A sports coach helps athletes to achieve their potential by giving them feedback on their performance, instructing them on skills development and providing them with encouragement and accountability.

An executive coach provides a similar service for clients looking to climb the corporate ladder or otherwise achieve professional goals.

As a boutique innovation firm, Bravium offers training, coaching and facilitation services, providing a spark that ignites the flame of productivity in the organizations they serve.

Assisting clients all over the country, the “small but mighty” team of four provides customized support, co-founder Nicole Bianchi said.

The firm offers workshops to their clients in an array of topics including strategy, planning, development and team alignment. To develop their clients’ appreciation for executive coaching, Bravium began implementing coaching as part of their workshops.

“We really focus on bringing in their experience working with their teams and assessing where they are and where they want to be,” Bianchi said.

By experiencing one-on-one coaching within their leadership programs, executives are given the opportunity to participate in their own leadership and development journey. “We found that to be really impactful and increase the effectiveness of what we’re applying,” Bianchi said.

Bianchi is a certified master coach through the International Coaching Federation. She had to complete more than 2,000 hours of coaching as well as an accompanying curriculum to complete the certification. Co-founder Jeff Shannon along with Jen Shannon and Annamarie Mann are certified coaches with the federation.

Shannon said executive coaching is “all about performance and maximizing your potential.” In the journey climbing the corporate ladder, a good coach can make the difference between ascension or getting stuck in the morass. What sets Bravium apart is being “fully present and invisible,” Shannon said. That means the firm’s coaches provide the tools and expertise, but it’s up to each client’s own discretion how those are used toward their success.

“We create a space and activities and opportunities for others to realize their own resourcefulness,” Shannon said. “So, being in a coaching system program, we ask a lot of questions and we provide stability and support for that client.”

The clients can lean on their coach while they discover how to learn and grow on their own. The clients can also bring that knowledge to their co-workers.

By facilitating events, conducting trainings, and offering coaching services, Bravium allow leadership to bring their coaching insights to their team members.

Bravium also recently started Coaching Circles, an executive coaching community that gives individuals access to an executive coach while bringing the price point by sharing one coach among several people on a similar journey. Each member has the opportunity to learn from others, share in their successes and find insight from those going through similar struggles in their careers.

Innovation at Bravium has also followed from the coronavirus pandemic, which forced coaches to change how they work to meet their clients’ changing needs.

Bravium can customize and design workshops to fit the needs of each client, and that doesn’t change when those clients are working from home. In  fact, the firm has modified the structure of their online workshops, condensing them into 75- to 90-minute increments to avoid screen fatigue. Shannon and Bianchi both said the online courses will be around long after the coronavirus has passed, as they offer advantages versus the traditional classroom setting.

“Everyone’s on a level playing field in this format,” Shannon said. “Everyone has one screen, one face, and what we find is that you get some really great collaboration and some diversity of thought when you operate that way.”

The launch of Coaching Circles and its ability to adapt in a changing professional landscape earned Bravium recognition as the Small Business of the Month for July from the Greater Omaha Chamber.

For more information about Bravium, visit braviumhd.com. For more on Coaching Circles, visit joincoachingcircles.com.