Testimonials: Coaching Program Development
Maril was the innovative, detail-oriented, and tenacious creator of the coaching program at Google, matching outside coaches such as myself with executives at Google. While she was there this was one of the most vigorous, vibrant, and exciting projects I'd worked on. She not only shepherded the internal logistics, but established a community of coaches who had a common purpose and vision for the work we were doing. The systems that Maril put in place would work at any organization. Her organizational skills are only outmatched by her dedication to doing good work and making a difference for people. Can't say enough good about her capacity as a leader, developer, and motivator.
— Susan Fowler, Sr. Consulting Partner, Author, The Ken Blanchard Companies and Leadership Legacies, LLC |
Maril did a seamless job of launching and managing the Google Engineering Coaching Center. She structured the program, reviewed and vetted candidates, and worked with those of us selected to be part of Google's coaching cadre to develop best practices, foment learning and ensure the best quality deliverables for Google coachees and the organization as a whole. And she did all this without ever appearing to be stressed or personally taxed by what I am sure was an extremely complex task, both logistically and politically. Any organization seeking to create a state-of-the-art executive coaching program would benefit from Maril's leadership.
— Michael Urtuzuastegui Melcher, Partner, Next Step Partners, LLC |
Maril pretty much single handedly pulled together and administered a company-wide coaching center for Google. As one of the 20 contract coaches, I found Maril to be a great people manager of her team of consultants, empowering and respecting our needs, while maintaining a focus on the various organizational realities. Maril is professional and competent while exuding a strong values based and humanistic sense about carrying out the learning and development mission at Google. As a client and partner, she is someone you trust and want to work for.
— Tom Butz, Organization Development, University of California, San Francisco - Center for the Health Professions |
Maril built the most innovative and effective coaching center that I have ever seen or been part of. She provided just the right amount of structure to save us time and provide some consistency of experience for clients, but gave us the flexibility to apply our judgment of what our clients needed from us. The community she helped to seed continues to blossom!
— Lesly Higgins, Executive Coach and OD Consultant, Lesly Higgins, M.S. |
I met Maril Blanchard when she recruited me for the Coaching Center she created at Google, and I worked closely with her over the two years that she headed that program. Maril’s combination of visionary daring and practical execution are rare to find in one individual, and I learned so much from her leadership and guidance. She did a phenomenal amount of research and study of other coaching programs and accomplished a launch in a fraction of the time most programs require. She recruited outstanding people with a careful, thorough interview process, and she led a team that created a data-driven yet people-centered success. Her ability to consider and develop both big-picture vision and detailed follow-through is outstanding. Her deep integrity and skillful communication will bring value and results to whatever endeavor she undertakes.
— Carolyn Foster, Owner, Creative Choices |
Maril was an extraordinary leader in building and directing the Google Coaching Center. Maril selected and built a world class coaching team at Google. She interviewed, selected and on-boarded executive coaches with a range of skills and locations to serve the unique and demanding Google community. She was insightful in understanding how best to use executive coaches and match clients and coaches, and maintaining a self-driven coach community. I would recommend Maril to anyone seeking a leader to launch a new program or community or establish executive coaching or talent development programs.
— Jean Fuller, Principal, Fuller Coaching |
Maril created the Coaching Center at Google on her own initiative and shaped it into a very effective center for learning not only for the managers we coached, but also for the coaches themselves. Maril guided this effort with a deep understanding of how coaching benefits the clients and the bottom line results of the company and made sure that the community of coaches were serving both. Maril is a hard working, smart, and a real gem of a person. If you get the chance to work with Maril, I recommend you take it. You will gain a tremendous amount from the experience.
— Jeffrey Young, Business and Professional Coach, Coignite |
Maril is a creative, resourceful professional with a keen ability to apply her capabilities in a fast paced, rapidly growing business environment. Maril built Google's Engineering Coaching Center from the ground up and through her effective management, made the Coaching Center an invaluable and highly sought after resource for both new and experienced engineering managers. She single-handedly vetted and selected an eclectic cadre of coaches for the Center which provided needed guidance to managers facing enormous leadership challenges at Google. Maril was a pleasure to work with and would be an asset to any individual or organization that has the good fortune to partner with her."
— Gary M. Edwards, Principal, G.M. Edwards & Associates, Inc., Honolulu, HI and San Francisco, CA |