An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Coaching as a Management Style: The counter to “quiet quitting” will be coaching practices implemented by managers. Employees who feel empowered to make projects their own and be accountable for what they produce are more likely to enjoy their work. Gone will be the days of bossing your subordinates around.
The world of coaching is undergoing a seismic shift, with emerging trends set to redefine its boundaries and possibilities. From digital transformation and the integration of artificial intelligence to the growing emphasis on mental health and the global rise of coaching cultures within organizations, these developments are reshaping the landscape of personal and professional growth. As we navigate through these changes, understanding the forces that drive the future of coaching becomes paramount. I had the pleasure of interviewing Blake Farris.
Blake Farris is the Founder and Head Dopamine Coach of Mito Coaching, helping clients become unstoppable when unmotivated. He is a professional executive coach with several years of experience in the personal wellness industry, where he combines neurochemical expertise with the art of coaching to produce customized growth plans for clients. Blake’s mission is to help clients navigate a world of abundance with the neural circuitry meant for a world of scarcity.
Thank you for joining us. To start, could you share your “origin story” with our readers? How did you begin your coaching journey, and what challenges did you face in the early days?
My coaching journey started rather serendipitously with me listening to a podcast while folding laundry. The podcast had a guest executive coach who spoke passionately about his work and had a coaching conversation during the podcast. As I hung my last shirt in my closet, I knew that it was where I wanted to be.
Then came the difficult part — how? Through intense research, I was able to find a reputable coaching practice with the Canada Coach Academy, who offers accreditation through their program as well as partnering with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) to offer a comprehensive training program. The big problem was that quality education and training isn’t cheap. I pulled a significant investment from my savings and basically spent 6 months crossing my fingers that my water heater didn’t give out.
During my training, I realized that I will also need to start building my practice. This meant begging friends, family, coworkers, and just about anyone with ears and problems to let me coach them. My skills became sharper and I felt ready to build my business. Mito Coaching was then born from my passion for understanding how neurochemicals impact the brain and my want to support others in managing themselves in a world of abundance with the neural circuitry meant for a world of scarcity.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The first trait is patience. Patience has allowed me to be incredibly consistent in my pursuit to become an expert in the coaching community. During the early days of my business, I spent many hours developing coaching tools, marketing, and creating and recreating my image. When building a business, there is a ton of work done up front before any success is found. Patience gave me the ability to hold true to my path and bring me to where I am today.
Secondly, passion. Do you know that feeling you get when you know you’re in the right place? Like even the hard and boring stuff feels manageable and important? That is how I feel about coaching. Everytime I sit down with a client, create new tools, or meet with other coaches, it feels like I am where I should be.
Continuous learning is the last trait. As I gained expertise in my craft, it was increasingly tempting to assume that I knew enough or that because I am an expert there is nothing left to learn. The art of continuous learning is found in the deepening of our understanding; that is how experts remain experts. I could stop learning anytime but that would lead to becoming obsolete or overtaken by my peers.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne
I love this quote and I think it will become more and more important with time. It is common for companies, products, and your favorite celebrity to tell us that their product or service is going to make us happier. We have been led to believe that happiness is sold to the highest bidder. This quote is a powerful reminder that happiness is found when we are focused, engaged, and serving either ourselves or others.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
My most exciting project is the expansion of Mito Coaching, particularly into the personal coaching domain. Coaching has begun to be more commonplace within the corporate world, I think it is also time for personal coaching to become more mainstream. Personal coaching’s biggest opportunity is to help our client’s believe in themselves. Personal coaching is not about telling clients what to do with their life or how to be successful, but rather showing them that they are powerful and have everything they need to be successful, whatever that looks to them.
Without saying any names could you share a particularly memorable success story from your coaching career?
Dopamine coaching is a very rewarding niche for me as it has allowed me to work with multiple types of people from youths to addicts to regular people who just want to feel better.
My most memorable success story has to do with a client who went through a significant life and career change with grace, confidence, and excitement. When we first began our journey, she was unsatisfied with her current career position. Her boss and company did not offer her room to advance, shot down her ideas, and made her life quite miserable. After a few sessions it became clear that there were a few things stopping her from shifting out of this toxic environment. These included security in the form of a paycheque, a lack of confidence in the form of doubting other companies would want her, and a pessimistic outlook for the future.
