I was running a growing entrepreneurial business and we were really struggling to find what the future of the company was. We had a lot of different opportunities coming our way and we felt like we needed to develop a longer-term strategy for the business. So I was looking for somebody who could help us, someone who could bring in a good strategic planning system, help us build our executive team and through a network of entrepreneurs and business owners Bill came highly recommended.

I think when I’m working with Bill it’s a continuous process. I wouldn’t see it as one problem. Bill came in to help us build a strategic plan for the company and develop our executive team. I wanted to be a stronger leader in the business and help people develop their leadership skills in the company. I’m extremely proud of what we have built together over 10 years. We had a very successful business, which grew significantly, we sold that business. We had probably the best management team I’ve ever encountered. We had great relationships and culture and I think all of that can be attributed to Bill’s methods, coaching, consulting and systems but I do think it’s continuous.

Since working with Bill I’ve learned to allow myself to have really big goals and dreams for my business and to have the confidence and courage to go after them and know it’s possible. Bill gives you the tools and coaching to make your dreams achievable and believable.

Bill is a true professional, he has a deep understanding of what it is to be an entrepreneur. I don’t think there’s anybody better that I’ve ever met that understands all the elements of leadership. He is completely dedicated to his clients and completely invested in their success. The systems and processes are practical, and they work. I think the best thing you could do for your business is to bring Bill and his team in and trust that the business strategies and processes that he brings in will work.

-Karen Brookman, President & CEO at West Canadian Digital Imaging Inc.

I had four partners at Weston Forest Products, and we had to decide which of these four partners was going to replace me as president. Bill put together a process that everyone agreed upon and by the end everyone was thrilled with the ultimate result and decision. It could have been an ugly process, but it was a very good process. Unequivocally I couldn’t have done it myself and had it go as smoothly without Bill.

We’ve employed Bill to do ongoing mentoring of our presidents, vice-presidents, senior-managers and some of our young potential rock stars so he’s touching on many levels within the company. They’ve all told me that not only they’ve improved in their professional life but their relationships with their spouses and kids as a result of their work with Bill have improved as well.

Every person he’s worked with has said their overall life and work performance is better because of him. If you want to help your business be better, and your people be better, Bill can help you in general. Specifically, if you have an issue with a high performer or potential successor, he can work to make that person better and therefore, the entire process better.

Bottom line, we’ve been working with Bill for 5 years and we’re still working with him, not just because he’s a nice guy. We’re working with him because he’s bringing value to our company and our people.

-Rick Ekstein, President & CEO at Phaze3 Management Inc.

Bill has a natural ability to build successful businesses through executive and leadership development, with a focus on maximizing team and individual strengths, while helping you navigate and improve areas of weakness. Difficult to describe in words but when Bill leads you to those breakthroughs it makes the hard work, tears and effort worthwhile. Pure magic!

I have had the absolute good fortune of working with Bill Stevens (The Fulcrum Group) for over a decade and can say with 100 percent certainty that our time together has enriched both my professional and personal life beyond measure.

Fulcrum’s organizational coaching and methodologies focused on maximizing the uniqueness of our company culture, reemphasized our core values and purpose which enabled us to develop talent and leadership and in turn drive winning strategies, attract industry leading partnerships, customers and ultimately build repeatable and profitable business.

-Lindsay Duprey Vice President of Technology Services and Innovation at West Canadian Digital Imaging

Bill approaches the coaching very holistically, it’s not your typical coaching relationship because Bill personalizes his approach to you and your most important needs whether that be personal or professional. If you are open to exponential growth in all facets of your life Bill is the person for you. He and I have been working together for over a year now and we’ve probably had 20-30 conversations all of which build off one another. He knows when to remind me to use the strategies we’ve discussed and to recognize when I’ve slipped up.

His insight and intelligence allow him to recognize things that I couldn’t even see. I also want to touch upon the kind of person Bill is. He is warm, kind and humorous and knows when to bring that into his coaching, I was dealing with issues for a long time and Bill helped me not only make light of them but work through them thoroughly and I am much happier with my work.

Bill allowed me to make the most out of my role at the company, I deal with lawyers so they can be difficult to manage but Bill has helped me through a holistic approach looking at my personal life and professional life. I almost feel I’m cheating because I benefit just as much personally as I do professionally from my work with Bill, I feel more fulfilled from my job my life and it all connects and translates through the coaching.

