After about 2.5 years as a Reboot coach, I’ve decided to focus on building my own private practice. The catalyst for the change was largely a technical one (more on that in a moment). I step away from my official relationship with Reboot with nothing but love and gratitude for the entire Reboot team, particularly my dear friend Jerry. I use the word “official” because I will always feel a deep connection to Reboot and my friends there. All the words I said about Reboot in my blog post when I joined forces with them remain true. (And I’ll certainly continue referring clients to them when I’m not a good fit.)
Now, the “technical” part: with the passing of AB5 in California (the so-called “Uber law,” which stipulates that most contractors must become employees), the folks at Reboot decided to shift their relationships with coaches like me who had worked as independent contractors and transition to a smaller roster of coaches as employees. I’m in a phase of my career where being an employee isn’t the right fit for me, so I made the decision to focus on building my own business. The name of my coaching business is Strong Back Open Heart LLC. (It’s not entirely new — I established it in November 2017 as the umbrella for my work as a contractor for Reboot and a few private engagements.)
The name of the company is derived from my approach to coaching and leadership as I articulate on my new web site:
I believe “strong back, open heart” leadership is the key to building great companies. The strong back is represented by fiscal discipline, strong process, and accountability. The soft, open-hearted front are values, purpose, connectedness, and compassion. Organizations and people are at their best when they manifest both in equal balance.
You can read more about me as a coach and my coaching approach, which includes a few brief anonymized case studies of actual coaching engagements. I also built a directory of leadership resources with books and articles that have helped me as a leader over the years and helped my coaching clients (consider this in beta — it’s a work-in-progress). If you’re interested in working together, all the ways to connect are on my contact page.
Aside from continuing the work, I’m excited about running my own business. A big part of my excitement is that I’m doing something completely solo for the first time in my life. I’ve always been a part of other companies throughout my career and I built and led teams at companies of all sizes for 25 years. I spent my time as an executive constantly scaling and delegating and I enjoyed it. Now it’s fun to do that in reverse and I’m enjoying being the CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO, and executive assistant.
If you’re interested in working together, please do reach out.
A huge thanks to Simon Collison who was a joy to work with as my design partner on the web site and to Chris Shiflett at Faculty for making the introduction to Simon.
Chad Dickerson's blog 