Approach to coaching
Leadership unfolds through interpretation. Every decision, relationship, and moment of pressure passes through internal meaning-making processes shaped by memory, identity, and lived experience.
Belongivity coaching works with how leaders interpret experience and construct meaning in real time. Research in cognitive science shows people understand present situations through partial reenactments of prior experience.
Neural patterns formed through past events reactivate during new situations, shaping perception, emotion, and action. Leaders often operate from these simulations without noticing them.
Coaching slows this process. Through careful inquiry and reflection, we examine how experience becomes interpretation, how interpretation becomes action, and how new possibilities emerge.
Narrative coaching also draws on narrative psychology and autobiographical memory research. Identity develops through evolving life stories. Leaders organize experiences into narratives with characters, conflicts, values, and turning points. When leaders shift narrative patterns, they shift identity and behavior.
Our work focuses on three interconnected dimensions:
• Narrative – stories leaders tell about themselves, others, and their work
• Identity – the roles and meanings embedded within those stories
• Action – leadership behavior emerging from those narratives Coaching invites leaders to examine these patterns, expand narrative possibilities, and embody new ways of leading.
Dr Tonya Bibbs
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Are you ready to create lasting positive change in your career and personal life?
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Who I work with
I work with senior leaders who hold significant responsibility for people, programs, and strategy. Many clients lead organizations committed to social impact, philanthropy, research, public service, or mission-driven enterprise.
Clients often arrive during moments of transition or pressure. Examples include:
• stepping into a new leadership role
• navigating political or organizational complexity
• aligning values with institutional demands
• rebuilding clarity after burnout or disillusionment
• preparing for a major strategic decision
These leaders seek more than productivity advice. They want clarity about purpose,
integrity in action, and leadership practices aligned with deeply held values.
What we work on
Coaching conversations often focus on questions such as:
• clarifying leadership identity during transitions
• strengthening decision capacity under uncertainty
• navigating influence within complex systems
• communicating purpose and values with clarity
• addressing internal conflict or self-criticism
• aligning leadership practice with personal ethics
• developing presence in high-stakes conversations
Each coaching relationship develops its own direction based on the leader’s context and goals.
Your questions, your agenda
Coaching is not about advice or performance optimization. It is about insight, interpretation, and disciplined reflection.
I bring questions, frameworks, and conceptual lenses. You bring the experiences, dilemmas, and aspirations shaping your leadership.
Together we examine patterns across your stories, relationships, and decisions. Through this process leaders often recognize unseen assumptions, overlooked possibilities, and new directions for action.
The goal is not to replace one story with another. The goal is to expand the narrative field so leaders gain greater freedom in how they interpret situations and act within them.
Structure
Our first sessions establish a foundation for the work. We clarify goals, examine key leadership experiences, and identify narrative themes shaping current decisions.
After this initial phase, the coaching process becomes more flexible. Sessions follow emerging questions, current challenges, and evolving leadership responsibilities.
This structure provides direction while allowing space for reflection and discovery.
My style
My coaching style combines intellectual rigor with deep listening. I bring training in narrative psychology, phenomenology, and neuroscience along with experience in research, systems change, and leadership development. This background allows me to engage both the conceptual and human dimensions of leadership.
Some conversations move quickly and analytically. Others unfold slowly through reflection and storytelling.
Clients often describe the work as both challenging and clarifying. I listen carefully, name patterns directly, and invite leaders to examine assumptions shaping their actions.
What makes coaching work
Confidentiality
Everything shared in coaching remains private. I do not disclose client relationships or discuss coaching conversations without permission.
Accountability
You remain accountable to the commitments you make to yourself. Coaching supports reflection, insight, and follow-through on decisions that matter to you.
Honesty
Growth requires honesty. Coaching conversations welcome uncertainty, frustration, doubt, and curiosity. These moments often hold the most important insights.
Reflection
Leadership develops through reflection. Our work creates space to examine experience, meaning, and action before moving forward.
Details
Sessions
Sessions take place by video or phone.
Executive Leadership Coaching
– Three-month minimum engagement
Three hours per month of coaching and reflective work.
Leadership Reset
A short-term coaching experience designed for moments of transition or intense decision-making.
Six one-hour sessions delivered over a focused period.
Team Leadership Coaching
Designed for leadership teams seeking stronger alignment, clarity, and relational trust.
Six-month minimum engagement combining individual coaching and group sessions.
Approximately five hours per week of coaching support.
Cancellations
Sessions may be rescheduled within the same month. Unused sessions expire at the end of the month.
Engagement Length
Some leaders work together for a few months during a transition. Others continue for years as their roles evolve. The duration depends on your leadership goals and the questions you want to explore.
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875 North Michigan Avenue, 31st Floor, Chicago, Illinois, 60611
Call: 1.872.253.6215 Email: [email protected]
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