Expand your potential.
Transition coaching
for innovators and creators.
Career • Life • Retirement
Michael Polivka
Transition Coach and Founder
You are not alone.
Feeling like you've reached the peak of your career and are wondering what’s next?
Are you working towards a promotion yet finding your path blocked by ambiguity?
Maybe artificial intelligence is changing your role and you want to stay relevant?
Why Transition Coaching?
Career and life transition coaching is a partnership designed to help you expand your potential and gracefully navigate your next big change. It goes deeper than simple goal-setting, helping you uncover and transform the core beliefs that are holding you back.
By doing this, you'll not only see improvements in your career, relationships, and overall well-being, but you'll also build the confidence, resilience, and emotional clarity needed to live a more authentic and fulfilling life.
It's a journey that leads to a truly lasting and meaningful shift.
About me
I help innovators and creators evolve and grow. Leveraging 30 years of leadership at companies like advertising disruptor TBWA\Chiat\Day and software innovator Salesforce, I bring a unique blend of creative and technical expertise into my practice. My focus is coaching designers, product managers, and engineers through successful career transitions, life changes, and retirement.
Most recently as a design executive, I advised employees across the company as a Certified Internal Coach through the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). I also served as an Equality Mentor to support the successful career development of persons from underrepresented groups.
As a lifelong learner, I've explored the human condition through psychology, philosophy, neurobiology, and spirituality. I bring these disciplines together in my practice to help people live in congruence with their values and purpose.
My Approach
Whatever your intention, we can get there together. We'll use my unique three-step process, Applied Wisdom, to help you grow and succeed.
Dream it
The seed of intention begins with a dream. At its core is a big idea built on our values, a coterie of friends and advisers to help us, and a feeling of being more harmonious, impactful, and fulfilled than we are today.
The thoughts, beliefs, and stories we tell ourselves can be either our greatest allies or our worst saboteurs. Magnifying our positive beliefs and working through blockers like imposter syndrome can set the stage for success.
Believe it
Manifesting a big idea involves setting goals with clearly defined outcomes that align with our highest purpose. These goals and outcomes act as a map, helping us identify where we are, where we want to be, and the tools needed to get there.
Achieve it
Packages
As a boutique coaching organization accepting limited clients, I find that a customized coaching agreement based on your unique needs is often the best approach to ensure a truly transformative partnership.
To help provide some initial structure and serve as a conversation starter, here are a few common coaching packages:
Concierge Package
The Concierge Package delivers a higher degree of availability. It includes the elements and structure of the Comprehensive Package—and magnifies it for times of crisis by offering as many coaching sessions as are needed each month. It also includes opportunities for emergency sessions outside of typical business hours. This package has limited availability due to the level of commitment.
Comprehensive Package
The Comprehensive Package goes beyond the surface to foster deep and authentic changes that promote long-term success. It brings all the facets of Applied Wisdom together for a deeply immersive and productive experience to help you gracefully navigate some of the most important transitions you’re facing in life. This is a 6-month package with sessions every two weeks. Sessions are 60-minute virtual meetings.
Refresher Package
For returning clients, the Refresher Package is an amazing way to revitalize previous coaching plans, dive deeper into specific goals for stronger impact, or to create an entirely new set of outcomes based on evolving circumstances. It’s a chance to recenter on new challenges and advance your next round of goals. This is a 3-month package with sessions every two weeks. Sessions are 60-minute virtual meetings.
Recognition
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“Michael is a wonderful human being and leader. His coaching helped me become more strategic which propelled me towards a promotion and increased collaboration with my cross-functional partners.”
— D.K. • Product Designer
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“For anyone looking to become a more effective leader, I would HIGHLY recommend taking some time to work with this Yoda of a coach and mentor. The future leader in you and your organization will be glad you did.”
— R.W. • VP of User Experience
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“Michael made me feel at ease from the moment we first met. He's a natural coach, providing continuous feedback and recognition ensuring constant positive development.”
— T.B. • Head of Engineering
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"As someone from the newest generation of aspiring professionals, I see the start of my career as a winding, fog-shrouded path. Michael’s mentorship and expertise has fanned away that fog. His deep understanding of the creative and ambitious mind has given me the clarity and confidence to achieve my career goals."
— A.M. • Art & Design College Senior