Strive For More With Steven Nathenson – An Exclusive Interview
- Jul 13, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 14, 2022
Steven Nathenson helps leaders master their mindset to increase their focus, confidence, and performance while motivating others to do the same. As a Leadership Development Coach and former FBI Special Agent, his coaching helps leaders and their teams thrive through challenges and achieve ambitious results.
Steven began his career as an engineer in the energy sector and went on to become a Special Agent with the FBI. After a successful career with the FBI, Steven took his passion for helping others into the world of coaching. Since that time, he has coached leaders, athletes, and students of all levels in more than 105 organizations in the public and private sectors within 8 different countries to date.
Steven holds two master's degrees in engineering and organizational development and leadership. He has received two United States patents, five awards for his investigative work as a Special Agent, and competed at the national level in triathlon. However, he is proudest of the success he helps others achieve.
Life has taught him that people are at the heart of everything; and by taking a human approach, we can make our goals and desires a reality. This lesson forms the very core of his coaching philosophy which centers around developing individuals and organizations through mental mastery and core components of human nature.
Steven Nathenson, CEO & Founder
Hi Steven, introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
My name is Steven Nathenson and I’m the CEO and founder of Strive For More.
When I was looking at going to college, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I knew I had a brain that was good at math and science, and I had a lot of engineers in my family. So, I decided to go to school for engineering, not really knowing if that's truly what I wanted to do. But as a young kid, I was more blinded by going to school to get a job, getting a job to make money, and making money because I needed to support myself.
As I went through school, I realized I definitely did not want to do engineering for 30 to 40 years. I had to find something different. So, when I graduated, I essentially explored what was the complete opposite of engineering – what was physical, deals with people, gets me out of the office, was different day to day, and, most importantly had a huge amount of meaning for me.
That was the way that I tried to figure out what do I want to do; by flipping what I did not want to do into what I did. That led me to law enforcement and specifically the FBI because of who they are, what they do, and the caliber to which they do it. So, I set my sights on becoming a Special Agent with the FBI. I had to meet some eligibility requirements in order to do that and worked as an engineer for several years to do so. After I met my eligibility requirements, I applied, went through the process, and then got in and became a Special Agent. During the time that I was there, I primarily investigated healthcare fraud and also did intellectual property crimes and drug investigations. In addition, I had a hand in gang, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and probably most importantly, child pornography investigations.
I'm incredibly proud and grateful for the experiences and success that I had as a Special Agent. What drove me to consider leaving that career was working 70 to 90 hours a week for the vast majority of my career, and the path to get to the level of management I wanted to be at with the FBI was another seven to 10 years over three to four different cities. So, I was faced with the question: “Do I want to go down that path?” And, if I didn't, I had to figure out what else I would do. I hired a coach to help me explore this question and understand what decision I wanted to make.
As I'm sure you’ve guessed from where we are now and the conversation we are having, I did end up leaving but, I left knowing that coaching is what I wanted to get into. Specifically, knowing I wanted to help other people discover and embody their paths in life, as well as, help them be better people, achieve what they want, and impact their organizations and the world at large.
With this new goal, I actually went back to school, got a masters in organization development and leadership to complement the master's I already had in engineering, and I got my professional coaching certificate from a university as well, which is the educational background to do coaching. And then very self-serving I actually got a lot of fitness-related certifications because I love competing in marathons and triathlons, which I still do today. With all of this, I founded my company, Strive For More. To date, I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with hundreds of leaders in more than 123 organizations in 14 different countries.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
My business is called Strive For More, which helps leaders master their mindset to increase their focus, confidence, and performance while motivating others to do the same. As a Leadership & Executive Coach and former FBI Special Agent, my proven training and coaching programs help leaders and their teams thrive through challenges while achieving ambitious results. To do this, I leverage my cognitive-behavioral coaching approach of G.R.I.T. – Give, Recognize, Implement, Time; my communication style of The Art of Subtle Suggestion; and a proprietary 360-degree assessment instrument which measures G.R.I.T., the impact harnessing G.R.I.T. has – increasing empathy, self-awareness, leadership, and much more – and key skills such as emotional intelligence, trust, what unites teams, and more.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
My primary audience consists of organizations that emphasize employee development, engagement, and well-being. Specifically, organizations who invest in their employees' growth and development through coaching for not only c-suite and senior leaders, but also high potential employees and new/middle managers as well. After all, the greater number of leaders who engage in coaching, and in turn leverage a coaching approach, the greater the impact is on the organization itself.
What are your current goals for your business?
My business goal is quite simple – provide as big of a positive serving impact as I can on the organizations I work with and the individuals I coach.
Did you know that a disengaged employee is estimated to cost their organization approximately 34% of their annual salary? That’s a loss of $34,000 for every $100,000 spent on disengaged employees. Not a small number at all! Coaching has been proven to reduce this detrimental and financially tangible impact on organizations. Moreover, coaching has also been proven to increase employee retention. This is important to note as the cost of losing an employee is quite similar to the cost of a disengaged employee – approximately 33% of an employee’s annual salary.
These two measures, employee engagement, and retention, are simply two of the ways that coaching impacts organizations and I fulfill my business goal.
What is your work inspired by?
Growing up, I often thought there had to be something more to life than just “going through the motions.” Over the years, I realized this was a deep-seated need to have an impact on this world that went beyond myself. My work is inspired by this very notion – to leave a true long-lasting impact on this world that makes it better.
Everything I do is aimed at fostering a world in which we treat each other respectfully, inspire each other to be great, and follow our hearts. I often imagine what our world would look like if we focused on what makes us the same – sharing in the human experience – instead of focusing on what makes us different.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
If I have to pick one thing above all else, I would say the greatest achievement in my career to date is being an FBI Special Agent and what I was able to accomplish during that time – receiving five awards for my investigative work. The work I get to do as a coach, seeing the impact I have on leaders and the ripple effect it has on those around them is definitely a close second!
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
The most influential and pivotal moment in my life that has brought me to where I am today is the loss of my mother to cancer as a teen. She was a teacher who taught me how to accept others, do right by them, and value equality. These values became guiding principles that influence not only how I live, but also what I do for a living – imparting an impact on others and the world around us that goes beyond myself.
