Testimonials

“Jeff’s coaching has been extremely valuable to me. I have developed a plan of action based on what I have learned about myself. Jeff’s easy demeanor and probing questions promoted my openness and self-awareness, and helped me to reach deep inside to unlock my true potential. I strongly recommend Jeff’s coaching as a way to promote deep and positive thinking, and strong problem solving in your everyday living.”

“Jeff significantly helped me navigate the uncertain terrain of starting a new and very different professional position – and learn a lot about myself in the process. His refined style of asking appropriately challenging questions while giving me the space to find my own answers was both skillful and compassionate. His coaching helped me examine the negative patterns of thought and behavior that were impacting my daily decisions and interactions, and inhibiting my development within and outside of work. As our coaching progressed, I became more comfortable and adept at listening to the whisperings of my own heart, and have since been able to transfer the “aha” moments from coaching throughout all aspects of my life. If you are ready to look at yourself and commit to a very flexible and energizing process of discovery, I heartily recommend Jeff’s coaching.”

“Through a balance of listening, targeted questioning and personal experience, Jeff did an outstanding job of helping me clarify my professional and personal goals, and more importantly identify and formulate actionable steps to make it happen. The self-assessments and tools will be helpful as I move forward and need to make adjustments in my journey forward. Jeff is a professional in every sense of the word and I look forward to tapping into his insights for years to come.”

“Jeff…really helped me boost my game. As someone whose business is 100% driven by my own effectiveness, my work with Jeff was an excellent investment.”

“What I have learned from the coaching experience is that the things that drive you and get in your way are not always obvious and that it takes a great coach and hard work to uncover the layers of our lives and help us discover and actualize our purpose. I found Jeff to be insightful and patient; willing to guide me in my own discovery while proving to be a skilled motivator and help me along at the pace best for me.”

“Jeff is a natural problem solver who takes the time to reflect and ask questions before moving to possible solutions. Jeff’s questioning style gets to the root of the issue - he examines data, looks at research and best practices and helps others to use this information to come to highly personalized answers. Jeff’s experience in the classroom, in the community, in school board meetings and in professional development sessions provide him a unique lens for working as a coach for school leaders. It is also worth noting that Jeff is approachable, has a great sense of humor and takes on every assignment with a high degree of integrity and trustworthiness.”

“I have worked with Jeff Ikler for a number of years now and found him to be deeply knowledgeable about schools and school system improvement. He is also an highly effective coach and consultant with respect to advising on and implementing broad-scale change initiatives and leadership development.”

“I have had the opportunity to work with Jeff for the past two years. He has provided both full group professional learning opportunities and follow up executive coaching for the members of my leadership team. This has been highly effective toward strengthening the work of the members of my team and the team as a whole. ”

“Jeff provided me with tools to become more reflective of my own practice as a district administrator. He helped me think critically about my leadership, and provided me with encouragement on my professional goals. Jeff is a thoughtful, caring coach who helped me find more balance in both my personal and professional lives, by guiding and challenging me to think critically and strategically. I highly recommend Jeff to anyone in an educational leadership role. He truly understands the demands placed on leaders, while guiding you to reach for new goals that will improve your leadership!”

“I met Jeff when 2 of his passions converged at an opportune moment: his enthusiasm for innovation and his love to learn and then translate that learning to educating others. His long term vision to inoculate Pearson from the woes of the publishing industry by making innovation a core competency, is remarkable. Back in 2003, he was way ahead of the curve when he recognized the role innovation will play in keeping Pearson on top and he put a cross organizational innovation program in place. Jeff became one of the leading internal innovation facilitators, running sessions not only with Pearson colleagues, but also with content suppliers as well as customers. I believe that much of his success comes from the fact that he is one of those (rare?) value-driven people whose true desire is to make all those around him into better and smarter people. I have been one of the lucky people to work with Jeff, and I hope that many more will have a similar opportunity.”

“Nurturing accountability” is the phrase that comes to mind when I think about my work with Jeff Ikler. Jeff helped me see the pattern that I was in that kept me from growing as a leader and kept me from growing leadership in others. Knowledge is one thing...doing something about it is another. Jeff challenged me to break my pattern by creating a plan with specific, concrete steps. And he held me to it! He challenged me while honoring who I am as an individual. Jeff is the person you want challenging, cheerleading and checking on you.”