My work with Bill has benefited my marriage, my friendships and my work within my company because it has helped me challenge myself to adopt a different mindset and communication strategies particularly when approaching possible confrontational subject matters. I manage a team of lawyers and they can be difficult to reason with at times but with Bill’s coaching we have found ways to maximize results and effectively communicate strategies with my team and I can see the results.

-John Thatcher Director, Managed Review Services at Ricoh Americas Corporation

Bill is a really effective partner in synergistically bringing forward solutions for optimal organizational performance. He is the best at seeing individuals’ unique abilities and coaching them to use these abilities in the best interest of their personal and professional lives. He works to identify qualitative issues to create quantifiable results. He is the best at seeing individuals’ unique abilities and coaching them to use these abilities in the best interest of their personal and professional lives.

One of Bill’s really great skills is team building. He harnesses individuals’ abilities and strengths to create great outcomes where 1 person +1 person =3 when they are on one of his teams. If you’re wondering whether or not you should partner with Bill, trust me and just do it. I’ve never seen anyone else like him bring a team of all different Executive personalities to work so cohesively together. Since working with Bill, I’m a stronger leader, with much more confidence in my own professional life, and I trust myself and my team a lot more.

-Jennifer Brookman, Vice President Marketing at West Canadian Digital Imaging

As I entered into my partnership with Bill as my coach and advisor, I was distracted and was having difficulties defining my role within my company, and he said to me, ‘What are you there for and who are you being?’ At the time my answer to this question was not clear but Bill allowed me to see how I was failing to fill my role at the company. My role is now very well defined. I’m adding the value I wanted to and it has been an amazing experience to gain that clarity and have the company understand my clarity. This has resulted in me being rewarded tremendously in all areas of my life.

Bill has been an advocate for me professionally in areas that I could not manage myself. No one else in our company could have brought me to that level. He has helped me solidify my position within my company and has made it clear to myself and others what my role is and how I am most valuable to the company.

He speaks to my professional and personal life hand in hand, very focused and personalized. His work is driven professionally, and he effectively makes it personal, it’s really about me.

My CEO told me that no one had been as instrumental in helping him take on the leadership of the company and achieve the role of Chief Executive Officer as Bill and as a result he believed I would benefit greatly from him.

Since working with Bill, I’ve grown to become very focused on the big picture and the future as opposed to only what’s right in front of me. Now I practice projecting where I’m going to be in one two years from now. I have a much more clear view of my role in the company.

I feel that Bill has helped me become an integral part of my company and a welcome part of the team here. I have gained a sense of fulfilment with my work and I enjoy my job more than I ever have in my life. I truly appreciate Bill so much.

-Earle McCandless, Commercial Account Director at Reliance Insurance Agencies

Bill has created a very deep and unique level of trust in our leadership team and across our organization. This trust enables us to do more than we would have ever done without him. He leverages creative insight into human nature and creates synergy for breakthrough performance. Bill fine tunes strategic development and creates new, more effective ones to develop a sense of cohesion within the team and organization. He is a wise, unbiased voice who became part of our leadership team He brings unprecedented and actionable insight to our leaders and the organization as a whole. He has enabled breakthroughs in our performance.

We are a high performance team since partnering with Bill. I wouldn’t be the leader I am today without him.

-Jennifer Johnson, Vice President Services Strategy & Innovation at Ricoh Canada Inc.

Bill has coached both the senior management team and junior managers to a new level of leadership abilities.

-Michele Lemieux, Human Resources Manager at Ricoh eDiscovery

Bill is great for individuals who want to get to know themselves better, I think that when you’re willing to do the work and really dig deep and really face your own weaknesses but also you strengths I think he’s that person who will help you acknowledge them then utilize them in the best way possible, Weaknesses become strengths and strengths become stronger. He’s a pleasure to work with. My brain continuously works for 48h after I’ve met with him. It doesn’t just happen in the hour you work with him. He ‘sits’ with you for two days after that.

Bill has helped me figure out what I don’t want to be…to focus on and hone in on the ideas I do want to be focusing on. It’s helped me coach my colleagues in a much different way because he’s given me a new lens.

