Develop Better Leaders Through Executive Coaching & Leadership Training

On April 1, 2025, Sandra Oliver, Founder of Impact Coaches, will be part of a timely and informative panel discussion on how executive coaching and leadership training can help your organization develop better leaders.

There’s a lot of change and uncertainty right now. It’s more important than ever to have executives who can lead in chaotic and uncertain times.

Join 20+ year Executive Coach/Founder of Impact Coaches, Sandra Oliver, and 20+ years Sr. HR Specialist & Executive Coach at AugmentHR, Shelley Brown, at a fireside chat on how to turn leadership potential into performance through executive coaching and leadership training. Plus, Bart Egnal, CEO of The Humphrey Group, will join us to share his perspectives on communications and training.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Leading through chaos.
• What is the difference between Executive Coaching and Leadership Training?
• Trends in Leadership Development/Training & Executive Coaching
• How have companies evolved their approach?
• What are best practices around Succession Planning?
• What role do Assessments/Personality Profiles/360’s play in supporting leadership development?
• And More.

Did you know:

• 77% of businesses report a lack of leadership.
• Only 33% of employees feel engaged in businesses that report a lack of leadership.
• Only 49% of companies that report a lack of leadership are investing in leadership development.

Details:

• Tuesday, April 1, 2025
• 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT
• Online event

We hope you can join us!
Register now to secure your spot

In a recent edition of The Ampersand by Humanis, Calgary Partner Adam Pekarsky explores the evolving reality of retirement. Once a milestone to reach, “Freedom 55” now feels more like a moving target, especially for those who find meaning, identity, and purpose in their work.

This piece unpacks why transitioning out of a career is less about age and more about intention and includes insights from Sandra Oliver, founder of Impact Coaches.

As Sandra Oliver of Impact Coaches, one of the superb Humanis Group of Companies executive coaches, noted in a recent article on the topic, entitled Navigating the end of Career Transition is Tough:

“As we approach the end of our careers, it’s often a marathon right down to the last work day. In reality, it takes many years (two to five for most people) to move to a new plan because of all the emotions involved, the feelings of loss, the desire to change, and the need to build new ways of thinking. To make it through this transition, we have to pay attention to our emotions and honour them, and really think about what we want. As senior leaders, we don’t spend enough time thinking and planning for this journey – and as organizations, we don’t do enough to help people through it.”

Read the blog and listen to the podcast

You’ve probably heard some talk about changes coming to Impact. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes. It’s time to share the news and update you all.  

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve officially joined a dynamic group of talent organizations nationwide, comprised of Impact Coaches and the following companies: 

• Humanis
• IQ Partners
• Mullen Leadership Recruitment
• Pekarsky & Co.
• TalentHunt Inc.
• Venor 
• The Headhunters
• AugmentHR
• Covalency 

This partnership brings together top executive search and talent management firms. Our new partners saw the importance of integrating coaching into their services to offer clients a comprehensive approach to talent development. This is a game-changer—a unique opportunity to expand our impact while continuing to provide the high-quality executive coaching our clients know and have come to expect from us. 

Together, we are going to build something truly special. We will become your total talent solution. We’ll support you in looking for new talent, coaching existing talent, and assessing all talent – all under one roof. We’ll empower your business to grow, thrive, and achieve long-term success.  

Just like we’ve always done. 

We’ll keep you informed over the coming months as we introduce new services and offerings, highlighting how these changes will benefit you. Beyond that, the coaching and advisory excellence you’ve come to rely on will remain our cornerstone.  

In the meantime, Happy New Year! We’re gearing up for an exciting 2025 and can’t wait to bring you along.

The last few years have been pivotal for me and for Impact, as they’ve been for most of our clients. Living with the global pandemic and its new ways of working, like so many of the organizations we work It’s been a busy year for me and the team. There was lots of change after many years of status quo. While some changes were good, many we had no control over – like shutdowns, staffing issues, and major client adjustments.

And we’re hearing the same from you. It’s been a challenging year. Everyone is ready for a well-deserved break. 

This is why the end of the calendar year is the perfect time for renewal – we get a mental time-out and a chance to reflect on the past. We get to decide to make next year amazing.

Let’s do just that.

Looking back on Impact Coaches in 2024, I see a lot of hard work and time spent breaking new ground. Some of it was scary. And tiring. It made me appreciate taking breaks along the way. From on-sites with our people to summer getaways at the cottage, moments with clients and friends always helped me recharge for the next challenge.

That’s how we should look at the December holidays – a chance to renew our energy and spend time with the people we love. Impact will close our offices for a week so we all can take a break and focus on what’s most important to us. Reflect on and learn from the past, and then leave it there. Understand what we can control and give ourselves permission to blue sky what we want to do next.

And hit the ground running in 2025 in a positive, renewed, and innovative way.

