The Interdisciplinary Art and Science of Professional Coaching: Perspectives from a Life Richly Lived

Given the opportunity of leaving academics and learning about the practical world of business, Agnes accepted a post in international banking and swiftly moved to a Vice President position. Communicating fluently and sensitively in six languages was at the core of her success, along with a well-honed attention to cultures (national, professional or departmental) and how to best help them flourish.

In the mid-1990s, while still a banker, Agnes started studying the nascent profession of executive coaching, that she saw as an opportunity to “integrate head, heart and hands”; theory and practice; humanities and business; the art of relating and a framework for action.

Becoming a professional Master Certified Coach, minted in 1998, Agnes expanded into designing and delivering leadership programs – seen here teaching a Novartis leadership program with leadership author Kevin Cashman in Montreux, Switzerland.

Agnes believed that building the credibility of executive coaching took communities of learning and experimentation, like the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association she co-founded in Southern California, earning a Builder’s Award.

Of equal importance became her collaboration with Dr. Bill Bergquist, which resulted – among others in their co-authorship of two books on coaching.(Their coachbook is being used as a text book in university coaching courses.)

Today, Agnes helps companies “develop talent at the speed of business”, and serves as an independent director on the board of Aircastle LLC, a public, globally growing commercial aircraft leasing company.

Mindful of the need for undistracted reflection and time-space for reading and authentic conversations, she now lives and works from Santa Fe, NM, with husband John Heinritz, her partner and equally astute “executive whisperer”