The Leadership Spark 

Coaching is a partnership designed to help people think more clearly, take purposeful action, and move toward the goals that matter most to them. Rather than telling someone what to do, a coach helps uncover new perspectives, identify obstacles, and create practical steps forward.

The International Coaching Federation describes coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

Many clients come to coaching with insights they’ve already gained from conferences, professional development, or consultants. Coaching helps turn those ideas into action. Instead of collecting more information, clients begin implementing what they’ve learned in ways that work in their real-world context.

These roles can overlap, but they serve different purposes.

Coaching focuses on helping someone discover their own answers. A coach asks questions, listens deeply, and helps the client create solutions that fit their goals and circumstances.

Mentoring usually involves guidance from someone who has been in a similar role or career path. A mentor may share experiences, advice, and lessons learned.

Consulting typically involves an expert who analyzes a situation and recommends specific solutions or strategies.

Ellie’s coaching style sits primarily in the coaching space, but she also draws from current leadership research and professional learning when it’s helpful. She stays up-to-date on leadership development and educational leadership resources, and she shares those tools with clients when appropriate.

The key difference is how they’re used. Ellie doesn’t push resources onto clients. Instead, she shares them when they might be useful, and then partners with the client to explore how those ideas could be implemented in their specific environment.

Many of Ellie’s clients have attended leadership conferences or worked with consultants before. Coaching becomes the space where those ideas are translated into everyday practice.

Ellie brings both professional coaching training and real leadership experience in education.

She understands what it feels like to sit in middle leadership - the space where leaders are often advocating for their programs, navigating competing priorities, and trying to influence change without always having full authority.

That experience helps her understand the challenges many education leaders face.

Alongside her background in education, Ellie holds a professional coaching certification and uses evidence-based coaching tools to support her clients.

She approaches coaching with the belief that every client already brings valuable insight and experience to the table. Her role is to help uncover that perspective, strengthen it, and use it to develop practical leadership strategies that align with the client’s values and goals.

At the start of the coaching partnership, Ellie and the client establish clear goals and define what success will look like.

These goals might relate to leadership growth, decision-making, team dynamics, or implementing new initiatives. Together, they also identify measurable indicators of progress.

Throughout the coaching process, they regularly check in on those goals and reflect on:

• what’s working well

• what’s changing

• what new strategies might be helpful

This ongoing reflection helps ensure the coaching stays focused, practical, and aligned with what the client wants to achieve.

Each session begins with a brief check-in and a chance to celebrate any wins or progress since the previous conversation.

From there, the client chooses the topic they want to focus on. Together, Ellie and the client clarify the goal for that session and identify what the client would like to walk away with.

During the conversation, Ellie:

• listens deeply

• asks thoughtful questions

• helps explore different perspectives

• supports the client in developing practical next steps

The conversation stays focused on what the client can influence or control, helping them leave with clear takeaways they can try between sessions.

When relevant, they may also reference insights from the Energy Leadership Index (ELI) assessment to deepen self-awareness and explore new ways of responding to challenges.

Many strengths assessments focus on identifying personality traits or natural abilities.

The Energy Leadership Index (ELI) looks at something different — how someone perceives and responds to situations, especially under stress.

The ELI measures a person’s energetic profile and how they typically react when facing challenges. It examines patterns in thinking, emotional reactions, and behavior that influence how someone shows up as a leader and decision-maker.

The assessment highlights two key areas:

• a person’s typical energetic profile on a normal day

• their energetic stress reaction when challenges arise

By understanding these patterns, clients can become more aware of the internal filters that shape their reactions and decision-making. That awareness opens the door to more intentional responses, improved leadership presence, and greater resilience.

It’s a surprisingly common question.

In many situations, the dynamic between two people creates a particular type of energy. For example, when someone approaches a conversation with tension or conflict, the other person often responds with defensiveness.

One of the most powerful insights in coaching is realizing that while we can’t control someone else’s behavior, we can influence the dynamic by changing how we show up.

Sometimes even small shifts — tone, curiosity, perspective, or communication style, can change the way others respond.

Coaching focuses on the one thing every person can truly influence: their own actions, mindset, and approach. And often, when one person changes how they show up, the entire interaction begins to shift.