We’re proud of some new offerings we’ll have in the new year. We’re looking forward to bringing these to you and really partnering together. We think you’re going to love it.

Until then, we hope you get the chance to recharge and refresh over the holidays, too. All of us at Impact are looking forward to seeing you in the new year and working with you to make 2025 inspiring, engaging, and successful.

Sandra Oliver

We received the very sad news that Rowena Escobar passed away after a four-year battle with cancer, at the age of 43.  Rowena worked with our family for 12 years, first as a caregiver for our family, then very quickly as an Executive Assistant, and finally as an Office Administrator for Impact Coaches. It didn’t take long for us to recognize her innate talent and move her into Impact. She worked with Impact for 10 years.

Rowena was one of the warmest and most unwaveringly positive people I’ve known, always wanting to help and give to others. Morna Lee, our Client and Marketing Manager, (also an amazing and giving person) trained Rowena when she first began working with our home team.  Rowena had never worked in an office and Morna had to teach her. It was worth it. Rowena shone.

Rowena loved helping

Four years ago, Rowena was first diagnosed with cancer and left for serious treatment, saying she needed to focus on her health. We were sad and stayed in touch.  Eventually, the cancer was under some control and Rowena asked to return because she liked the team and liked working. She came back as the Office Administrator, and she was perfect for it. She was happy – and we were, too.

And then the cancer came back again, hard. She wanted to continue to work through all the treatment. It was clear she was very ill. All we could do was talk to her and trust that she knew what she wanted. That was hard. Elaine Muzyczka and I talked to her a lot. We wanted to make sure what she was doing was right for her. In every conversation, she always smiled and thanked us for letting her work. She said she loved working. It made her feel useful and productive.

We could see how ill she was. She was open about her struggles and was frail the last few months. When I got the news yesterday, it hit me hard. It will always feel like that. Loss never really goes away. I am struck by how much she touched me personally. And, like everything, I wanted to reflect. Why was she so special to me and to others here at Impact?

Beautiful. Smile. Always.

Rowena was always smiling. Her mere presence lifted my mood every time I saw her— especially in person. She was very present in our lives. She liked to come to meetings, to be included and to be in the office with us, even when she was very sick. She was always interested in making other peoples’ lives easier. She always asked how people were and how she could help. She loved working and being useful. She saw everything as a hill to climb and she did her best to climb it. Even with small things, like eating oatmeal, which was one of the few things she could eat at the end, she smiled and said she was trying to eat oatmeal, “because the doctor wants me to keep up my strength.”

Our relationship always felt personal because she exuded such warmth. Even when she was very sick, Rowena didn’t dwell. She tried her best to work through things. And she always asked how I was and how David and the kids were.

The secret to happiness

For me, when I get frustrated or feel “put upon”, sorry for myself or angry – which is common for founders (probably some of the source of much dysfunction in “founders syndrome”) – I will remember how Rowena never felt sorry for herself. How she always looked on the bright side and cared for others. How that is the secret to happiness. That is a leader. Unwavering positivity and industry through all barriers. No matter the level you’re at in a company.

Rowena’s husband, Chris, and son, CJ, were the lights of her life. She looked after them and supported them in everything they did, even throughout her illness. She always focused on them and their wellbeing, working and staying strong partly so she could take care of them. She seemed concerned about what they might lose rather than what she would miss out on. CJ went with her everywhere. She talked about him all the time.

Our team will miss Rowena’s incredible positivity, willingness to lend a hand, her reliability, and her flexibility to tackle any task or challenge given to her with enthusiasm. We will miss her warm smile and quiet presence in our office and her genuine care for others, even when she was undergoing treatment that made her feel so unwell.  She was both incredibly brave and grateful to the very end.

I will always think of Rowena and try to emulate her warm and giving nature. Her legacy will be how she made us all better. Especially me.

Sandra Oliver

We’re celebrating our 20^th year in business!

All of us at Impact are proud of all we’ve accomplished over the last two decades and wanted to celebrate, take time to reflect on how far we’ve come, and share our plans for the future with our colleagues and clients. We couldn’t do what we do without the help of this great community.

“Just do the right thing.”

People are often surprised to know that Impact Coaches wasn’t the thing I always wanted to do. Coming from a working class family where not many of us went to university, I graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration, followed by two Master’s degrees. And then spent the next 17 years leading HR teams primarily at two organizations – one in manufacturing, the other in professional services.

Early on, two things changed my business life: I had a mentor, who took a lot of chances on me because he had confidence in me and wanted to give me an opportunity. And I had a coach, who helped me understand how to succeed in business. They had a huge impact on my career.

I also had a strong work ethic, was team oriented, and cared a lot about my work and the people around me. I worked with amazing teams who supported me and helped me succeed – and I wanted them and the organizations I worked with to succeed as much as I did.