My biggest obstacle was trying to figure out what my unique skill set was. There are areas of my job that I’m good at but not necessarily passionate about while there are other areas that I’m good at and am passionate about. I wanted to figure out how I could focus on and enhance those skills and figure out what unique qualities I could bring to my organization. I would say that we haven’t resolved it all yet, but we are absolutely on the path of trying to figure out what those things are. Every time that we do work together, he helps me understand myself in a way that I never have before. He is able to look at the qualities I have and how they can be used to make other people in my organization better. it’s a path, a journey and I feel we are on that journey.

-Stephanie Shapiro, Vice President at Phaze3 Management Inc

Our company is motivated by change, but change can be hard on people. When I met Bill in 2015, we were changing our CEO. Our leader of many years had decided to step back, and we had to choose a successor to him. Bill came along in my mind, to help us transition into that. It was a pretty tough time in the sense the five of us had to adjust to the new dynamic. We needed Bill’s help to coach our people and executives to embrace the new reality.

Bill’s coaching is coaching beyond business coaching. That’s kind of how I have always seen Bill. He takes it to that next level, with issues outside of business. I don’t have a lot of patience for people who can’t bring something to the table, but Bill has brought us real value. We hired consultants from other well-known firms, costing us anywhere from fifty to one hundred grand, and they sucked. They came in and basically showed us how to walk through a SWOT but call it something else; not real value, nor original thought. We stopped hiring these business consultants because we were looking for an “aha” moment and not getting it. Where Bill is different, in my opinion, is through the intangibles he brings to the table. It’s hard to get 4-5 people aligned for a certain vision, but he has helped us do so. Alignment is always tricky and a recurring issue and Bill has been instrumental in the way we function.  

The best thing about Bill and his team is that they can do more than just the business stuff. Their work is beyond what you can get from the biggest consulting firms. He is beyond what you can get from pure consultants and pure psychologists. Bill is a nice combination of the two. We’ve also used him to help people get through stuff, which I think is another one of the best things about him. I think he’s great for those who are open-minded because he can challenge you, and make you uncomfortable enough, in a good way, to find innovative solutions. 

-Rob Hruby, Vice President of Purchasing & Operations at Weston Forest Products

Since partnering with Bill, I think everyone in our company recognizes they have the freedom to share their views, and we want to hear them. My business partner and I now have a much better ability to listen to those views. I don’t think everyone would have shared as much as they do had Bill not been part of that process.

In any company, there will always be various people problems, but Bill has always been a very good and reliable person to lean on when it becomes overwhelming for myself and my business partner to navigate these problems.

Bill is someone who is both good at being a mediator when you have a conflict but also someone you can have to challenge your own ideas while also respecting you if you don’t want your ideas challenged. One of the strengths he has brought to us is helping our team members better document the processes that we use to help us succeed. We now have documented operational procedures and won’t have to rely on our memories for what helped us successfully execute and fulfill our work in our financial advisory.

-John Osborne, Insurance Agent, Financial Planner at Wise Advisory Wealth Management of ACPI – Investment Advisor

Bill has strengths that I have yet to grow into that are complementary to my business. Utilizing him in a context to develop senior skills is something I thought we could work on together.

Compared to the environment I’m used to, which might be more technologically oriented with young leaders, Bill brings me a level of maturity resulting in a different environment and relationship, one that takes me out of the echo chamber I’m currently sitting in. 

Bill is a great listener. He has a deep level of comprehension around people and internal issues inside organizations. He knows how to push people without pushing them away. He has a very strong sense of organizational understanding of how to make things operate better.

–Bart Molenda, Co-Founder & Advisor, Marketing, SaaS, Tech – Montgomery Partner

Bill presented a wonderful opportunity to not only work in our business but on our business and where it was going in the future. When he came in, it started in one place but expanded, so we were able to identify a range of issues that would help make us better and stronger in the future in many different disciplines, including strategic planning, leadership and communication. Thanks to Bill, we have tremendous insights that we acted on that have made us stronger and more eminent.

Bill is sharp, he is focused, he is attentive, and his follow-through is excellent.

-Julian Wise, Partner at Wise Advisory Group

 

I met Bill more than ten years ago. I was an up and coming leader. I would describe the opportunity to work with Bill and his company as nothing short of an awakening. As a result of this awakening, I expanded my thinking, sharpened my business acumen, and gained clarity around tools to leverage my further development around core competencies. I’ve delivered high-value executive services to several different organizations. I’d really like to say thank you to Bill for that.

