Jamie Broughton, Leadership Coach

Who is this “emerging-leader” guy anyway?

In short, I’m a leadership coach and author of “The Emerging Leader”. I’ve got over a decade’s worth of unique experience of working with senior leaders helping them to fully leverage the Emerging Leaders in their organizations.

The road to becoming a leadership coach wasn’t always obvious – or easy. They say the students who have struggled the most make the best teachers. I’ve certainly learned about this leadership thing the hard way. In fact, I’ve become living proof that the most unsuspecting people can do great things.

I was five years old when I was put on the path to do this work. It was Halloween and my Dad and I built the greatest Halloween costume ever – I was going to be a yellow duck! The outfit was big, it was bold and it was bright. It was so fabulous it made me nervous. “What the heck will people think?”

I stayed home that night. I just couldn’t face going to the party.. In fact, I “stayed home” for the 20 years after that. From the outside it looked like I was creating super things. On the inside I knew I was really coasting.

Then, in 1995 I got the wake-up call no one wants to get. My fiancée, April, was nearly killed in a car crash. She slipped into a coma that lasted 28 days and then spent five years in rehab.

The results April and I created with her rehab were remarkable and even caught the national media’s attention. We were featured in the Globe and Mail and on the Women’s Television Network. We appeared on CBC Radio. Numerous local media outlets picked up the story as well. We became, in a way, mini-celebrities.

My experience with April’s crash dramatically changed the way I led my life. It also began a fascination with what it takes to really step into our potential as people. At its core, isn’t that what leadership is all about? I’ve since read countless books on leadership and coaching, and received all kinds of training on the topic.

I knew I wanted to share what I learned through my experience but just didn’t know what it would look like. I built on my business degree from the University of Toronto and earned an Adult Education Diploma from George Brown College, thinking this might give me a piece of the puzzle to help share what I learned.

Then, in 1999 I discovered coaching when it was gaining momentum as a formal profession. I knew then and there I’d found my passion. Coaching put a name on what I’ve been doing naturally for so long. I’m now one of a select group of coaches in Canada to have earned the designation “PCC” (Professional Certified Coach) from the International Coaching Federation.

The following year I founded Footprint Leadership, focusing specifically on leadership coaching for emerging leaders and I now speak across Canada on my experience and leadership. My “game-of-life-is-meant-to-be-played” philosophy has attracted new and emerging leaders from Canada and the U.S. Their challenges vary from simply wanting to be more effective in their role to successfully launching multi-million dollar product lines to turning around divisions. While I haven’t convinced any of them to wear duck outfits quite yet, they’re all going to parties of their own.

The Footprint office in the peaceful town of Uxbridge,
near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

It’s a funny thing, but leadership coaching clients, participants and friends had been encouraging me to write about leadership and coaching for ages. In 2005, I finally decided to give it a go and I now write a monthly publication called “Footnotes.” Its unconventional approach takes the sometimes “exclusive” nature of leadership and brings it back down to earth where it belongs. My articles are now read by thousands of people monthly. If you’re interested in receiving it with my my compliments, click here.

I hope this page gives you a better sense of what I’m all about and why I’m so passionate about the leadership coaching work I do.

Warmly,

Jamie Broughton, Leadership Coach & Author
Founder, Footprint Leadership

P.S. Do you like to challenge yourself physically? I do. Cycling is my thing. I’m a bit of a nut about it actually. Four or five years ago, knees knocking, I signed up for my first twenty-four hour mountain-bike competition in the “solo” category. I not only survived, but enjoyed it (yes, it is possible)! Recently I decided that I didn’t want to just endure the event, I wanted to do really well. I got serious with my training, dug really deep and placed 4th in a field of over 1500. I had no idea I had it in me!

The next place to go is the Free Stuff section.