ABOUT NANCY JACOBY

My Story

I often thought about having my own coaching and consulting business. I never saw myself as an entrepreneur. I always found an excuse: an exciting new project to lead; or a promotion. I kept talking about it, and yet I never seemed to have time (or the guts) to just do it…

Until my hospital restructured and I was laid off. After a 25-year health care career, change was dumped into my lap. Friends were offering job descriptions from my old workplace. I could have gone back, as I was eligible for rehire. I even applied and interviewed for a role with colleagues who I absolutely adored and respected. Yet the thought of starting my own business kept nagging at me.

At the same time, faculty from the Gestalt International Study Center contacted me about their coaching certification program for the upcoming year. I was accepted into the application-based program the previous year, but could not enroll due to my work responsibilities. After reflection, I decided it was time to make my long-time dream a reality.

As they say, the rest is history. When sharing my story, the most common reaction has been, “Wow, you’ve really taken lemons and made lemonade!” True story.

People often ask why I’m so passionate about what I’m doing. I tell them it’s the privilege of being trusted by the individual, team, or organization to support them in achieving their goals and discovering their optimal potential through productive change, whether during a coaching session, or a consulting engagement.

Here are the specific areas I’m passionate about:

Process Improvement: This body of work is one of the most rewarding ways for me to spend my time. It involves breaking the mold, challenging old assumptions and sacred cows, and trying something bold.  I’m talking about broken processes here; where people get hurt, time is wasted, or employees do repetitive and duplicative work, stuck in a process that serves no one. I get jazzed helping people redesign their processes so they actually work.

Project Leadership: Projects thrive on structure and order, and I can create this environment for your project to achieve its optimal success.  Adept at organizing people and processes, we can bring joy and satisfaction back to large projects. I can take your toughest barriers and obstacles and help you break them down into baby steps and discover solutions and a way forward.

Change Management: Behind all resistance to change is usually fear.  Are you tired of fighting the resistance and fear in trying to get your team on board with needed changes? I love sitting down with the “resistors” and understanding what’s behind the aggression, the posturing, the stonewalling…you know the rest. My light is turned on when I get at the “why” behind the “no” and turn it into a yes so we can move forward. We can turn naysayers into champions and have fun and build lasting relationships doing it.  Let me show you how…

Leader Development: I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than facilitating and enabling the success of others. Through building leader development programs, I find great satisfaction in helping organizations create the runway for their people’s careers to take off. It is just so much fun to watch emerging leaders try on new skills and become interested and accountable for their own progress.

I’m excited to share this passion with individuals, teams, and organizations who want to operate at a higher level find themselves stalled. I have the experience and know-how to get you moving. Check out my Services page for more information.

I can help you. Contact me for more information or to discuss scope of work or to develop a proposal.