The evolution I’ve experienced with Bill is not yet complete. I’m currently motivated to realize my ultimate potential and tackle my greatest fear: my own success. I look forward to continued growth as we’re launching a new business, and I know with Bill, we will definitely reach our goals.

Working with Bill, I’ve solved many challenges and realized my greatest challenge is my own fear. Bill has helped me learn that when you get out of your own way, it’s a very grounding experience, but you have to be open and bring yourself fully. To be honest with yourself and then you’ll see how much momentum you can gain. It’s a journey, not a destination.

Bill has allowed me to expand my thinking, gain deeper insights and leverage those insights into powerful deliverables both professionally and personally. He has shown me that leadership is synonymous with perpetual learning and growth. Partnering with Bill is investing in your success, and if you embrace the journey, the rewards will be deep and rich.

I can’t say enough about Bill, he’s changed my life. He cares so much about the people that he chooses to support and it’s so evident, I think he just really helps you. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, what level you’re at Bill allows you to understand the mastery of business and life to be the best human being you can be. He can guide you to where you need to be. It’s such a powerful collaboration, and I’m so honoured to work with him.

-Yvette Bula, Vice President, Discovery Services at Heuristica Discovery Counsel

 

I know Bill through mutual friends and through a men’s group, one Bill put together for men to support other men in the challenges they might have. I joined because Bill was behind it. I had the opportunity to be in a group where the expertise and qualities he brings to a relationship would be made available. Bill would help us problem-solve to get unstuck in different challenges in our lives, both professionally and personally, to live a fuller and better life moving forward.

Since meeting Bill, one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed is my ability to identify a problem and talk about it. Rather than ruminating about it, I seek to gain perspective and support on an issue to reframe it. Bill has helped me realize that there is always support in solving problems. It’s about getting help but also being able to give help to solve your own problems. Through Bill, I have learned that there aren’t perfect solutions, sometimes just owning it and taking action is better than being stuck.

Bill is a person of varied life experiences. Having worked with various people from different walks of life and success, he brings lots of experience to the table. He has a whole wealth of background in self-improvement and brings varied perspectives to his coaching. Bill is very present, a great listener, he’s not distracted, and you get his full attention, that alone is very valuable and makes the coaching very effective.

-Jagjit Bhathal, Partner at Hummingbird Lawyers LLP

 

When entering our partnership with Bill in 2016, we wanted to have some very clearly defined goals for the future of the business. We needed to break it down from strategic planning processes into well-structured and organized segments. Bill’s experience has guided us through that process. It has been evidently successful by the growth in the business unit from both a revenue perspective and a maturity perspective.

A defined structural process around our strategic process has been very noticeable. Bill and his team provide executive coaching, which has helped in business and personal development. They are an excellent, experienced group if you need to have a more defined strategic planning process to grow your business and executive coaching for the purpose of business and personal development.

-David Greetham, Director, Vice President of eDiscovery Sales and Operations, Ricoh USA

 

We worked with Bill for quite a number of years. When we first started, the goal was to build a high-performance executive team. We wanted to be a more cohesive group that could manage the challenges and opportunities available in the market. Improving leadership skills and communication within the Executive Leader Team (ELT) and at the next level amongst the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) was the focus.

Bill started out as an executive coach for the ELT and then also did so for the SLT. In total, Bill would have worked with over a dozen Executives and Managers at TORLYS. Various external leadership analysis and personality profile tools were utilized to coach the multiple leaders and make sure team dynamics were optimized.

I personally spent a lot of time with Bill coaching me to manage the various partnership and leadership issues. Bill also facilitated various multi-day ELT retreats and ongoing internal meetings for years to make sure that what was learned at the coaching sessions and/or developed at retreats were practiced/implemented in the business’s daily operations.

The result being the result, whereas the timeframe that Bill was involved in the business was very strong growth times. Bill has a great combination of academic and business experience that serve him well and the people that he engages with to make them better people and leaders.

-Peter Barretto, President at TORLYS Inc.

