With clients from
"Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change."
—Stephen Hawking
Hi! I'm Mike Friedmann.
I'm here because I love helping others get more out of their work and their lives.
I'm an organizational psychologist and coach with past experience at Harvard Business School, IBM, and Columbia University.
I’ve worked with some 300 clients in finance, technology, law, healthcare, marketing, consumer goods, and hospitality—as well as MBA and university students from some 40 schools across the U.S., Europe, and China.
My practice areas include:
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Goal Setting, Strategic Planning, & Execution
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People Dynamics, Leadership, Communication, and Influence
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Career Development and Effective Job Hunting
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Productivity, Organization, Attention, and Time Management
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Specialty Needs—including team coaching, conflict resolution, accounting and finance, and university/MBA students
What is coaching?
Broadly speaking, coaching is a one-on-one process of expert guidance, to help clients:
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Clarify, execute, and complete their most important goals
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Change or transition into new roles, organizations, or careers
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Skillfully navigate workplace dynamics and cultivate influence among target audiences
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Make meaningful change to their work habits, time management, and organization
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Effect real personal and professional change.
"Problems are potential improvements screaming at you."
—Ray Dalio, Fund Manager, Founder of Bridgewater Associates
What does coaching look like?
Drawing on my background in management consulting, behavioral economics, neuroscience, and psychology, I support clients with a variety of needs, including:
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Goal & Strategy Management—Help clients: (a) clarify what's important and (b) set strategic goals—complete with milestones, metrics, timetables, and accountability meetings
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Career Development—Help clients: (a) match their skills, work values, and interests to jobs in the market; (b) network and job-search effectively; (c) write resumes and cover letters that translate into interviews; (d) communicate tangible value to hiring managers; (e) negotiate and close offers, (f) transition skillfully into new roles
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People Dynamics—Develop clients' skills in influence, communication, leadership, and conflict resolution
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Work Habits & Organization—Develop clients' skills in organization, attention, time-management, and stress-management
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Personal/High-Potential Development—Help clients clarify their personal values and career purpose; develop their skills in self-leadership, strategic thinking, self-awareness, communication, productivity, and influence. Help clients set direction for their education and careers (common for MBA and university students).
Most importantly, all of this is done in a safe, supportive, and confidential space. To paraphrase the author, coach, and business-school professor Stephen Covey, a coach is a supportive partner, not a critic; they are a guide, not a judge.
The metaphor that I often use to describe coaching is that you and I are going hiking together. But you get pick which mountain we climb (i.e., you pick your own goals). I'll give you feedback, perhaps pointing out the ravine in front of you, or saying, "I've noticed the way you've repeatedly tried to grip that rock... How is that approach working? What if you tried this instead?". But ultimately, we're training you to be a better explorer (executive, entrepreneur, etc.).
Who do I work with?
Broadly speaking, I work with anyone willing to make an investment in their own personal, intellectual, and professional development. In the past, I have worked with:
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Professionals—including c-level executives, attorneys, entrepreneurs, fund managers, consultants, physicians, social workers, and others in finance, technology, law, healthcare, education, marketing/PR, consumer goods and hospitality.
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Organizations—in finance, law, healthcare, technology, education, and government
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Students—including high-school, undergraduate, MBA, and graduate students, from schools including: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, NYU, Oxford, Horace Mann, Trinity, Harvard-Westlake, The United Nations International School (UNIS) and some 40 others across the U.S., Europe, and China.
About Me
I have a BA in Economics and Finance, an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and I'm currently earning a PhD, also in Organizational Psychology at Columbia, where I study things like: management, motivation, emotional intelligence, leadership, negotiation, conflict resolution, career development, organizational consulting, and human coaching.
Before coming to Columbia, I consulted to the MBA program at Harvard Business School, and worked in research on job markets, negotiation, consumer behavior, and marketing at Harvard Business School and MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Prior to that, I worked as a financial management consultant at IBM, and for ten years I have taught economics, accounting, and finance to corporate clients, financial-services professionals, consultants, and business-school students at Harvard (HBS), Columbia (CBS), NYU (Stern), Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and some 40 other institutions across the U.S., Europe, and China.
