I’m James Scott.
How I Think
I’ve spent much of my career working in situations where there wasn’t an obvious answer.
That has made me fairly skeptical of simple answers to complicated situations.
Context matters. Assumptions are worth questioning. And sometimes the thing that looks like the problem isn’t the thing that most needs attention.
I tend to look at situations from different angles, notice connections and tensions, and ask what might be getting taken for granted.
In coaching, I bring that way of thinking without deciding what any of it means for you. My role isn’t to arrive at the answer. It’s to help create the kind of conversation in which you can see more clearly and decide what makes sense for you.
This comes from experience
I’ve spent much of my career in senior leadership roles where I was accountable for outcomes, not just advice.
I’ve worked across organizations of very different sizes, stages and industries, from large global businesses to smaller, growing organizations. That has given me a view into very different ways of leading, operating and making decisions.
Before starting my coaching practice, I was a Managing Director at Deloitte, with earlier senior roles at ADP and Aon. I’ve built and led practices, managed global teams, and worked in environments where expectations were high, the answers weren’t always obvious, and decisions had real consequences.
I’ve also spent much of my career hiring, developing and leading people, from first-time leaders to senior executives with enterprise-level responsibility.
I’m a Certified Professional Coach through Coach Academy.
My experience helps me recognize the terrain. It doesn’t mean I know what you should do.
Becoming a Coach
Much of my career rewarded me for having answers. Experience mattered because people expected me to know what to do.
Coaching asked something different of me: to bring that experience without assuming it contained someone else’s answer.
I found there was another way to be useful: creating the space, asking the questions and offering the challenge that helps someone think more clearly for themselves.
That distinction is a large part of why I chose to coach.
Looking back, I can think of plenty of times when having that kind of conversation would have helped me too.