After spending multiple sessions on these pieces, she had gotten to the point where she felt powerful and ready to leave this current company, but there was still something holding her back. After 2 weeks from making a confident “I will do this” statement, we were still stuck. Our next session revealed a deep value toward not quitting and not giving her all to the people around her. This was incredible, not only were the people around her not giving her their all but they were actively discouraging her from doing it for herself. After a couple of sessions on her values and what she really wanted from her life and career, we had broken through. The resignation letter was sent, the resume updated, and the future looked bright. It was amazing how quickly action was taken when the emotional pieces were well understood and out in front of her.
Now she is the VP at her new company and is feeling confident and secure in her work and herself. I was able to coach myself out of a job and now we only do occasional check-ins on problems or exciting opportunities. I am most proud of the transformation she went through and how coaching was able to give her the confidence and power she needed to make a major transition and realize that she has everything she needs to be complete.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about coaching. How has your approach to coaching evolved over the years, and what personal learnings have you applied to your own development?
Coaching is an incredibly dynamic field that is evolving rapidly with the introduction of technology and new techniques. My approach to coaching has evolved significantly since I started from being a cheerleader and advice giver to one that is about awareness, partnering, and creating the proper conditions for change. Not all people change the same way and the most powerful coaching experiences exist when the coach trusts the client to lead and take things where they need to go.
I think the biggest learning I have from my coaching career is to avoid assumptions and ask instead. So often in our personal lives and relationships we will assume what our partner or friend means when they say something. This can lead to misunderstanding, anger, and fights. Remembering to take a moment and ask a question to clarify can save a lot of heartache and energy that can be spent on better things.
How do you incorporate feedback into your coaching practice to continuously improve?
The most powerful way to improve is to record sessions when clients have consented. Watching yourself coach is one of the best ways to improve as a coach. Opportunities for curiosity, awareness, and other coaching strategies can be noticed and built upon to make your coaching more powerful. I like to set time aside to review sessions and gain insight. Sharing challenges and ideas with other coaches is also a great way to create an ecosystem of great coaches.
Can you discuss an innovation in coaching that you believe is currently under appreciated but has the potential to significantly impact the field?
What can sometimes be overlooked in coaching is the soft skills required to produce change in a client. There is tons of amazing research being done that shows that change cannot just be driven by showing clients metrics and giving advice. It comes from deep within. When supporting a client I want to make sure they feel empowered and are driving the conversation and becoming the leader of their process. I hope that coaching continues to move toward the softer skills instead of allowing analytical and number driven coaching to take over the landscape.
In what ways can coaching address the evolving mental health needs of diverse populations in a digitally connected world?
Coaching is about empowerment and dopamine coaching is about balancing and optimizing our neurochemicals so that we can feel focused, motivated, and intentional. The current version of our digitally connected world is preying heavily on our brains and extracting valuable resources such as drive, attention, and most importantly, dopamine. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements, notifications, and stimuli to the point that it becomes impossible to feel relaxed and calm. Dopamine coaching supports our mental health by bringing awareness to these hectic, attention grabbing stimuli and developing the strategies to take a breath and reset ourselves. While we all have different thoughts and experiences, coaching can address mental health on a global scale by creating a resilient, thoughtful, and aware population.
How do you foresee artificial intelligence and machine learning transforming the coaching industry in the next decade?
I feel as though this question comes up with just about any practice or industry these days. AI and ML will likely become excellent at producing data-driven insights, pulling data from personality tests, conducting 360-assessments, and utilizing other tools we use to measure personality traits and coaching metrics. These systems will then generate customized and tailored success plans for the individual. This will likely make analytical coaching more affordable and accessible to many. It will also free up coaches to have more time to work directly with clients instead of building these tools and metrics themselves.
AI will likely drive an expansion in the coaching industry as people will need to change the way they are interacting with the world. Jobs will shift, careers will be upended, and AI could drive a sense of purposelessness in society. Coaching will become more commonplace as people decide how they want to integrate themselves into the new world and find their purpose.