I was fortunate that I was promoted pretty rapidly, until I was overseeing teams and sitting at the leadership table at an early age. The leaders around me appreciated that I was honest and transparent, and had the courage to put myself out there and not be afraid of making mistakes. I often took on new roles and tough challenges. And like everyone, I made a lot of mistakes and said yes to a few things I wasn’t prepared for. At times I was unsure – and I still am, sometimes. My coach and mentor were very much part of my team and helped me. I also talked to my Dad a lot. His words still ring true. He encouraged me to trust myself and stick to my values, often saying, “Do the right thing” or, “Do your best and work hard.”

The launch of Impact Coaches: Taking risks and doing great work

I took his advice and used it throughout my career. During my time as a lead contract negotiator, at the manufacturing company, sitting across the table from the Teamsters.  Or when I built brand new performance management systems, HR and recruiting teams, and a leadership development program. And, ultimately, when I decided to leave my corporate career.

While I’d had the chance to do a lot of really big, interesting and enjoyable work at the professional services firm, I wanted to do something different. So in 2003, I decided I’d take the risk and quit. I spoke to a mentor of mine and asked if she would support me if I left the firm, but stayed connected as a coach to senior leaders. And she did.

The firm gave me 20 partners to coach, which was a big risk on their part as well, because I had limited coaching experience at that point. But I talked with my own coach, bought every book on the subject I could find, and worked hard.

I engaged in a lot of courageous, transparent, straightforward talk with my clients, learned a lot from them, and really tried to help them.

And then I found leaders started to come to me asking to be coached. I needed a team so I started to create one.

I also love challenges and learning new things, so growing in Canada didn’t feel like enough. Which is why when I had the opportunity to expand into the US and then globally, I jumped at the chance. I hired great coaches to work with our clients. And then hired amazing people to help run the business out of my home, which is why to this day, even though we work in the office, our team of wonderful project managers is called the “Home Team”.

We bought our Yonge St. office in Toronto in 2017 to demonstrate that we’re a real business and that coaching is a profession, not just something people do when they retire. The office gives us a presence on Yonge Street, but it’s also in a neighborhood, because I still want it to have a homey and comfortable feeling. And our coaches and Home Team help make that happen, too. We hire people who have deep experience, are smart, diligent, willing to take chances, and really care about our clients’ professional and personal success. Together, we use coaching and assessments to partner with clients to make positive change in individuals, teams and entire organizations.

Key things I’ve learned in the last 20 years…

In 20 years of building Impact from the ground up I’ve learned a lot.

First and foremost I’ve tried to make sure we stick to our values 100% of the time. That we continue to follow my dad’s advice and “do our best” and “do the right thing”. In any situation, you’re always going to disappoint people. There are always going to be things you wish you’d done differently. But if you’re prepared to take risks, be a leader, and make mistakes, as long as you stick to your values, you’ll come out OK in the end. Probably even better.

I’ve learned to be kind to myself and others by finding people who are a good fit for me. Because relationships are the key to success. If you’re prepared to sacrifice some of your personal time, take risks, and care about people, you’ll build strong friendships with clients and colleagues. And that’s worth a lot. It’s how you get lots of opportunities to do fun work and gain lots of satisfaction from it.

There are no shortcuts. I don’t know anyone who’s been successful without working hard. Work life balance is important, but a strong work ethic is essential for success. Things will grow if you do the right thing. And if you work at it.

Hard, challenging work is motivating, fun and it builds confidence. The more you take risks – and yes, the more you fail – the stronger and happier you become. It’s a bit counterintuitive. One of my Dad’s other favourite sayings, “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” is indeed true!

Helping people is really what life and work is about. The more we add value to others and make their lives better, the better our lives become.

And no one does anything alone. I’ve had many mentors and many amazing team members along the way. We’ve also had some amazing clients go out of their way to help us and take big risks on us.

What’s next?

We’ve tried a lot of innovative ways to deliver our services over the years. Some have served us well, and others, less so. What has always worked is being really good at what we do. We hire really good coaches, with a focus on their experiences in life and business, how smart they are, and how much courage they have to challenge our clients. It differentiates us and it’s going to continue to be the cornerstone of our business.

We’re going to continue to work with our great team and add new people to better serve our ever evolving client base. We’ll continue to hire people who want to grow and challenge themselves. Who want to work hard, take risks, and are as invested in their own success – and Impact’s – as I am.

Coaches and Home Team members who are purpose driven, proactive, professional, warm, caring, positive, collaborative, innovative, flexible, and solution oriented. People who are not afraid to try new things and are constantly searching for ways to elevate themselves and our clients’ experiences.

