Gary B Cohen

Companies hire Gary for one of the following reasons:

-To Systematically Put Processes in Place to Get the Business to Scale

-To Increase Alignment, Engagement, & Accountability of Team or the Organization

-To Gain Insight & an Unbiased Perspective on Issues, Concerns, & Trade-Offs

-To Understand How to Navigate the Political Environment to Accelerate Career Advancement

We have a very balanced approach to coaching that has a three point process focused around assessment, action, and accountability that drives results. All of our coaches are business leaders and that alone has distinguished the nature of our work.

At CO2 we believe that exceptional leadership is about asking questions that set direction, putting the right people in the right positions, and ensuring allocation of resources to the highest priority. Great leaders use these skills to engage teams and help people stretch beyond their current stage of comfort. We understand how to help them manage the tension between people and performance. This is how great leaders attain the greatest results.

Our leadership model is informed by our experience that we must first learn to lead our selves before we can lead and establish positive relationships with others. Once we know how to lead others we are then capable to lead a group, team, department, unit or organization.

CO2 Partners unique advantage is that we approach each assignment as practitioners. This coaching team has been in your shoes and knows that developing true, sustainable leadership talents requires actions that may be difficult. We have been in your shoes as financial professionals, marketers, sales managers and operational managers, CEOs, Presidents, and Owners of enterprises. We have learned to master difficult conversations, motivate team members, and manage executive expectations. In our client centered approach we invite our customers to move towards a goal, we understand it may be difficult, and because we have been in their shoes, we only ask when we know from experience that the outcome is worth the effort.

Before any other organizational or individual change initiative begins, people within the organization need to be aware that this change is under way. This means that expectations will need to change and that the ways of the past will be gone. When an individual changes in the organization they either change the system or the system holds them in homeostasis.

Companies hire Gary for one of the following reasons:

-To Systematically Put Processes in Place to Get the Business to Scale

-To Increase Alignment, Engagement, & Accountability of Team or the Organization

-To Gain Insight & an Unbiased Perspective on Issues, Concerns, & Trade-Offs

-To Understand How to Navigate the Political Environment to Accelerate Career Advancement

Gary captured his unique question-based approach in the book Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions (McGraw Hill). He has also written for Business Week, McKinsey Quarterly, Leader to Leader, and Forbes.

A Brief History of Gary

In 1987 Gary co-founded a company with $4,000 in start-up money. Over the years the company grew from 2 to 2200 employees. During the start-up phase Gary and his business partner hired a consultant to guide them through the process. Though the consultant charged more money than the two partners were making at the time, they made the investment because they recognized the value of expert advice.

Gary is convinced ACI Telecentrics, Inc. never would have become the 25th largest call center outsourcer in the United States without the consultant’s help.

After 18 years of leading a company in an industry that went from go-go to no-go, Gary has experienced the entire corporate lifecycle and weathered the constant up-and-down transitions. “City Business,” a Minneapolis/St. Paul publication, distinguished Gary as one of their “40 under 40” award winners.

Besides serving on the board for ACI Telecentrics, Gary has been a board member of 9 different corporations, ranging from non-profit organizations to financial institutions.

The insight gained from real-world experience gives him a true understanding of the issues other entrepreneurs are working to resolve. Gary has the skills and the empathy to guide his clients through the pitfalls of entrepreneurial leadership.

Gary received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and attended Harvard Business School. He has participated in several leadership programs at institutions including the Covey Leadership Center and Disney University and the Aspen Institute as a Crown fellow.

Gary is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Meet clients twice monthly for 90 minute sessions. This can be in person, phone or video conference.