Go Beyond Your Story
Work with me creates better men and women, more capable leaders, wiser parents and partners, bolder visionaries, and people who realize their full potential.
I am the co-founder and principal of CEO², an executive coaching firm designed to work with seasoned executives to create certainty in uncertain times.
For decades I’ve honed my mastery of discipline, focused attention, and pushing past my limits without burning myself out.
I’ve consulted with thought leaders as diverse as Ken Wilber and David Deida, written books with Zen roshis and startup multimillionaires, helped men to step fully into their power (itself a paradoxical process), and worked with influential couples who are ready to stop settling for less than their full potential.
All that’s really needed to change is the willingness (forget the desire) to do something different.
I’ve been in the same men’s group, with same 7 amazing and accomplished men, for 16+ years, meeting twice-monthly. I’ve been supported, challenged, met, and ultimately asked to step into the fullness of my gifts without apology or delay.
Along the way, I’ve studied everything from Zen to Integral Theory, from advanced martial arts to polarity training, and have cultivated cutting-edge tools proven to create change.
Work with me is methodical and intense, but also open and receptive. People come to me because they want more, and they’re ready to do what it takes to get it.
Approach + Methodology
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Polarity & Paradox
You already know how limiting either/or thinking is. Just look at our current culture, with each side entrenched in their opinions unable, or unwilling, to see a world that’s both/and rather than either/or. The result? Conflict, confusion, war.
Most of us also suffer from too much either/or thinking, thinking which creates “to-from” scenarios, such as “I need to grow my business this year.” (From where it is to where you want it.)
Yet this hides a nasty duality that can work against the very problem that is actually in the way of both appeciating what’s good (or works well) now, and being prepared for what challenges future success will certainly bring.
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Embodiment & Emotional Intelligence
The body is more than just a thing we drive around with our heads,. We are, all of us, fully embodied, meaning we are not “head with a body” but just a head-and-body.
Yet most people I know are deeply dissociated from the innate wisdom of their bodies. They have never cultivated and deepened the already-existing connections between the gut, the heart, and the head. As a result, they lived cutoff from themselves.
There are some simple but powerful practices you can learn to better inhabit your body, and to get more honest feedback about major decisions in your life. The results are greater health, a deeper sense of knowing, better sleep, better sex, and a longer life.
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Mindfulness
We hear a lot about mindfulness these days, and meditation is offered from just about everywhere.
As a Zen priest, however, I’ll share a secret: not all meditations are created equal. True mindfulness gives you space — space inside of yourself to allow what is, which lets you be more present for your life as it is. The busier things get, the more meditation helps, because it (and not a vacation) is the only thing that will truly give you the space - and peace - you desire..
Yet creating and sticking with a meditation practice isn’t easy for most. There are reasons for that, too.
Areas of Expertise
Challenging Transitions
Transitions define our lives — when an opportunity arises, do we react as we always did, or choose the best option to step forward?
Sometimes transitions are developmental in nature, which is my area of expertise. This usually means a client has outgrown how they used to show at work, in relationship, with their finances, at home, or in the world at-large. These developmental transitions require both support for where you’ve been, and challenge to step into a new way of seeing what’s in front of you.
Purpose, leadership, love, and financial freedom are all interconnected elements that can, collectively, elevate the expression of one's full potential. To say it another way, if you’re a great CEO but aa terrible husband, something of off in your life. Or if you’re a great person, but can’t find a good mate or are dissatisfied in your relationship, it’s time for something new.
With decades of expertise in strategy, coaching, and business, I have worked with dozens of companies, leadership teams, thought leaders, and ambitious innovators. My real passion, however, lies in supporting individuals through their deepest challenges and richest opportunities.
My services are tailored for those who are prepared for significant personal and professional growth and are seeking a more expedited transformational journey than one they might undertake alone. If you are ready to embrace profound change, let’s talk.
Intimacy
To state the obvious, relationships are hard work.
It’s hard to get into one that truly satisfies and meets you, stay in one that can grow with you and your partner’s needs (while changing in ways that serve both of you and maintaining sexual intimacy), and it’s hard to learn how to break destructive patterns of communication. Hardest of all is knowing when the time has come to move on.
No matter where you and your partner are in this process, I can help with communication, attachment issues, and developing strategies to get more of what you both want, and deserve.
Some choose to have open relationships — polyamory. There are incredible graces to be found on this path, and incredible challenges. Knowing what to expect, what is and is not realistic, and how to *really* communicate are vital for any deepening partnership but even more important in an open one.
