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About The UnCommon Leadership®Institute

MEET THE TEAM

UnCommon Leadership® requires an uncommon (yet extremely important, effective and impactful) approach to seeing a leaders’ role and uncovering their potential. The UnCommon Leadership® Institute is dedicated to doing that, building a world of UnCommon Leaders dedicated to inspiring others to embrace a new way of helping teams and organizations succeed.

At the UnCommon Leadership® Institute, we support organizations and leaders in transforming their approach through 3 simple steps.

Ed Chaffin, PCC

Ed Chaffin is the CEO and Founder of The UnCommon Leadership® Institute. He founded the Institute to live out his passion for changing the world one life at a time by helping leaders and their teams be the best version of themselves that they can be!

Ed is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) from the International Coach Federation. Also included in Ed’s credentials, he is an SEIP Certified Coach from The Social and Emotional Intelligence Institute, a Senior Birkman Certified Consultant, and a Certified Brain Based Leader from the Academy of Brain Based Leadership.

Ed has affiliations with three major universities. He taught leadership at a Master’s and MBA program for Louisiana State University and the University of Missouri. He also coached at IMD, the International Institute of Management in Lausanne, Switzerland, in their #1 Executive Development program High Performance Leadership.

Originally a native of Georgia, Ed grew up in Charleston, SC, where he studied business administration at the College of Charleston. In addition, he completed an Executive Development program while attending the Wharton School of Business as well as the High Performance Leadership program at IMD.

He and his wife Eva have a daughter who resides in Carmel, IN. Ed also has two additional children, one who lives in Santa Fe, NM and the other that lives in Springdale, UT.

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Deborah O’Donnell, PCC, CPC

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Deborah is an Executive Coach and Leadership Development Consultant with more than 15 years of experience enhancing the performance of individual executives, teams, and organizations. As an expert in Leadership Development and Career Advancement, Deborah has had the honor of assisting hundreds of successful individuals and businesses.

Deborah has coached C-suite executives and managers from diverse industries. Included in her portfolio: Healthcare, Pharma, Entertainment, Advertising, Manufacturing, Law, Marketing, Accounting, and Finance, amongst others.

An adjunct faculty member at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, she teaches career management and coaches students and alumni. Her excellent skills for customer service developed while at Walt Disney, Orlando, Florida. Here she honed her expertise as a Guest Relations Specialist and Assistant to the President and CEO.

Deborah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations and a Master’s Degree in Business Management from Ball State University. Additionally, her certifications include Coaches Training Institute (CTI), The Institute for Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), and the International Coach Federation (ICF) as a PCC (Professional Certified Coach).

Elisa Zervos, PCC

Elisa Zervios, UnCommon Leadership® coach profile set against a brick wall

 As a Leadership Development Coach, Elisa guides leaders to Uncommon levels of effectiveness. In fact, the integration of her education, career in operations management, and international experience makes her a powerhouse.

Elisa coaches mid-senior level managers on how to coach their teams. Consequently, they become change leaders, and learn to engage with a multigenerational and globally diverse workforce.

By co-designing a “blueprint” of action steps, Elisa holds a client accountable to a positive change in behavior. A person’s “value proposition” is also created based on the accumulated skills, interests, and natural abilities of different stages in their careers.

She is experienced in applying 360 assessments and MBTI results. Along with her background in Birkman, STRONG and DISC, Elisa also helps high-potential individuals develop much needed soft-skills. Under her guidance, they become better leaders by integrating new behaviors and actions into their daily work routines. Her background in management is her foundation for coaching leaders.  She keenly  understands the challenges relating to delegation, engagement, developing talent, connecting silos and providing the “gift” of feedback.

Elisa’s style is down-to-earth and authentic, removing any pretense in a coaching relationship. When clients are 100% committed to achieving their goals, they receive her dedication and best-in-class coaching. Tailoring follow-up actions, she enhances her clients’ goals in areas of personal effectiveness, business acumen and corporate visibility. She is flexible, objective and places heavy emphasis on maintaining a “no-judgment” zone.