than our clients’ time, energy, attention, courage, & finances and we honor these — alongside you — as a sacred stewardship.
JT’s credentials include:
— BA Psychology + Business Administration Minor from Pittsburg State University
—MDiv from Trinity International University
—Brainbased Coaching Certificate from the NeuroLeadership Institute
After graduating from Pittsburg State University in 1997 with her undergraduate degree, JT spent 5 years in the KC metro, working with youth & families (YouthFront). In 2002, she moved to Chicago for her graduate degree program (2002-2005). After completing that program, JT returned to KC to step into full-time pastoral work, focusing on global partnerships & local community development. JT left her pastoral role in 2016 to join the team at HOPE International, launching a new partner + donor base. She spent the next five years cultivating a nascent region, growing donor-revenue from less than $15k to nearly $1.5 mill.
Tho JT has coached her entire vocational life, she began to train in earnest and take on formal clients in 2019, transitioning to full-time coaching in 2021, with the launch of Storyboard Coaching.
A peek at past projects…
HOPE in the Heartland — Album Recap
Sermon — Matthew 11
Video — Deuteronomy/Joshua
Video — Nehemiah/Job
Video — Isaiah/Jeremiah
Video — Zephania/Malachi/Luke
Video — Acts