The biggest opportunity for coaching to integrate with AI will result from the human connection that is created in a coaching session. AI will have a hard time replicating the human touch provided to a client by a coach and allowing the space for them to work through a problem on their own. People are complex and need to create change through their own accord, making it difficult for the success plans to be executed without a human touch.
What role do you believe ethical considerations and privacy concerns will play in the future of coaching, especially with the increased use of digital platforms?
Ethics and particularly privacy become a more and more difficult topic with the increased use of digital platforms. Recordings of sessions, transcripts, and tools are typically collected on the cloud and require proper security measures to be in place to make sure client data is secure. Coaches have a significant responsibility to protect their client’s information and conduct themselves in an ethical way.
Could you list and briefly explain “Top 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Coaching” based on your experiences and insights?
1 . The Expansion of Personal Coaching: Personal coaching is becoming a more and more common practice as people need a way to be supported now and in the future. Coaching is no longer solely about corporate goals and increasing productivity. It is about well-being, motivation, and building the life that is important to you.
2 . Coaching as a Management Style: The counter to “quiet quitting” will be coaching practices implemented by managers. Employees who feel empowered to make projects their own and be accountable for what they produce are more likely to enjoy their work. Gone will be the days of bossing your subordinates around.
3 . The Integration of Neurology with Coaching: Coaching is about change and change happens in the brain. The expansion of our understanding of the brain will create the right techniques to support clients and help them get to where they want to be. Balancing and optimizing neurochemicals leads to a powerful sense of well-being and allows us to pursue our long-term goals like a puma pursuing prey.
4 . Tech Driven Coaching: Not only AI and ML but just the simple automation of many coaching pieces and tools is becoming readily available to coaches and clients. We live in a time of amazing technological advances and coaches would be fools if we were not leveraging these amazing advancements to build our impact and free up more time to do what we do best — coach.
5 . Increased awareness of coaching practices: When I started coaching, my friends, family, and coworkers had no idea what coaching was and why I would ever try to become one. I’d spend time explaining it, rewording my message, and helping them get it. Now, I run into fewer and fewer people that are unfamiliar with the coaching practice and will often chat with clients who have received coaching elsewhere. It is a great sign for the industry and, I believe, a step in the right direction for society.
How do you envision the integration of coaching within organizational cultures changing the landscape of leadership and employee development?
Coaching in organizational structures will create an important shift in corporate environments. It is common for employees to feel underappreciated and unmotivated. This is typically caused by a lack of empowerment in their work. Coaching creates the impetus for employees to feel appreciated and allows them to make the decisions required for development. When managers and leaders use coaching techniques with their employees, they tell them “Hey, your ideas are valuable and we can work together to bring them to life”.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the coaching industry today, and how might we overcome it?
The biggest challenge in coaching is differentiating coaches who have received training from those who have not. Certification groups like the ICF are attempting to gain the credentials they need to be a governing body in the community but currently anyone can be a coach. Coaches need to be trained by reputable coaches through accredited organizations like the Canada Coach Academy or university programs. Bringing awareness to the right programs and reminding clients of the standards of coaching is important to keep coaching as a protected field of practice.
What is one long-term goal you have for your coaching practice, and how are you working towards it?
One of my long-term goals is to expand the knowledge base and further the understanding of neurochemicals and develop practical strategies for balancing our brains. There seems to be a significant decline in mental health as we gain more and more access to dopaminergic behaviors like social media and video games. When dopamine is depleted, very few things can bring us happiness and joy. Supporting those who want more from life is my best path to furthering this cause.
How can our readers continue to follow your work?
I do my best to practice what I preach so I do not have any socials. The best place to keep track of my work is through my company, Mito Coaching. I enjoy writing on the blog about strategies to increase motivation, educating on neurochemicals, and practical resources for understanding coaching. Readers can sign up to my newsletter to be notified anytime a new blog is live.
Thank you for offering such valuable insights into the future of coaching. We look forward to seeing your work continue to reach new heights, and we wish you continued success.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Blake Farris Of Mito Coaching On The Top 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Coaching was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.