What Our Clients Say

I’ve worked with MJ for several years, and he’s been a trusted partner in my growth as a CEO and in the development of our leadership team.

Leading a fast-growing company means constantly navigating complexity—people, performance, and big decisions that carry real consequences. MJ has a unique ability to step into that environment and quickly see what others might miss. He asks the right questions, challenges assumptions, and helps bring clarity to situations that can otherwise feel noisy or complicated.

What sets MJ apart is that his work goes beyond individual coaching. He’s helped strengthen how our leadership team communicates, how we hold each other accountable, and how we operate under pressure. That kind of alignment at the leadership level has a real impact on the organization.

The conversations are always direct, thoughtful, and practical. There’s no fluff—just real insight that helps you become a better leader and build a stronger team.

If you’re leading an organization through growth and want a partner who will challenge you, support you, and help elevate your leadership, MJ brings real value."

“MJ and I have been working together for 5 years. MJ has been my executive coach over that time and has partnered with me to maximize the engagement of the teams I represent. MJ is a remarkable business partner all around. He is pragmatic, as well as having strong analytical and listening skills. He proposes great innovative ideas, that are right for the moment and the culture, to help drive a teams’ performance as well as my own. MJ is always available and has a style which allows him to build trust and connect at all levels in the organization to drive positive change. Just amazing”"

I have known and worked with MJ for over 11 years through three leadership roles. He has been a valued partner to me and an integral part the organizations I have led. MJ has served as a coach, mentor & thought partner to me. He has been an active part of my efforts to launch enterprise wide initiatives to develop, codify & launch values, beliefs & leadership practices across my organization.

In addition to coaching me, he coaches my senior team as well as my mid-career high potential leaders. His contributions have been significant and have played an important role in allowing me to grow my businesses. He has also helped drive meaningful cultural change at Transcendia.

During the last six months he has also taken on the role of helping my organization work through the stresses and challenges of COVID-19. 

He has my trust and has gained the trust of my organization during our off-site retreats and coaching sessions."

I first met M.J. Jiaras when he was recommended and hired to be an Executive Coach for one of my senior leaders. As I witnessed the success he created, I chose to expand our relationship.  I brought in M.J. to coach me personally as a CEO of 26 years and 44 years in our family business in total.  We worked on a number of areas: 
 
- Aligning Goals and Values for the Company and the Family
- Focusing on Strategy to Position the Company for Success
- Succession Planning and Personnel Development, including Gap Analysis and closing those gaps
      - This covered both Executives and Family Members
- Personal traits that can enable success, or inhibit success
      - We worked on both
 
M.J. has a unique ability to connect with many different types of people in a collaborative way.  He can assess a complex situation, articulate a vision of the real goals and issues, and create a sustainable path to achieve agreed upon objectives.  Part of his success is he does NOT give you the answer to the test, he facilitates the individual or the company to arrive at a solution or strategy for success.  Another area of positive uniqueness is he achieves these advancements within the framework of the culture of the company.  His involvement enhances the good parts of a successful culture to grow, and helps identify areas for introspection, improvement, and change.  M.J. style is absolutely collaborative and fun.   I look forward to our time spent together.  I always learn something of value.
 
On a personal note, M.J has truly added value to my life as a CEO, husband, father, grandfather and friend.  I have focused on a number of areas for improvement for me as a CEO, and those lessons learned have been equally valuable in my personal life.  He challenges me to be a better leader and person.  I highly recommend M.J. and ICS to anybody who is looking for self-improvement or to develop others for future success."

The coaching provided by ICS and MJ have been very valuable for me as a leader and employee, but also as a person!  MJ has opened my eyes to a different way of thinking about myself and how I ‘show up’ both at home and at work – by considering the impact I have on other people.  The ‘Mindset’ approach and the ‘Intention & Impact’ framework have been really useful tools that have given me confidence and direction, and energized my team. Thanks to MJ’s guidance we are focused on the process, not just on the end result.
 
MJ is very easy to work with, communicates effectively, is engaging with team members from all levels within my team and finds the right balance between brevity, professionalism and intellectual focus.  I have worked with mentors in the past that are either too casual or too philosophically serious to really be impactful and engaging – MJ gets the balance right.
 