 

When meeting Bill, our company was going through dramatic changes with our business model and product creation. Creating clarity on the good and bad, taking in feedback and listening, Bill has helped us develop the planning and momentum to implement concrete change management strategies. Communicating with our team, getting ideas on paper and following up, Bill has done a great job at this. He has a gift for listening and understanding critical issues very quickly in the business and creating a strategic plan.

-Nathan Smith, Entrepreneur/Owner Kansas Smith Farms 

 

After continuing to grow my own business, I found I reached a point where additional coaching/advice was needed. I had grown my business, but I needed more help, strategic direction and planning, looking forward and moving my company as a whole from a one-person shop to a 4-5 person shop. I needed Bill’s help taking the next steps to continue to grow.

Bill’s coaching has changed the way I manage my team. We can talk about certain issues, and he helps me build perspective on my own view and how I will communicate issues to my team in the long run. Through his coaching tools, I understand my team better and can look at the interactions between us. I’ve been able to establish more principles in managing the company as a whole and our vision for going forward.

Bill didn’t try to change me overnight. He would go over my future plans and introduce new ideas and say, “can we do this?” When we saw the changes reflected in reality, we saw new ways of thinking to go to the next step.

Since working with Bill, I’m more deliberate in my actions, and I’m ahead of the game. I work in real-time vs waiting to the last minute, starting my monthly reports mid-month. As we meet regularly, there is that opportunity to review the monthly report but to also review goals and objectives, what will I focus on in the next few weeks, what do I see, what does he see. Bill adds extra balance from the outside looking in and saying, “what about this?”

Bill is great! We’ve now taken our relationship as a customer-service provider into other team members. We’ve expanded the servicing Bill’s offering us –that in itself shows the value that he brings to the table.

-Richard Wessel, ‎President & Lead Consultant – ‎NearZero Discovery (REW Computing Inc.)

 

We were constantly investing in improving our employees’ personal and professional lives, and we felt like having a team like Bill’s would help our team achieve our objectives. Our goal was to have the best available resources so that our team would have what they need to solve their problems. We felt Bill’s team would be a good resource to help our people solve our problems. To build an award-winning team as we have at Weston, we need to provide our team with quality resources. Bill and his team are one of the resources we rely on. Since partnering with Bill, I’ve seen an increase in professionalism in our individuals who have spent time.

-Steve Rhone, President of Weston Forest Products Inc. 

 

After sitting back and listening to the way Bill facilitated the group at Commonwealth Legal,  I started to see the success the team had driven. When you acquire a company, you tend to acquire the people.  When I saw the level of business acumen, drive, and motivation within the team, I began to see this was coming from Bill. He set the growth mindset for professionals in the business, most weren’t professionals when they started, and a lot of the identity they took on was from when Bill started to work with them.

I  had my own motivation to move down more of an executive track. It made me realize I could benefit from spending more time with Bill so he could provide the motivation and requirements to get down this track. I needed support and mentorship.  Bill filled this role very effectively.

Bill helped us navigate how to best integrate this high success, high-performance culture into a mature business without losing the people. With his depth of knowledge acquired from working with startups and massive organizations, he could give us a sense of what needed to happen to be successful.

The other part of my success with Bill stems from my own growth as I moved into an executive role. Bill provided the foundation that I probably didn’t think about to be successful in that role. Sometimes you need to be humbled to understand where your blind spots exist, and Bill helps you overcome these blind spots without changing who you are.

Since partnering with Bill, I’ve gained more of an awareness of myself. I’m more aware of my blind spots and limitations. With the tools and coaching Bill provides, he isn’t trying to change you but make you aware of what they are so you can adapt them when working with others. This adaptation was critical for me because I work in a matrix-based organization where everyone works together, so it makes it easier to work and communicate with people.

Never underestimate the value of having a coach in your corner.  Whatever level you’re at or you think you’re at, as a CEO or someone trying to climb the corporate ladder or your own startup. Having that neutral third party to bounce ideas off allows you to see multiple perspectives, especially given Bill’s depth of knowledge from working with a vast array of organizations. Ultimately, Bill can get you to the right decision without telling you what it is. He and his team are incredibly responsive and supportive. Just his ability to listen, there are times where I’m feeling like I’m talking for hours, and Bill will only say a couple things, but I leave our meeting feeling pretty great.

-Craig Fisk, Director of Sales –Digital Information Solutions at Ricoh Canada Inc.