Athena Williams

“My work with Athena in her Executive Advisory Program—which includes Executive Coaching, Strategic Planning and Leadership Development—have been invaluable in helping me grow as a leader in my organization. As a result of her coaching and guidance, I have begun annual and quarterly strategic planning which has expanded my ability to think more strategically and make better business decisions. This has translated into better leadership of my colleagues, key stakeholders, clients, team and our Board of Directors. And, has been extremely helpful as I navigated immense change in every aspect of the company - clients, team members and collaboration with other leaders. Our work has helped me improve my communication with colleagues, in meetings and during presentations. I am more collaborative and solution-focused in my approach with my team. I have become a much better presenter, my content tells a story and provides the right amount of detail, and my delivery uses the right tone and interaction. This has been a game changer for me, personally, and for the company as it’s helped us gain new clients, secure additional revenue and influence decisions of the Board. Her insight coaching, document reviews and invaluable feedback help me understand how to stay on track with my leadership projects, goals and duties. Athena has a way of asking the right questions that spark a different way of thinking in me, which helps make my decision-making easier and more efficient. She also provides clear answers and resources when I hit a challenge. Our work is helping me optimize my leadership in every way. In addition, she has helped me become a Trusted Advisor to our key business partners. I have developed a new approach to collaborating with them to best serve everyone’s goals and ensure we are aligned in our work together. The idea of being a Trusted Advisor has rippled out to my colleagues and team as well! It has become part of our company culture. I continue to learn and grow every week working with Athena. Her upbeat personality and positive responses have helped me both as a person and professional. She is truly committed to my success. Without Athena’s and Tenacious Leadership Institute’s guidance, I would not be the executive I am today! I would highly recommend Athena and Tenacious Leadership Institute to anyone who is looking to strengthen their executive team and improve their organization’s results. She and her team are extremely skillful and experienced professionals that will help solve any challenges that an executive team and their organization are facing.”

“I have worked with Athena during critical junctures and inflection points in my leadership career. During my role as President of a luxury real estate company, her coaching and guidance helped me step more fully into executive leadership. She helped me expand my thought leadership during a rapid high-growth period and build my tenacity so I could better manage the rapid change both professionally and personally. She also coached and worked with my leadership team on strategic planning strategies, executive development and increased collaboration across multiple locations. In another phase of my career, Athena worked with me as I prepared to sell my company and take on a leadership role in a new company. She helped me with transition planning and change management activities as I became part of the executive team in a much larger real estate firm (as President of the brokerage department of the company’s entire western region). Athena provided a unique approach to leadership—showing me how to communicate with my team more effectively, get buy-in for my ideas and manage ongoing change and growth through my transition. As an executive coach, Athena is extremely observant and attuned to my needs and personality. She is able to challenge my leadership in a highly productive way and is able to help create clarity and structure around complex and abstract leadership topics. She is an expert in strategic thinking and planning and a brilliant coach that provides gentle yet firm guidance. She helped me navigate ongoing change and other challenges and achieve many things both professionally and personally that I would not have been able to otherwise.”