In this episode of The Coaching Edge Podcast, hosts Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave sit down with Suzi Pomerantz, MCC and CEO of Innovative Leadership International, to unpack her 32-year entrepreneurial journey—from launching her firm in 1993 to coaching senior leaders across industries and continents. Suzi shares how she turned early ignorance into an asset with the help of a coach, reframed debt as tuition, and learned the disciplines of sales, systems, and client retention.

Her core message: “Hope is not a strategy.” Treat coaching as a business—especially if you serve leaders inside organizations—by taking consistent, intentional action and being ready to pivot. Suzi introduces her practical “hats method” for role clarity (CEO, coach, CFO, sales, even “janitor”) and time allocation. The conversation explores AI’s promise and pitfalls: why it offers cognitive empathy but can’t replace the human presence, heart, and soul that create coaching “magic.” Suzi also stresses integrity in the profession: coaches need coaches, too.

Watch the full episode here: https://thecoachingedgepodcast.com/from-hope-to-strategy-suzi-pomerantz-on-treating-coaching-like-a-business/

In this episode of The Coaching Edge Podcast, co-hosts Dr. Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave sit down with Daniela Dragomir—former Big Four consultant, actor, and now executive coach—to explore the Energy Leadership framework that helped her transform a decades-long rift with her mother and reshape how leaders show up at work. Daniela maps the journey from fear and survival (Levels 1–2) to compassion and co-creation (Levels 4–5), explains the awareness → acceptance → choice sequence, and shows why practices like fitness and meditation only truly serve us when they come from an integrated sense of being, not compensation.

A standout twist: Daniela brings puppets to leadership coaching—“Alvin” for Level 1 and “Vic” for Level 5—making heavy emotions visible, memorable, and safe to work with. The conversation dives into navigating toxic cultures, holding your state when rooms run on conflict, and inviting others to entrain to higher energy by modeling it, not controlling it.

Watch the full episode here: https://thecoachingedgepodcast.com/from-survival-to-choice-daniela-dragomirs-energy-leadership-with-puppets/

In this episode of The Coaching Edge Podcast, hosts Erwin de Grave and Dr. Steve Jeffs sit down with executive coach and author Sabina Nawaz to explore why leadership fails under strain—and how to fix it. Drawing on 12,000+ pages of verbatim 360° feedback and her new book You’re the Boss (Simon & Schuster, 2025), Sabina argues that pressure—not power—corrupts leaders. She introduces two deceptively simple antidotes: Blank Space (scheduled time to do “nothing” so insight can surface) and micro habits (behaviors so small they’re almost laughable—think one mindful breath a day). The conversation ranges from C-suite structure and pre-game rituals to practicing calm under low stakes so it’s available when it counts. Practical, contrarian, and deeply humane.

Watch the full episode here: https://thecoachingedgepodcast.com/its-not-power-that-corruptsits-pressure-sabina-nawaz-on-micro-habits-and-blank-space/