EDUCATION
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Columbia University, PhD (2027 expected), Organizational Psychology
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Columbia Business School/Graduate School of Education, Coaching Certification (2023 expected)
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Columbia University, MA, Organizational Psychology, 2022
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American University/Kogod School of Business, BA, Economics & Finance
MY PRACTICE AREAS
Below you'll find descriptions of how I work with clients, given their objectives.
GOAL & STRATEGY COACHING
Let me help you get what you really want.
Designed for clients looking to launch ambitious new projects or businesses, goal and strategy coaching draws on organizational-psychology research to help clients:
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Clarify what's truly important
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Formulate concrete goals around these priorities
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Build in milestones, timetables, and other measures to ensure motivation, accountability, and completion.
We'll hold regular check-in meetings, where I'll help you diagnose obstacles, identify root causes, and talk you through problem-solving strategies—all in a safe, supportive, and confidential environment, so you'll have support from ideation to completion.
CAREER COACHING
Let's get you where you want to be.
With a background in job-market research at Harvard Business School and career counseling at Columbia University, I work with clients at all stages of career development, including:
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Identifying your skills, abilities, work values and interests
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Creating an Ideal Job Profile
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How to network and job-search effectively
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Strategic resume and cover-letter writing
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Interview preparation and coaching
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Negotiation and offer-closing strategies
PEOPLE DYNAMICS, INFLUENCE & LEADERSHIP COACHING
Understand people (including yourself). Engage skillfully.
Workplace dynamics are complicated. How do you gain influence with key people? How do you deliver feedback that's both honest and considerate? How do you challenge someone's thinking (or behavior) without creating destructive conflict? Fortunately, there are skillful ways of handling these and other interpersonal situations. That's why I offer coaching around:
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Managing up, down, and across
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Team and group dynamics
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Client relationships
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Adaptive negotiation
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Conflict resolution.
DEVELOPMENT COACHING
Become the smartest, most effective version of yourself.
Development coaching combines any or all of the modalities described above. Using frameworks and tools from psychology, neuroscience, behavioral economics, and management science, I'll help you:
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Set direction, to identify what you really want out of life and work
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Develop concrete actions to move you closer to those values
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Diagnose barriers that stand between you and your objectives
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Identify your own strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, and opportunities
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Build adaptive responses to problems
Like the Harvard Business School case method, I help clients learn from their own experiences in real time. And most importantly, this is done in a safe, confidential, and nonjudgmental space. To paraphrase the famed author, executive coach, and business-school professor Stephen R. Covey, a coach is a supportive partner, not a critic. They are a guide, not a judge. The metaphor I often use is that you and I are hiking together. But you pick which mountain we're going to climb (i.e. the goal, the direction). I'll give you feedback, saying things like "Watch out for that ravine up there," or, "I've noticed the way you've repeatedly tried to grip that rock... How is that approach working?". But ultimately, we're training you to be a better explorer, climber, entrepreneur, etc.
PRODUCTIVITY, ORGANIZATION, & TIME-MANAGEMENT COACHING
Your productivity is determined by where you put your attention.
As someone with ADHD, I understand all too well what it's like to feel overwhelmed, disheveled, and flustered by a blizzard of tasks, appointments, emails, text messages, missed calls, and calendar events. Fortunately, there are best practices for executing your tasks, reclaiming your time, and managing deadlines. I support clients with: (a) reshaping their work habits, (b) software tools for task-management and calendar-keeping, and (c) overcoming perfectionism and procrastination, all of which I teach clients as part of my coaching.
CONTACT ME / BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION
I believe that everyone deserves a great fit with their coach; so I offer a free one-hour consultation to learn about them, their goals or challenges, and what they hope to get out of coaching. Then, I'll sketch out personalized a plan for our work together, so you can make an informed decision before you commit to any paid sessions. To set up your free consultation, just fill out the form on the right and I’ll be in touch with you very shortly!
—Mike
PHONE
(617) 209-9834