If someone asked me now, “What’s your vision for Impact?” I’d have to say, “We’ve achieved more than I had ever thought we would.” But going forward, I’m ready to see Impact go to the next level. Bring in people who want to lead, who have innovative ideas, and the energy to continue driving Impact’s growth. Coaching is exploding as an industry and more needed than ever in this post COVID world. We want to be part of helping people excel in the multitude of new ways they’re choosing to work together.

I’m looking forward to Impact’s next phase. It will take a team like it always has. A team of amazing staff, coaches, clients and mentors. And it will be fun and challenging.

Sandra Oliver

The last few years have been pivotal for me and for Impact, as they’ve been for most of our clients. Living with the global pandemic and its new ways of working, like so many of the organizations we work with, Impact experimented with innovative approaches to grow and develop our business. We took on new people and tried different strategies. It was one of our busiest and most successful few years, in many ways.

And while we learned and grew a lot as a business, we were also stretched thin. Sometimes doing work that was interesting, but outside our core passions. And working with many more clients, which presented unique opportunities, and made it difficult to focus on building strong, trusted relationships with our people and our clients. This is especially important to me.

As leaders, we are underestimating the “hangover” from the past three years. Many of our clients are dealing with stress-related personality conflicts in their teams. As leaders we sometimes need to step back and observe our own behaviour. We have been under a great deal of strain for a long period of time.

Work for me has almost always been something I enjoyed. I love helping people and leaders, and learning about their businesses. I love watching our staff grow and learn. During the pandemic, however, I wasn’t having as much fun. It felt more like a grind. I was trying to keep everything afloat.

The pandemic has been long and the path out of it continues to be fraught with uncertainty. Will there be a recession? How will work be reinvented? Will people still need what we do? It has felt like the longest marathon of my career. And it isn’t over.

To complicate the work challenges, like many people, I experienced more personal issues than I’ve ever had. We lost our father who was my mentor and our whole family reeled from his illness and the loss. My sister and I deepened our bond, but had become caregivers. One of my closest friends and colleagues at Impact was diagnosed with cancer and has retired. While still in touch, I miss her daily.

I believe leaders are so important to businesses. The good ones mobilize large groups of people to do amazing things. And expectations for leaders are so high. These expectations are mostly unachievable.

Leaders are imperfect. And like everyone, when under stress, become more imperfect. The leaders we work with have been under a greater level of stress than I have seen in my thirty-five years of work.

As leaders, we know we need to honour ourselves and take the time to refresh and heal so we can be at our best. Part of that healing is forgiving yourself when you make mistakes. But it can be tough. Time is the enemy. There is so much to do and not enough time to do it all. Your own personal wellness often takes a back seat.

So, choices matter. If feels like now is the time for leaders to focus on their needs and to help their people focus. It is important to work with the right team. And make big strategic choices.

As Impact’s Founder, I knew we needed to come back to our purpose. To our North Star.  We excel at deep coaching work. Both with individuals and across groups. We help with both the people and the context they operate in (at work and elsewhere).

We love the challenge of helping clients solve their toughest people issues and tackle their most important talent opportunities. There’s deep trust when we do our best work. We work as a well-curated coach and project team. We challenge each other and our clients – and it’s magic.

Growth, while nice, and even intoxicating, isn’t meaning. Purpose and impact are meaning. Working with people you love is meaning. I wanted to get back to enjoying it again. And I wanted that for our people.

Over the last few months, we’ve reorganized and reprioritized our business to focus on what we love to do and what we do best.

2023 marks 20 years for Impact Coaches. (It was the year our daughter, Brooke, was born, so I always remember exactly when Impact was birthed, too.) Over the last two decades, I’ve been incredibly grateful to see our remarkable coaches and home team members have dynamic impacts on our clients. And I’ve been equally grateful that we’ve been able to grow deep, profound, and far-reaching relationships with individuals and organizations across North America, and frequently, the globe.

In the first few weeks of 2023, a valued client gifted me a beautiful compass pendant I deeply appreciate for its beauty and for what it symbolizes for me and for Impact. I wear it often and think of her words. In a note, she thanked me for being her “North Star”. In fact, she has become my North Star and Impact’s North Star.

Coaching works that way and that’s why I love it so much. Receiving the pendant was a poignant reminder that while veering away from your core direction can bring new opportunities, staying true to your internal compass as an organization and as an individual, is the true path to success and fulfilment. It’s what helps you build your brand, attract talented people who share your vision and values, meet the individuals and organizations you want to work with, and fuel the important work you want to do in the world. And it makes work more fun.

As we move forward with Impact Coaches into 2023 and beyond, I’m proud that we’ve taken the time to think about where we want to go and how we want to get there. That we’ve reconnected with what’s most important to us and how we can best partner with individuals and organizations to help them solve the issues that matter most to them. I believe it’s what will help us continue to grow, evolve, and thrive over the next 20 years.

Sandra Oliver