“I have had the pleasure of working with Jeff over the last year on a variety of Pan-Pearson initiatives. As an SVP, Jeff has had the foresight and ability to reach out across divisions to bring together resources necessary to expand and enhance the sales and revenue potential for multiple divisions. Because he has a keen eye on the direction of the market, he has provided great leadership in guiding the teams in crafting the vision around multiple initiatives into actionable plans. In addition, Jeff is just a great human being and I would welcome the opportunity to work with him any time.”

“In a complex role that requires deep product knowledge, delivery understanding, and complex communications and sales capability, Jeff excels. He is highly regarded as a manager and motivator around the development and delivery of major PD programs at Pearson, including College and Career Readiness Services, Math Services, and Leadership Services, in particular. I’ve worked with Jeff for over 3 years, during which time Jeff has been an inventive collaborator and incredible knowledge partner as we brought to market dozens of strategic, partnership, and product and program management initiatives. He is thoughtful, considering all aspects of a market in any approach. He is focused on revenue and high delivery quality and consistency for implementation results. And, he is honest, tough, and practical in matters that require a reality check or realignment with market and customer priorities. In sum, Jeff is and will always be a ‘go to’ person in our organization and any other. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”

“A coach who is supportive but challenging, is the phrase that comes to mind when I think of Jeff. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jeff for the past year during which he has given me not only technical support, but challenged me to better myself as well. Above all I was impressed with Jeff’s ability to identify and diminish that shadow of negativity that follows all of us. And of course I think you’d be hard pressed to find a coach as supportive and kind as Jeff. He is a true asset to those in the job market or anyone looking to make a change, and I highly recommend his services.”

“Crossing paths with Jeff Ikler has been a career changing opportunity. Jeff began coaching me approximately two years ago in the area of leadership and development. Our interactions were professional while tapping into my personal areas of growth. He easily made connections between my body of work to areas of development while always having an idea on my positive traits. I felt I grew so much as a leader while working with Jeff and became a better leader, listener and educator. Of course his personality traits of kindness and persistence, made it easy for me to be thoughtful about answering the hard questions that he expected of me. I highly recommend Jeff Ikler as a coach to anyone’s personal and professional growth.”

“The two words that come to mind when I think of Jeff Ikler are perceptive and intuitive. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jeff for the past 3 years. When I was an administrator in a public school system, Jeff worked with our leadership team to help us articulate goals and create plans to lead more effectively. When I retired last July, I chose to continue working with Jeff through that transitional period. I was most impressed by Jeff’s ability to ask relevant and thought-provoking questions that helped me clarify my thoughts and purposefully choose next steps. His warmth, sense of humor and focus on connecting with others comes through in all of his interactions. Jeff would be a true asset to individuals and organizations looking to enhance their effectiveness and attain their personal and/or professional goals.”

“Jeff was a fantastic executive coach! Jeff brought a curiosity and care to our conversations, and always encouraged self-discovery rather than giving me the answer. He provided practical tools for me to better myself as a leader and to better my team. He gave useful advice that I could always implement, even though I sometimes failed on my own to do so. Jeff helped me gain greater clarity on who I am as a leader, professional, and person, and helped me through a very challenging workplace environment and transition with levelheadedness, generosity, and poise. I’ve recommended Jeff to others and will definitely make sure that I have the budget worked in at my next position to continue our relationship!”

“Jeff’s coaching is driven by genuine altruism. He’s curious about your potential because he believes you have potential. That combined with the savviness he’s cultivated as a corporate leader make him an asset to anyone’s professional growth.”

“I have had the pleasure of working with Jeff as my Personal Leadership/Career Coach beginning in 2015. At the time my focus was solely on my career. I never imagined the joy that Jeff’s coaching has brought into all aspects of my life. I am blessed to have worked with a fine coach who gives energy to the relationship while reminding me I’m in charge of the process. I have enjoyed his humor and movie references. I highly recommend and will continue to highly recommend Jeff.”

“I think of two words regarding my continuous work with Jeff Ikler—career savior! Jeff helped me thoroughly research and use my inner strengths to do what is right for me, my customers and my colleagues as a passionate marketing/sales professional. Jeff listens, mentors and knows how to manage my abilities. Thank you sincerely Jeff Ikler!”

“I believe that hiring Jeff Ikler as my executive coach was a brillant move on my part. He really helped me boost my game. As someone whose business is 100% driven by my own effectiveness, my work with Jeff was an excellent investment.”