“John has supported me professionally since June 2019 as an executive coach over the course of several years in two different schools. John’s coaching and mentorship has been highly effective and essential to my success as a school leader.
As a coach, John provided invaluable support to me during my transition to a new, interim head of school position. Being a new head of school is challenging in normal times, and John’s mentorship was even more instrumental to my success during the beginning stages of the Covid pandemic. Since I fulfilled my role as an interim head in one school, John has supported me in transitioning as a new fulltime permanent head in another school.
John's ability to listen and quickly understand the situations and challenges I experience, coupled with thoughtful questions, has assisted me in planning and achieving several key milestones within my school. As my experience grew from a new head to one with a few more years of experience, John’s working relationship with me has shifted appropriately from a more one-directional coach and mentor to one of equals participating in shared thinking. He has provided a critical sounding board for my ideas and helped me develop my own leadership capacity. I can say with confidence that I would not have been as successful without his guidance.
In additional to coaching, John has provided valuable support to me in two schools through governance training, supporting mission development, developing and refining strategic plans, and providing teambuilding and leadership development for our Senior Leadership team. He has been as skilled and helpful in these areas as he has been in coaching.”
- Sean Areias, International School Head
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“John and I worked together in a coaching capacity during a time of professional transition. Through listening and questioning, John helped me clarify my own values and aspirations as an educational leader as I embarked on a targeted job search. In addition to the job search, we had rich conversations on critical issues such as building organizational culture, generative school governance, strategic thinking/planning, and long term financial and facilities planning. I appreciated John’s probing questions and his ability to encourage me to think about my own thinking before taking decisions. I also benefited from John’s ability to draw upon his own experiences as an accomplished educational leader and provide goal-referenced and targeted feedback when requested”
-- Tom Pado, International School Head
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Recently the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA) made the decision to support our school leaders through the development of a coaching programme. In order for me to fully understand the process I joined Charlene Roberts in a series of executive coaching sessions over several months. With Charlene’s integrity and skilled approach to coaching, I immediately began to see the benefits of my own leadership challenges at AISA. By helping me identify clear goals and focusing my thinking towards a holistic and systemic approach to decision making, my sessions with Charlene were undoubtedly beneficial."
- Dr. Peter Bateman, Executive Director
Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Following a very dark and difficult time in my life, I finally reached out to John for help. He listened carefully, and with his coaching acumen, firmness, and unconditional compassion expertly guided me in creating a personal mission and vision that enabled me to get out of the muck I was in. Through our many hours together I regained my confidence, prioritized what was important in my life both personally and professionally, and re-set my moral compass. He forced me to think deeply, honestly reflect, and kept me laser-focused on pushing through to the other side. My coaching sessions with John changed my life and got my head and heart back in harmony allowing me to appreciate, in a new light, the beauty of my life journey."
- Doug Musco, School Leader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Working with John was an invaluable professional experience. He helped me to examine several aspects of my leadership and generate detailed action plans that improved my effectiveness. Having led large organizations himself, he knew just the kinds of questions to ask that pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me to grow as a leader. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to move their leadership to the next level.”
--Russell Menard, School Director
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Charlene's approach to executive coaching that blends wellness and leadership development was exactly what I needed at a time of professional challenge and growth. I am fortunate to have her by my side and have gained a great deal from her excellent insight and counsel, usually delivered through a blend of probing questions and positive reinforcement. She helps you see the forest through the trees and remain focused on building leadership capacity within yourself and your teams."
- Warren Buford, School Administrator
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I worked with John in a coaching capacity during a time of professional transition. I found our conversations to be helpful, somewhat cathartic, and also 'centering'. John's wisdom and his experience in the field of educational and organizational leadership certainly enriched our conversations. His warmth and sincerity allowed for talking through tough issues with a sense of compassion and understanding. I would recommend working with John to anyone seeking a deep and true sounding board for professional and career-related issues."
-Wayne Rutherford, School Director
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Charlene Roberts is a natural coach and facilitator. She is patient, intuitive, amazingly resourceful and creative. Charlene was quickly able to assess my situation and helped me to make a few small changes that helped me grow as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and colleague. Not only did Charlene help me to get “unstuck” at work and home, but she also helped me move past a negative mental rut that was affecting nearly every aspect of my life. Charlene’s coaching skills were phenomenal, and helped me to identify and focus on the most important aspects of my life while facing the fears that held me back for so many years.”
- Ms. Pamela Pappas, Communications Manager
International School of Kenya
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The coaching sessions I completed with John were some of the most significant and valuable reflection that I have done in my adult life. John's warm demeanor and his thoughtful guidance through structured exercises made deep introspection very approachable and highly insightful. I can confidently say that the sessions I did with John had a hugely positive impact on how I think about relationships and has helped me identify future opportunities that are aligned with my values, interests and life goals.”
- Matt Beckstead, Software Designer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I am so grateful for the guidance, support and compassion that I received from Charlene through her wellness coaching. She posed thoughtful, probing questions, freeing me to discover fresh and creative solutions. This reframing enabled me to move forward with courage and confidence, and I continue to refer to the notes from that experience to this day. I would not hesitate to recommend Charlene as your partner on the path to transformation.”
