My Approach

Problems yield to technique. People require presence.

The philosopher Gabriel Marcel drew a distinction that has always struck me as essential to coaching: problems yield to technique, but people require presence.

Most leadership development treats the leader as a problem to be solved — a set of gaps to close, behaviors to correct, competencies to build. That may be useful for some things. But it is the wrong frame for a leader at an inflection point, and it is not how I work.

My approach is built on the conviction that the leaders I work with already have the capability to navigate what is in front of them. What they need is not answers from the outside — it is a structured environment in which they can access their own clearest thinking, examine their assumptions honestly, and make decisions that are fully theirs.

This is intentional performance work for leaders already operating at the highest level

How a Session Works

Every session starts the same way.

Clarity about what you are actually trying to accomplish, and what is standing between you and that outcome. From there, the work moves into the real leverage point: how you are interpreting that obstacle.

Goals & Obstacles

Every session begins here. What are you actually trying to accomplish? And what is standing between you and that outcome? Senior leaders often arrive with a presenting problem that isn’t the real problem. Anchoring the conversation in the specific goal and the specific obstacle clears the noise and identifies the actual work.

Why this matters

It strips away vague urgency and surfaces the real issue.
It creates clarity before the work moves into interpretation.
It prevents leaders from jumping too quickly from pressure to action.

From there, the work moves into the SIR Framework.

Once the goal and the obstacle are clear, the work moves into the SIR Framework — Situation. Interpretation. Response. Most leaders jump straight from obstacle to action. The framework addresses what happens in between — and that gap is where leadership either holds or breaks down.

"Working with Randy on complex organizational challenges, what struck me was his ability to ask the right questions without needing to have all the answers himself. He didn't solve every problem for me—he created conditions for me to think more clearly about it. That approach is rare, especially at senior leadership levels where people expect you to just tell them what to do."

— Angela Christian

Senior Technical Advisor – Human Resources

The SIR Framework

Situation. Interpretation. Response.

The framework does not change the facts. It changes the quality of the leader’s relationship to those facts.

S

Situation

What is actually happening?

We establish the facts — stripped of interpretation. What is the situation, specifically? Not what it feels like, not what it might mean. What is actually, verifiably true about the circumstances in front of you? Under pressure, facts and interpretations collapse together. Separating them is the first act of clear leadership thinking.

I

Interpretation

What are you making this mean?

This is the leverage point. An obstacle is a fact. What a leader makes that obstacle mean — about their capability, their identity, their standing in the organization, their team’s capacity to deliver — is interpretation. And interpretation drives response far more than the facts do.
The questions we examine here:

What are you making this situation mean about yourself and your capability as a leader?
What are you making this mean about your organization, your team, or the people around you?
Why is this your problem to solve — what is making this your number one priority right now?
Is that interpretation accurate, or has it hardened into an assumption that hasn’t been examined?

Interpretations, unlike facts, can be examined, challenged, and changed. That is where the real leadership leverage lives.

R

Response

What is the deliberate choice?

Once the situation is clear and the interpretation has been examined, the response changes. Not because the facts changed — but because the leader is no longer responding to their interpretation of the situation. They are responding to the situation itself. The difference between a reactive leader and a deliberate one is almost always located here.

Why interpretation is the work most coaches don't reach

Most executive coaching focuses on behavior and strategy. The SIR framework also addresses the layer beneath behavior — because that is where decision quality is actually determined.

A leader who hasn’t examined what they are making their situation mean will still make reactive, identity-driven decisions when the pressure compounds — no matter how good the plan.

Leadership Doesn’t Clock Out

The full-spectrum leader is part of the work.

The most significant leadership challenges do not always fit neatly inside the organizational frame. A relocation destabilizing a family. A transition reshaping identity at home as much as at work. A season of sustained pressure testing values and sense of self.

What This Is Not

Not mentoring. Not therapy.

I will not tell you what I would do in your situation. And while we will examine how you are thinking and what is driving it, that is rigorous cognitive and leadership work — not emotional processing for its own sake.

What It Is

A confidential, structured thinking partnership.

With someone who has led at various levels, understands what transition demands of a person in your position, and has no agenda except helping you think and lead at your best.

"What impressed me most about Randy wasn't just his ability to manage enormous organizational pressure—he never let that pressure become an excuse to stop developing people. When I was navigating my transition out of the military, he held space for me to think through what came next, even as he was managing relentless expectations himself. That's the mark of a leader who gets it."

— Yoisel Fernandez

Senior Leader, Organization Development

Discovery Call

Curious whether this approach is the right fit? Let’s talk.

A complimentary 30-minute discovery call — confidential, no obligation — to hear where you are and determine together whether there is a fit worth pursuing.