You are listening to Severin Schwarzen, executive coach and curator of the RT Coach podcast where we explore excellence in the art and science of executive coaching.

I am speaking today with Barry Goldberg, who is an executive coach, VISTA's chair, who operates from Little Rock, Arkansas.

Barry is insightful, sage, perceptive, and came to executive coaching after career in management consulting, including work for the Nesbeck group,

authors of mega-trans and reinventing the corporation. He also served early in his coaching career as an executive coach with Marshall Goldsmith partners from 2006 to 2009.

Barry served as the ICF Vice Chair for Global Ethics and Standards Committee from 2010 to 2013, and taught coaching ethics on the faculty of Georgetown University's Institute for Transformational Leadership from 2013 to 2018.

Clearly, we are talking today with a great leader and executive coach. He is a curious, minded, active listener and an innovator in executive coaching, who is pushing the limits of what coaching can be today.

When I first met Barry, it was as a VISTA's chair and through the network, and we've become great friends.

Every time I pass through his town, we stop, we have a mill together, we have deep conversation, and we muse about the coaching industry.

So I thought speaking with Barry today would be a great addition to the Arctic Coach podcast that seeks to explore excellence and the art and science of executive coaching today. Welcome, Barry.

Nice to have you to be here. Right off, I want to acknowledge the name that you chose on the big fan of mythology.

So tell me about what you understand about Arte and mythology and why that's so important.

The idea of Arte, which has to do with excellence or top of, or the refined nature of something, was important to the Greeks.

So the idea of your essence was critical.

Yeah, I love the word Arte. I first learned about it by my son, and what you were talking.

And I read Thucydides and a bunch of other things, but as we were talking, I said, you know, I'm looking for this name that has purpose.

That's the best. It's everything goes that way. And he said this word. I said, what is that word?

And I looked at it and I thought, oh my gosh, this is wonderful.

Seeking excellence, seeking moral virtue, seeking a higher purpose, doing your best, using all your skills, and also it goes into talents.

Figuring out how you can bring your best to this world of life. I thought all of that is a wonderful thing.

Plus it didn't hurt at all that it's an A letter and it comes right at the top of the alphabet. I thought that was pretty cool as well.

So very fun. So thank you for recognizing that. I love the word Arte and for what it has been in history and what I think it can be for people today looking for excellence.

So to get us started today, I wanted to ask you a question. I know that you've been in coaching now some 18 years.

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