- Judy Look, College Administrator
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“John and I worked together in a coaching capacity during a time of professional transition. Through listening and questioning, John helped me clarify my own values and aspirations as an educational leader as I embarked on a targeted job search. In addition to the job search, we had rich conversations on critical issues such as building organizational culture, generative school governance, strategic thinking/planning, and long term financial and facilities planning. I appreciated John’s probing questions and his ability to encourage me to think about my own thinking before taking decisions. I also benefited from John’s ability to draw upon his own experiences as an accomplished educational leader and provide goal-referenced and targeted feedback when requested”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I worked with John for several months and our conversations were transparent and open-ended. I found our conversations to be fruitful and non-judgemental. I also found John to be a reliable partner who helped me view situations from a different framework. I look forward to working with John in the future.”
- Bradley Bell, School Director
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“John facilitates conversations where you are able to take apart your thoughts and then reconstitute them in a way that deepens your understanding. I was able to develop alternative pathways towards solutions and articulate various insights that might better support preferred outcomes.”
- David Henry, School Director
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Last week I sent out a survey to find out more about the Board Committee structure at your schools. I received 65 responses… A detailed and very useful response was provided by John Roberts. Our Board met last week and all agreed that the advice provided by John made a great deal of sense and we have formally adopted his suggestions (Finance Committee, Governance Committee + Strategic Working Groups created in response to specific objectives with clear deliverables and time frames, as and when required).”
- Simon McCloskey, School Director (in a message to AISHnet)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What makes John an outstanding coach is that he has this remarkable ability to ask exactly the right questions to elicit deep self-reflection leading to positive change. The interaction with John was about identifying my strengths and achievements and becoming more self-aware. Through his unique coaching style, I had to work through the answers on my own and his coaching has made me a more grounded person and a proficient leader. He has given me the confidence to accept transition and move forward with my like. I highly recommend him as a personal coach.”
- Pierina Redler, Service Learning Leader
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear John,
“I am writing to thank you for the work that you did with the International School of Uganda Board back in May of this year. As the incoming Head of School, I appreciated you working with both my predecessor and me and the new Board to help train the Board in their role and their responsibilities. You dealt with the many issues that were raised very calmly, reworked your plan many times and gave a lot of great advice. We have not had a Board meeting or a committee meeting where one of the Board members hasn’t said something like, ‘Remember what John said, we should .....’. I hope they keep on remembering your words of wisdom so we can continue moving forward.”
- Caroline Jacoby, School Director
As a coach, John provided invaluable support to me during my transition to a new, interim head of school position. Being a new head of school is challenging in normal times, and John’s mentorship was even more instrumental to my success during the beginning stages of the Covid pandemic. Since I fulfilled my role as an interim head in one school, John has supported me in transitioning as a new fulltime permanent head in another school.
John's ability to listen and quickly understand the situations and challenges I experience, coupled with thoughtful questions, has assisted me in planning and achieving several key milestones within my school. As my experience grew from a new head to one with a few more years of experience, John’s working relationship with me has shifted appropriately from a more one-directional coach and mentor to one of equals participating in shared thinking. He has provided a critical sounding board for my ideas and helped me develop my own leadership capacity. I can say with confidence that I would not have been as successful without his guidance.
In additional to coaching, John has provided valuable support to me in two schools through governance training, supporting mission development, developing and refining strategic plans, and providing teambuilding and leadership development for our Senior Leadership team. He has been as skilled and helpful in these areas as he has been in coaching.”
- Sean Areias, International School Head
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“John and I worked together in a coaching capacity during a time of professional transition. Through listening and questioning, John helped me clarify my own values and aspirations as an educational leader as I embarked on a targeted job search. In addition to the job search, we had rich conversations on critical issues such as building organizational culture, generative school governance, strategic thinking/planning, and long term financial and facilities planning. I appreciated John’s probing questions and his ability to encourage me to think about my own thinking before taking decisions. I also benefited from John’s ability to draw upon his own experiences as an accomplished educational leader and provide goal-referenced and targeted feedback when requested”
-- Tom Pado, International School Head
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Recently the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA) made the decision to support our school leaders through the development of a coaching programme. In order for me to fully understand the process I joined Charlene Roberts in a series of executive coaching sessions over several months. With Charlene’s integrity and skilled approach to coaching, I immediately began to see the benefits of my own leadership challenges at AISA. By helping me identify clear goals and focusing my thinking towards a holistic and systemic approach to decision making, my sessions with Charlene were undoubtedly beneficial."
- Dr. Peter Bateman, Executive Director
Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Following a very dark and difficult time in my life, I finally reached out to John for help. He listened carefully, and with his coaching acumen, firmness, and unconditional compassion expertly guided me in creating a personal mission and vision that enabled me to get out of the muck I was in. Through our many hours together I regained my confidence, prioritized what was important in my life both personally and professionally, and re-set my moral compass. He forced me to think deeply, honestly reflect, and kept me laser-focused on pushing through to the other side. My coaching sessions with John changed my life and got my head and heart back in harmony allowing me to appreciate, in a new light, the beauty of my life journey."