For me as a Leader and for my Team – our performance has improved and the results are better, thanks to MJ’s guidance."

I am proud to be write a recommendation for MJ Jiaras because I am grateful that the Joffrey Ballet has grown and benefited from his coaching and his skills over the last four years, but also because I wish every organization could have the experience that we have had. MJ came to work with us at a dire moment for our Company in 2020 when we were highly stressed and vulnerable as a performing arts organization, who had no audience and dwindling resources.  Naturally, management issues as well as interpersonal tensions emerged. MJ created communication and development strategies for our senior staff, the CEO, Artistic Director, and myself.  We had group retreats and individual sessions with M.J. and he also skillfully led some full Board of Directors workshops.  That was no small task given that we are 55 members strong and these sessions were conducted over Zoom.

Thankfully these are better times, but our work together continues.  We have had two Senior Administration out of town retreats which were highly beneficial. Each one of us continues to develop skills in leadership. Each one of us communicates freely.  Each one of us has formed healthy bonds with one another.  We enjoy an excellent work environment which I dare say would not have been possible without everyone’s commitment and hard work facilitated by MJ.  He is a joy to work with. I recommend him highly. "

I originally started working with Integrated Coaching Solutions and M.J. Jiaras when I was heading a large federal policy department for a major health insurance organization during enactment and implementation of significant new federal healthcare legislation.  He gave me insights and strategies so that I could best determine how to navigate a politically charged environment. His ability to help me cut through the noise and build a highly collaborative, creative and savvy team was tremendous -so much so, that I went back to M.J a few years later when I took over the entire division.  This happened to coincide with another politically turbulent time in healthcare.  M.J. helped me find the confidence, clarity and purpose I needed to rise from a peer to a leader, successfully navigate a tough political environment and build an even stronger team that is ready to rise to every challenge sent our way.  M.J is a straight shooter that tells you what you need to hear and then helps you find the path to success.  "

I have been working with MJ over the last 18 months and he has become a trusted advisor.  In the corporate world today, it is truly “lonely at the top” and in my role as CEO, I have been dealing with an enormous amount of change.  Last year we began trading as a public company on the NYSE and the pressures and stress were enormous.  MJ really helped me stay grounded and focus on a few key things; eliminating the ‘noise’ that can distract and understanding who I am and what is important to me.  Those concepts seem so basic but in the tumult of running a public company as well as being a parent and citizen, they can become more difficult to address.

He was also very useful in helping me assess and recruit part of my leadership team.

MJ is very approachable and he uses humor to give clarity to particular situations.  These traits meld very well with my personality.  He is flexible and creative about helping me become a better leader and a better person"

I have been working with MJ for the last 18 months in several different capacities. 1) Together we have been focused on aligning my organizations values and goals. We built a framework that defines who we are and how we should show up in our day jobs. 2) Workshops with key leadership talent that provided tools and frameworks for us all to better communicate and collaborate with. 3) Individual coaching with key leadership folks. 4) Exec level 1-1 coaching with myself. The culmination of all this work has led to a transformative turnaround across the business.  In a time of such complexity being grounded in simplicity and staying smart is what is setting us apart from our competition. On top of all this, MJ and I have grown into true friends…which makes all the hard work we do together all that more fun.  I highly recommend working with MJ and ICS.  "

As a first-time CEO, I experienced quickly how lonely it can be at the top. M.J. not only provided me with a sounding board, but his coaching enabled me to more confidently navigate this new role.  M.J. has a magical talent for getting to the essence of complex challenges, recognizing team dynamics that work and those that don’t work, and identifying strengths for maximum value.  Moreover, he helped me architect the type of leader that I wanted to be – and then put it into practice. M.J.’s truly unique talent to seamlessly weave developmental themes and opportunities with real-time business was invaluable.  "

Integrated Coaching Solutions offers a uniquely philosophical, almost spiritual, approach that provides guidance and insights not included in other executive coaching programs. M.J.’s personal commitment and ability to connect with people creates trust and allows executives to open up and share their thoughts and feelings. Some benefits are better work planning and a more balanced approach between work and their personal life. "