ABOUT JEFF STAFFORD
Hi, I'm Jeff.
Helping leaders think more clearly, lead more authentically, and create meaningful impact.
I’m Jeff Stafford, founder of Orange Slice Training + Coaching and a Minneapolis-based executive and leadership coach. As an ICF-certified coach and Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, I help executives, senior leaders, and rising leaders build greater self-awareness, navigate complexity, and lead with greater clarity and impact.
I work with clients in person in Minneapolis and virtually with leaders across the country.
For more than 20 years, I’ve partnered with leaders and organizations through executive coaching, leadership development, assessments, and customized learning experiences.
Leadership gets more complex as your responsibilities grow.
You've proven you can deliver results. But as your responsibilities grow, the questions change.
How do you step out of the day-to-day and lead more strategically?
How do you build a team that takes greater ownership?
How do you navigate conflict, competing priorities, and organizational complexity - without losing the leadership style that makes you you?
That's the work I love.
Since founding Orange Slice Training + Coaching in 2006, I've partnered with hundreds of organizations and thousands of leaders across corporate, higher education, government, nonprofit and mission-driven organizations
Whatever brings someone to coaching, my goal is the same:
help you get clearer about where you are, more intentional about where you're going, and more confident about how you'll get there.
What it's like to work with me
I'm not going to hand you a formula for leadership. And I'm probably going to ask you more questions than give you answers.
My coaching style is candid, curious, supportive, and appropriately challenging. Together, we'll look at what's working, what may be getting in the way, and what you want to do differently.
Ask questions that help you see situations differently
Notice patterns you may not see yourself
Offer candid observations and feedback
Challenge assumptions while creating space to think
Help you build on your strengths - no simply fix weaknesses
Turn insight into experiments and practical action
Hold you accountable for the commitments you choose
Jeff creates a space that is both
supportive and challenging.
He helps you see possibilities you
may not see on your own.
Because a great coaching conversation shouldn't simply leave you thinking, 'That was interesting.' It should leave you thinking, 'I know what I want to do next.'
If you're ready to explore executive coaching, here's what working together looks like
The thinking behind my coaching
I bring together three areas that have shaped how I work with leaders.
Strengths-Based
Development
We start with what's already strong.
Understanding your natural talents
helps you lead with greater confidence,
authenticity, focus, and energy - rather
than trying to conform to someone
else's template.
Emotional
Intelligence
Leadership happens through relationships. We build the self-awareness, self-regulation, and interpersonal skills needed to navigate people, pressure, conflict, and complexity.
Design-Thinking
for Work + Life
Insights matter. Experimentation makes it useful. We identify possibilities, test new behaviors, learn from what happens, and adjust.
Insight ➔ Experiment ➔ Learning ➔ Action
Credentials & Tools I Use
I'm ICF Certified, a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, and certified in EQi-2.0/EQ 360, Hogan Assessments, and Design Your Life. My background also includes organizational development consulting and facilitation, so I bring a systems view to individual coaching — connecting your growth to your team and your organization.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT • ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT • FACILITATION