I work with individuals and with couples, generally over several months or longer, to allow insights, practice new ways of being, clear unspoken resentments, and find a new and better way of being together.
Relationships can go from hard work to something that makes both of you stronger, and better.
“Keith brings a completely unique intensity and insight to his coaching. Quite simply, he was able to do more in less time than many therapists, coaches, and other professionals who have come in and out of my life over the last 25 years.”
Bill Brakemeier
Senior Trainer & Coach at CGI Franchise
Testimonials
“I want you to know how much I have and do appreciate Keith, not only in the work he did with us, but also the honest and gifted person that he is. I have seen his beautiful flexibility flowing into the waters of the unknown in our business and taking responsibility when no one could even know what that responsibility was.”
Terri O’Fallon
Founder of STAGES International
“Keith is not afraid to cut with a sharper edge when needed. He takes transformational work out of the therapeutic "safe" container while being guided by heart that shows up big and committed to the deeper awareness that dwells in the core. I feel safer around Keith for the reason that he is willing to take risk, willing to say what is unsaid and to deliver it without compromise. His practice as a martial artist and Zen practitioner brings a grounded presence that supports a container in going toward what matters.”
Marco Chung-Shu Lam
Clinic Director of the Mandala Integrative Medicine Clinic
“Keith brings vast and diverse personal experience and insight to his work with men's issues.
He'll quietly listen and affirm the story we tell (ourselves and others) and when the moment is right, offer that sniper-like bolt of clarity that cuts through it all to the heart of the issue and provide the light that illuminates the path forward.
He’s an adept — a sherpa — that can aid your journey. One only need ask for his guidance.”
Casey Capshaw
Director of Operations, Strada
“He’s not just a wordsmith extraordinaire he’s the guy you want to have your back on a crucial project or professional conundrum. Keith’s clarity, subtlety, and grace inspire me as a writer, a reader, and an entrepreneur. But what truly makes him a cut above are his huge heart and fiercely clarifying presence.”
Angela Raines
Professional Writer
“Keith stands apart in his capacity to float fluently between constructive analysis of your work, and your more spiritual and psychological personality traits that are at play. He cuts through the nonsense to target precisely what’s holding you back.”
Katherine Armstrong
Attorney and Entrepreneur
Keith has committed himself to the kind of work that most dare not — he has acknowledged complicated truths that shine light on uncomfortable corners of my reality that demand attention, once seen. He rings the bell that cannot be unrung. He’ll go the edge with you and guide you gracefully beyond it because he’s been there himself… and for this I am infinitely grateful for his presence in my life.
T.J.
Professional Rolfer
“I am consistently impressed with Keith’s insight and ability to quickly deepen with others in a way that treads beyond the comfort zone but brings people with him. Keith has a great balance of grounded power and confidence and the capacity to reveal his own vulnerability. I am inspired by his dedication to his own evolution as much as his skill in contributing to the evolution of others.”
Eddie Konold
MA, LPC, CAC II
“The thing you need to know about Keith is that he has done and is doing the work himself every day. What does this mean for you? It means that you can expect no judgment, but also that his bullshit detector is on high. If you’re ready to dig in and get real, he’s your man.”
James Edwards
Chief Executive Officer, Drylands Agroecology Research
“Keith has always approached me from a solid grounding in his body, which helps land everything…right here. But it’s his own continued opening into the most vulnerable and raw places within his heart that has me so deeply trust him.
And it is all three together - wisdom, ground, heart - that has Keith being a man I turn to when I’m faced with the biggest challenges I have.”
Bryce Widom
Professional artist + transformational guide
“Keith’s in-depth understanding of human development really helped us cut quickly to key areas that are holding me back. His samurai sword of clarity and compassion helps me feel safe in our sessions, while his finely calibrated bullshit detector deftly uncovers where I’m fooling myself.”
Mark Bloomfield
former CEO Radiant Labs
"My experience co-facilitating, shoulder-to-shoulder with Keith continues to shift and grow as I witness him beautifully evolving as a man, a leader, and a skillful, courageous, heart-full facilitator. Keith possesses -- and continually refines -- his own rare blend of deep discipline (Zen and Kung Fu are in his bones), a humble and heart-centered practice in relationship to other humans, and a fierceness of sight and challenge that is matched only by his love of laughter and connection. If you're looking for a unique, powerful, insightful, skilled, and loving guide, look no further ."
Jeffrey James Howard
MA, LPC, Soul Guide
