Bio
Coaching and Leadership Development
Steve Motenko is a nationally acclaimed, Harvard-educated leadership trainer and Professional Certified Coach (PCC) specializing in integral development. His mission is to offer conscious, motivated leaders the support and the challenge to create a more meaningful, just, and sustainable world.
In 2001, Steve was awarded the highest level of professional coach certification offered by New Ventures West, one of the first programs accredited by the International Coach Federation. He now works with clients across the country on topics like work/life balance, leadership, career transition, stress reduction, relationship issues, and spiritual development.
His coaching training and experience, plus a strong service orientation, led Steve into leadership development and executive coaching, where he has built a broad and eclectic resume:
- training managers at Boeing and Microsoft in leadership qualities and skills
- as co-host of The Boss Show, a weekly podcast offer "workplace wisdom, with heart and humor, for anyone who is or has a boss"
- as a certified trainer and keynoter for the Center for Ethical Leadership, introducing a values/integrity-based leadership approach in business, education, nonprofits, government agencies, and community organizations across the country
Steve’s interactive workshops, for groups from 6 to 1500, have been called “life-changing.” As a performing musician all his adult life, Steve brings an energetic and engaging presence "on stage," but he prefers to tap the collective wisdom of any group he's facilitating. Steve knows that leaders learn more from their own reflection, dialogue and practice than from any "instruction."
In addition to his coaching work, Steve manages teams and projects as Director of Operations for the Sustainable World Coalition, a nonprofit focused on sustainability education and engagement.
Prior Experience and Non-Work Life
His wide-ranging experience has amply prepared Steve to be a powerfully effective coach and leadership trainer – from his psychology studies at Harvard University, through his award-winning journalism work, to a distinguished career as a teacher and mentor of teachers.
In his journalism career, Steve mastered two keys to effective coaching: the ability to listen profoundly – to see a story through the eyes of another – and the ability to tell that story in a way that respects differing interpretations.
As a teacher, Steve specialized in learning design – “expanding the ability to produce the results we truly want,” as Peter Senge defines learning. A long-time activist for educational transformation, Steve is the former Education Coordinator for Riane Eisler's Center for Partnership Studies, and in 2003, he founded the Washington Holistic Education Network. In 2005, he contributed several chapters to a book offering a vision for the future of education: Nurturing Civilization Builders.
Steve does volunteer work for The Pachamama Alliance, which produces the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium, a grass-roots effort to bring forth an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and spiritually fulfilling human presence on the planet. He's a past Board member of the Northwest Environmental Education Council and is a member of the Sierra Club, Green America, the Integral Institute, the International Coach Federation, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
Steve believes wholeheartedly in work-life balance. In his non-work life, he enjoys hiking, Pilates, meditation, and especially spending quality time with his wife, Karen, and their energetic puppy Lucas. They make their home in paradise – Washington State's Whidbey Island.
Steve is committed to authenticity and openness in his life, work and relationships. His overarching vision for himself and his clients: to live in the service of our highest aspirations.
