CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
I had an opportunity to work with Linda as part of my manager’s leadership team for group recruiting exercises. I felt that we would be very compatible. I will give myself credit for having that great insight! My objectives in working with Linda were both professional and personal.
I had many challenges given the environment that I encountered, besides moving across the country. The work dynamic created significant challenges for me during a long assimilation period. The organizational culture was extremely different than the one I’d left and within which I had thrived for well over a decade. There were major leadership changes; I joined in the new organization in the 4th quarter of 2013. Then the longstanding manager was transferred in 2015. Beyond those challenges, many of my financial advisors harbored very negative attitudes given their significant number of changes over the prior 2 years.
I narrowed my coaching goals to a couple of areas where I could make a big impact. Professionally, I wanted to create some sorely lacking systems and processes that would allow me to effectively accomplish my goal short list; i) meet my metrics, ii) improve the culture and morale of the office, and iii) usher in a new era with me as their sole leader. My personal goal was to create more “me time” to allow myself the ability to recharge and be a better version of myself than I had been since joining the organization.
I definitely gained considerable perspective in my journey with Linda. I created a top 10 list of the most important things I MUST do each day to improve my effectiveness amidst a hectic environment. I also began a program to retrain my advisors to respect time blocked for conference calls and appointments (wait their turn rather than barge into my office and start talking about their needs). I undertook a challenge to help my leadership team better understand the concept of shared responsibility and distrust amongst our team that was causing some dysfunction within our team and reducing our effectiveness. We read 5 Dysfunctions of a Team and it didn’t’ help! In my personal life, I carved out work-free weekends and gave myself permission to stop working after I left the office (no more calls or emails once I arrived home at 8:30 p.m.). I’ve begun the process of treating myself better by joining Massage Envy for a monthly massage and seeking 2 nights a week of activity that will get me out of the office before 8:30.
When I started to work with Linda I knew I was ready for something more, and needed the help to get there. I wanted to take my business to the million dollar producer level and knew I needed to create a business model that would provide sustainable growth.
I heard Linda speak at a conference and knew then I needed to work with her. Her energetic style and long list of accomplishments came across during her presentation and motivated me into action. Her customized approach to coaching has helped me focus on my strengths, set realistic goals and keeps me accountable. In the last year my business is 30% over the previous year, I am more confident and recognize and embrace my talents and abilities to create a business that resonates with who I am. I’m looking forward to reaching the million dollar producer level with Linda’s support and help.
When I hired Linda I wanted to become a better leader to my team, feel deserving of being the CEO and all the benefits that come with that as opposed to feeling guilty and be able to learn to enjoy the journey.
I wanted to learn how to better communicate difficult messages to both team members and clients. I felt Linda and I were similar in so many ways, yet she was years ahead of me. I knew I could benefit from “If I only knew then what I know now” and “what would I tell my younger self”, meaning I could use her wisdom and years of experience and apply it to my life today as opposed to stumbling along and learning for myself over a much longer period of time.
The biggest take away I have had was learning how to not take so much responsibility for others’ decisions….I have learned to better communicate the options and let others make their own decisions and live with their own consequences. This has helped me to be the best leader I can be which therefore has help to grow our business by 13% over the last year, when the national average for advisors was 6-7%, continue to acquire 20+ new clients a year and had net flows of over $20M this past year. I would consider myself I pretty good communicator in general, but this just took me to a whole new level in which I would have never been able to achieve without Linda’s insight, experience and coaching.
Linda was referred to me by a trusted advisor. Linda worked directly with several members of the team. The overall goal was to increase revenue and activity of the team members.
One of the team members was not producing as effectively as I knew he could and I needed to get him producing. Within 3 months of working with Linda he was closing deals and his confidence increased tremendously. Another long time team member was also struggling. Within 3 months of working with Linda his activity increased and he was back to closing deals and has stayed focused and consistent.
Linda is the best of both worlds in that she understands revenue pipeline management as well as running an organization day to day. The fact that she came from our industry and had built her own firm was a big asset.rt and help.
Our center was started with myself and another partner that each owned 50% of the business. After a number of years it became clear that we needed to adjust our partnership arrangement.
Additionally we had internal communication problems that were slowing our growth. We hired Linda because she is a specialist in working with partnerships and we felt we needed that expertise.
After working with Linda for about 6 months we were able to come to an agreement on how we would change our partnership contract, and the change in role within the center my partner would have. During this time we realized that in addition to the internal communication challenges we needed additional support staff and Linda helped my partner and I come to terms on this. We also worked on messaging we would use to discuss the changes with staff, clients and colleagues to ensure an easy and smooth transition. Linda helped us learn to communicate in a way that was effective and encouraged all staff to communicate openly but also in such a way that people became more responsible and accountable.
