About Steve

Stephen C. Wakeen, founder of Playbook Coaching, LLC, has over thirty years working with leaders. Steve helps CEOs and their executive teams develop exceptional leadership skills and helps transition high–performing executives into first–time leaders. His clients are nationwide, and across industries, including investment banking, advertising, law, energy, construction, healthcare, and consumer packaged goods. Steve benchmarks executives’ leadership against norms so they can see how they compare to executives around the world and plans a leadership development road map designed for the individual.

Steve’s brand and strategy experience complement his role as an executive coach. At agencies such as TBWA and Grey Advertising, he worked with dozens of executive teams on the strategic challenges their businesses faced and facilitated many strategic and C-suite workshops. Steve was General Manager of Emmerling Post Advertising (now Cossette, USA), and President of Targetnet, a first of its kind online media solution that was later sold. He also ran the New York Office of Corbis (Bill Gates’ other company).

Steve is a former Chair for Vistage International, and currently speaks to Vistage CEO groups across the country on the topic of leadership.

He is certified in the Leadership Circle Profile, a leadership assessment and coaching model designed for the C-suite, and is also certified in The Leadership System, an executive development program designed to help companies scale leadership throughout the enterprise as they grow.

Steve is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, a contributor to Forbes.com and writes leadership columns for the Hartford Business Journal. He also speaks to diverse groups on leadership, conducts leadership workshops and was recently named one of the Top Ten Emerging Leadership Development companies by CIO Review Magazine.

Steve is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Liberal Arts (1979). He and Suzanne, his wife of 37 years, have four grown children and live in Wilton, CT.