- Doug Musco, School Leader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Working with John was an invaluable professional experience. He helped me to examine several aspects of my leadership and generate detailed action plans that improved my effectiveness. Having led large organizations himself, he knew just the kinds of questions to ask that pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me to grow as a leader. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to move their leadership to the next level.”
--Russell Menard, School Director
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Charlene's approach to executive coaching that blends wellness and leadership development was exactly what I needed at a time of professional challenge and growth. I am fortunate to have her by my side and have gained a great deal from her excellent insight and counsel, usually delivered through a blend of probing questions and positive reinforcement. She helps you see the forest through the trees and remain focused on building leadership capacity within yourself and your teams."
- Warren Buford, School Administrator
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I worked with John in a coaching capacity during a time of professional transition. I found our conversations to be helpful, somewhat cathartic, and also 'centering'. John's wisdom and his experience in the field of educational and organizational leadership certainly enriched our conversations. His warmth and sincerity allowed for talking through tough issues with a sense of compassion and understanding. I would recommend working with John to anyone seeking a deep and true sounding board for professional and career-related issues."
-Wayne Rutherford, School Director
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Charlene Roberts is a natural coach and facilitator. She is patient, intuitive, amazingly resourceful and creative. Charlene was quickly able to assess my situation and helped me to make a few small changes that helped me grow as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and colleague. Not only did Charlene help me to get “unstuck” at work and home, but she also helped me move past a negative mental rut that was affecting nearly every aspect of my life. Charlene’s coaching skills were phenomenal, and helped me to identify and focus on the most important aspects of my life while facing the fears that held me back for so many years.”
- Ms. Pamela Pappas, Communications Manager
International School of Kenya
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The coaching sessions I completed with John were some of the most significant and valuable reflection that I have done in my adult life. John's warm demeanor and his thoughtful guidance through structured exercises made deep introspection very approachable and highly insightful. I can confidently say that the sessions I did with John had a hugely positive impact on how I think about relationships and has helped me identify future opportunities that are aligned with my values, interests and life goals.”
- Matt Beckstead, Software Designer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I am so grateful for the guidance, support and compassion that I received from Charlene through her wellness coaching. She posed thoughtful, probing questions, freeing me to discover fresh and creative solutions. This reframing enabled me to move forward with courage and confidence, and I continue to refer to the notes from that experience to this day. I would not hesitate to recommend Charlene as your partner on the path to transformation.”
- Judy Look, College Administrator
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“John and I worked together in a coaching capacity during a time of professional transition. Through listening and questioning, John helped me clarify my own values and aspirations as an educational leader as I embarked on a targeted job search. In addition to the job search, we had rich conversations on critical issues such as building organizational culture, generative school governance, strategic thinking/planning, and long term financial and facilities planning. I appreciated John’s probing questions and his ability to encourage me to think about my own thinking before taking decisions. I also benefited from John’s ability to draw upon his own experiences as an accomplished educational leader and provide goal-referenced and targeted feedback when requested”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I worked with John for several months and our conversations were transparent and open-ended. I found our conversations to be fruitful and non-judgemental. I also found John to be a reliable partner who helped me view situations from a different framework. I look forward to working with John in the future.”
- Bradley Bell, School Director
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“John facilitates conversations where you are able to take apart your thoughts and then reconstitute them in a way that deepens your understanding. I was able to develop alternative pathways towards solutions and articulate various insights that might better support preferred outcomes.”
- David Henry, School Director
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Last week I sent out a survey to find out more about the Board Committee structure at your schools. I received 65 responses… A detailed and very useful response was provided by John Roberts. Our Board met last week and all agreed that the advice provided by John made a great deal of sense and we have formally adopted his suggestions (Finance Committee, Governance Committee + Strategic Working Groups created in response to specific objectives with clear deliverables and time frames, as and when required).”
- Simon McCloskey, School Director (in a message to AISHnet)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What makes John an outstanding coach is that he has this remarkable ability to ask exactly the right questions to elicit deep self-reflection leading to positive change. The interaction with John was about identifying my strengths and achievements and becoming more self-aware. Through his unique coaching style, I had to work through the answers on my own and his coaching has made me a more grounded person and a proficient leader. He has given me the confidence to accept transition and move forward with my like. I highly recommend him as a personal coach.”
- Pierina Redler, Service Learning Leader
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear John,
“I am writing to thank you for the work that you did with the International School of Uganda Board back in May of this year. As the incoming Head of School, I appreciated you working with both my predecessor and me and the new Board to help train the Board in their role and their responsibilities. You dealt with the many issues that were raised very calmly, reworked your plan many times and gave a lot of great advice. We have not had a Board meeting or a committee meeting where one of the Board members hasn’t said something like, ‘Remember what John said, we should .....’. I hope they keep on remembering your words of wisdom so we can continue moving forward.”
- Caroline Jacoby, School Director