I had recently been promoted to a Director position, and was looking for guidance in stepping into that role, and continuing on a path of professional growth.
My objectives were to improve my leadership abilities, learn to effectively hold others accountable, learn to look at the company as a whole, vs. just my department, and contribute to the direction and success of the company as a whole.
In addition to stepping into the promotion to Director, there were also major changes in the organization at that time. Linda helped me navigate the landscape in a professional and effective way. Her guidance gave me the tools to stay centered and remain focused. In addition to the internal organizational changes, a couple of my largest accounts had been struggling, resulting in loss of business for all of their major partners. While working with Linda, I was able to increase my overall sales in the face of those major challenges. I believe that my work with Linda has elevated me as a professional, providing me sustainable skills and abilities to continue to escalate my career.
As a woman who is striving to be successful in business, I was drawn to Linda as an example of a strong, successful, and confident woman who had a lot of experiences to pull from. Further, her style of communication is straightforward, easy, and open. I spoke with 3 or 4 coaches, and the choice was quick and easy.
Linda Finkle is incredibly insightful, thought-provoking and genuinely helpful. She combines strong listening skills with very practical and compelling business judgement.
Linda’s coaching has been instrumental in identifying and developing critical success factors in key senior leaders. Most importantly, Linda cares deeply about her professional relationships. She is certainly interested in success, but more importantly she is unequivocally committed to doing what is right. We place enormous value on our relationship with Linda and know that together we will share many future successes.
I had known Linda for over 10 years so when I decided I needed to learn how to communicate more effectively, with my direct reports and my boss she was the logical choice.
I wanted to know where and how communication was failing and intervene before it caused major problems. And I wanted to learn how to prevent communication challenges in the future.
I learned in working with Linda, how to think more effectively – very tangible – before communicating. In addition we needed better customer service communications. Ours was outdated and needed a more sophisticated approach, and we had several mid-level managers stuck in routines that were less and less effective for the organization.
Linda assessed our customer service area, created new effective scripts for dealing with customer calls, developed assessments for team members to place them in the best positions and pointed to other changes needed to be successful. Because of her success I engaged Linda to specifically work with 3 additional managers to make them more effective leaders. She holds people accountable and you’ll find yourself working at the improvements so as not to disappoint her. You’ll find her tough but easy to work with. Linda makes you want to get and be better.
When we hired Linda we wanted to develop two of our managers’ communication skills to prepare them for the C-Suite. We wanted to put concrete deliverables into action such that learning could be applied in real time.
Working with Linda our managers not only had the opportunity to bat above their class, but improved their communication skills across the board and clarified and refined their developmental goals.
Linda was recommended from a longtime colleague in employee relations that I trust. After speaking with her and several other, she was the clear choice. A strong coach who insists on establishing measurable outcomes. Compassionate but direct, time with Linda is well spent.
The James Irvine Foundation
As part of management team building, we believed that improved communications could greatly enhance our management team’s ability to execute.
We hired Incedo Group to help us understand how we could better communicate with the varying management styles. After just two management team building sessions with Linda Finkle, we have learned tools and techniques that we are employing every day. Other employees are adopting these behaviors so that overall communications in the company has been enhanced!
www.unanet.com
We initially engaged Linda to help make a successful transition off of our current team at the time and form a new team of our own. In preparation for this transition, she helped us develop our new team structure and roles by diving into our SWOT analysis, business plan and goals.
We worked through the conversations we would have with management, current team members, our clients, and potential new hires. As a result of our work with Linda, we were well prepared for the conversations, kept 100% of our clients, and hired a new assistant. During this time, we had to stay focused on our metrics for the business and meet our goals, which Linda ensured we did.
We interviewed several coaches and scheduled those calls back-to-back. Upon completion of the calls but before having a thorough debriefing conversation with each other, we each had Linda at the top of our list.
Sonja: “During our interview call, she kind of scared us. I felt that she would definitely be able to hold us accountable.”
Blake: “Linda has great rapport and is very relationship-focused.”
These were the initial reasons we hired Linda, but they still hold true today. The combination of these has led to an amazing relationship that neither of us would give up for the world. We continue to work with Linda to help us take our business to the next level.
Linda Finkle has created a valuable resource for anyone considering or navigating a business partnership. Finding the Fork in the Road is full of information and checklists that will help you avoid and/or resolve problems on your road to success.
We hired Linda to speak at our annual Women in Finance event with the theme this year on Professional Presence when Linda discussed negotiating skills for women. Linda was easy to work with from our first interaction.
She clearly knew the topic and customized it to our audience. One of our members said “The negotiation’s presentation was perfect, as I learned a lot and have already shared it with my assistant, husband, and few friends who already have learned something from you too!” The presentation was productive and informative and Linda was an engaging speaker. If you are looking for an inspired, motivated speaker then Linda would be an excellent choice.
I have been working with Ms. Linda Finkle for about 3 months and all I can say is WOW!! In my role as an HR Director for the Federal Government, I am often faced with challenging and difficult situations on a daily basis. Linda has provided me with the tools, and real life options needed to deal with these challenges.
Linda has a fresh, no nonsense approach that is helpful and informative. She doesn’t necessarily provide answers but she provides perspective which helps you find the right solutions to most situations. Her approaches to communication and the nuances involved are invaluable and useful not just in my professional life but my personal life as well. Having Linda as my executive coach is definitely improving me and the results are noticeable. So if you have the chance to work with Linda you will not be sorry!!!
Second generation partnerships are very hard to maintain successfully. Family 2nd generation businesses are next to impossible to maintain.
I grew up in one and left 10 years before it closed. I now have one myself with the added dynamics of a step-son. After 8 difficult years, I sought outside help, first for myself and later for both of us. Linda Finkle helped me focus on my needs within the business and assisted me in developing a plan to make the business function smoothly. From my experience, it was vital to have the assistance of third parties, without an interest in either the family or the business, to make the business both personally and financially successful.
When I initially hired Linda it was to help me get through finishing my Master’s degree. I knew I had to invest the time to write my thesis and defend it to receive my Masters and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through it alone.
Since working with her I got my Master’s degree, three new jobs including a promotion into management, navigated my job being eliminated,moved to New York city and back again, went through the transition of my mother’s death, my dog’s death, the adoption of my next dog and everything in between.
When I was ready to hire a coach spoke to two and felt like I was going to get the most tangible results working with Linda. It just felt right and I went with it, and it was absolutely the right decision. It’s staggering to think of the things Linda has been through with me and has helped me to transition into, over the years.
When we started working together I’m not sure I ever really believed I could get my Master’s degree written and defended. I hoped I could, but I don’t think I really believed I could do it – but I did. I could say the same thing over and over throughout the 10+ years we’ve worked together. There have been many times when I thought, I’m not sure there’s anything I can talk about today or that Linda will really be able to help me sort through, and it never fails, she always does and I always am surprised by what I get out of our discussions.
I’m not sure how I could’ve achieved the things I have, or how I would’ve gotten through all of the transitions in my life, without Linda’s support. She really is a ‘coach’ – in every sense of the word. Someone to be there, to help support me, to remind me of who I am and what I’m made of, usually when I can’t see it myself. She’s my coach and I’m so grateful to have her in my life. She’s an amazing gift, for those that really want to transform their lives. She won’t do it for you, but she’ll be there with you – walking right beside you – until you get where you’re supposed to be. Thank you Linda Finkle for being my coach and a true gift in my life.
After working with Linda as our Business Consultant and Strategic Planning Coach my partner and I both have a better understanding of what our most effective roles are in the company.
It has made a substantial difference in the way we interact on various issues that come up as we now have a better road map of where we want to go and the best route to get there. Our interaction with our employees has also changed as a result of our work with Linda. We now delegate many of the tasks we previously micromanaged thus giving them a chance to grow which has created a more satisfying work environment.
Linda has adopted Coaching effectively in her sales process.
She has integrated ICF Coaching Core Competencies and sales process, and created a powerful program to be a successful salesperson. By attending this program, coaches will understand and be aware of the skills they already have and utilize them to be more successful in their sales activities.
My partner and I had reached a critical juncture in our working relationship – at odds with one another on management styles, assessments of our current market position, and corporate goals for growth and success.
Linda Finkle’s expert leadership enabled us to understand our individual strengths, assess our challenges, communicate more effectively, and change our mindsets to embrace a new way of looking at our partnership’s future, ultimately empowering us to make the critical decision to dissolve the partnership.
Although some may view such a dissolution as a negative, for us it was a win/win – not only resulting in a better understanding of our individual assets and professional relationship and a more viable and productive business model; but, a new way of embracing our fears, optimizing our energy, and creating opportunities for success.
As a small entrepreneurial firm, building a strong team culture has always been a critical component in our recruitment process.
We currently have a great team in place and were looking for a way to capture common traits among our team members as well as provide an opportunity for our team to learn about themselves as individuals as well as how we can work better together while recognizing and respecting our various personality traits.
After my initial conversations with Linda, I felt she had a full understanding of where we were as a firm and what we were looking to accomplish. We engaged Linda to administer the ProScan assessment to our team and she facilitated discussions and break out sessions in our office.
The ProScan results were enlightening, however, Linda’s experience as an entrepreneur combined with her background in recruiting provided a deeper insight which was much appreciated. She also provided relatable examples to further our understanding and help us learn about ourselves.
Linda is sharp and witty and clearly has a passion for understanding and helping people. Her enthusiasm is contagious and her humor and ability to speak her mind while making people feel at ease is a gift.
Our experience with Linda has been spectacular. We were referred to her in a time of distress from a corporate perspective as well as that of partnership difficulties, and we credit her advise and guidance with the commencement of the turnaround process.
She has an incredible gift that allows her to see the big picture and relate to both my business partner and I in ways in which we best respond individually. As a corporation owned entirely by my brother and I – 50/50 – we many times need a mediator.
Linda not only provides us with a process to discover the answer within ourselves, but also challenges us to be better together, as a unit. We are excited about the potential ahead, as business partners, brothers, and friends.ship and a more viable and productive business model; but, a new way of embracing our fears, optimizing our energy, and creating opportunities for success.
When I hired Linda our team had communication problems that were affecting company productivity.
I would consider myself a good communicator in general yet I was having challenges holding my team accountable and taking responsibility for themselves without a lot of prodding and follow up. Working with Linda helped me see where I was enabling the team and I took a whole new approach to my communication with them. She helped me stay accountable to the goals we had established. As a result my communication with the team vastly improved and the overall accountability of the team improved.
Because of Linda’s background in recruiting I had her work with the Managing Sales Directors on their recruiting conversations. I was able to learn who was struggling and in what areas of the recruiting call so I could work with them in specific areas to help them improve their performance.
Linda had been referred to me from someone I know and respect in the industry. She has a no nonsense, tell it like it is approach that I appreciated. Her insights and experience took me to new level in my communication skills and how I hold other accountable that I would not have been able to achieve without her support.
Investment Adviser Representative
I believe working with Linda at Incedo Group has made me a better leader.
The bottom line is she forces you to sit down and think about what you are doing, why you are doing it, how you are doing it and its impact on others. This is invaluable to leaders who have to perform at their peak, in a world that equally regards consistency and the willingness to change.
Lincoln Benefit Life Company
I hired Linda because I knew several people who had worked with Linda previously and recommended her to me.
Initially I was looking for help developing strategies for managing my growing law practice. Later it transformed into helping with a variety of business issues. Linda has consistently provided me with solid business advice on various issues that affect a small professional services practice including marketing, hiring, managing and staff development and growth to name a few. Since retaining Linda my firm has grown by 40% and gross revenues are up by 50%.
I was hired to introduce and sell services in the US for a foreign-owned firm in a competitive category.
My foreign managers were not familiar with the US market and recognized that they could not help me sell in the US. We hired Linda to work with me because she had a track record of helping many firms like ours increase their sales. My goals were to create and grow a list of engaged prospects who would become clients within a year.
During my time working with Linda I have built a network, increased awareness of our firm and have been asked to submit proposals to a number of Fortune 500 prospects as well as others. I have become more comfortable with my sales skills and even making cold calls and am confident one of these proposals will turn into a client this quarter.
I am in charge of a risk management and compliance function within my company. The responsibilities of my division require effective communication with all levels of management in the organization, from front-line managers to the chief executive officer
The problem I faced was that risk management and compliance were seen as a cost center and were often overlooked in my operations-focused and revenue-driven company. I needed to find an effective way to ensure the multi-level, culturally diverse, and geographically dispersed target audience understood the importance of what we were doing, supported our work, and also fulfilled their role in the risk management and compliance process.
I wanted to achieve senior management s’ understanding and support of the risk management and compliance division as well as front-line management’s buy-in to ensure that risk management and compliance policies and procedures were followed.
In addition, I wanted my team to have a seat at the table when new products or services were being planned so that we could integrate risk management and compliance policies and procedures from the beginning of the project.
As a result of working with Linda I now have regular meetings with senior management to keep risk management and compliance at the forefront. My team is now involved early in the planning process for new products and risk management and compliance are part of the annual goals for front-line managers.
Linda came highly recommended from the head of a company with whom I work frequently. Linda and I had an introductory meeting and I decided to work with her because I liked her honest, open and insightful approach at the meeting. What I appreciate the most about her is the results-oriented approach she always demonstrates. During our time working together, Linda has helped me to identify both the root problem and a possible solution of every issue and she has helped fill my professional “toolbox” with the skills I need to achieve my goals.