Jonathan S. Marion
PhD, PCC
Coaching for the accomplished professional who knows something is missing
1:1 Coaching
Be how you want to be!
Group Coaching
Maximize your strengths and more!
My Approach
B
Begin where you are
E
Explore where you’re going
I
Identify your options
N
Now Start
G
Grow into being YOU
Let me support you in BEING the best you!
At the bottom of everything else, I’ve found nothing more transformational than focusing and working on how I want to BE in the world. Based on this, I developed the BEING Coaching Model which has proven powerfully transformational for my clients, which is why it serves as the foundation for most of my coaching.
Here’s a quick overview of the model and please feel free to contact me if you’d like to explore working together:
B – Begin where you are
E – Explore where you’re going
I – Identify your options
N – Now start
G – Grow into being YOU
Step 1 – Begin Where You Are
We begin by assessing where you are now including your strengths & challenges. Using straight forward tools and assessments, we identify what matters to you the most and where you could use more support and balance. What comes easy to you and what is more challenging? What do you enjoy and what makes you groan (or at least roll your eyes)? How are you balancing your different commitments and interests? This step helps us firmly establish your unique circumstances, including your work, hobbies, family and friends, lifestyle, and time commitments as the foundation of your program
Step 2 – Explore where you’re going
We explore where you really want to be. More than just what you want to change, here we identify and examine what you will ultimately find most fulfilling. In short, what is your deepest goal, your soul’s calling? In this step, we hone in on what will truly bring you the most meaningful and rewarding life. For example, will a promotion really bring you more of what you want (e.g. financial stability) or take away what you value most (e.g. quality time with your loved ones)?
Step 3 – Identify your options:
We identify the full range of options available to you, carefully considering your strengths, skills, values, etc., available to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. For instance, is formal instruction really the only way (let alone the best) for you to make a difference as a teacher? And how will you decide? Does taking your time to weigh out the pros and cons usually get you the best results, or does trusting your gut? This step is where you identify which tools and strategies serve you best and in which circumstances, and which really don’t.
Step 4 – Now Start
Having mapped out where you’re starting from, where you want to go, and what route you want to take, you’re equipped to make informed, intentional choices and start efficiently moving towards your long-term goals. For example, it doesn’t bother you to pass up a weekend vacation invitation when you know that choice accelerates your opportunity to relocate to your dream living situation. In short, having solidified your “big picture” vision, this is where you really start to put thought into action!
Step 5 – Grow into being YOU
Building on the insights you’ve gained along the way, this is where you take full ownership of living a deeply meaningful life, aligned with your soul’s calling. Regrets fall away, as you are able to distill lessons from any experience. Decisions aren’t hard, because you know what really matters to you. Effort is enjoyable, because it is in the service of what and who you care about most deeply. Simply stated, this last step focuses on maximizing every facet of living the life you want to live.
1:1 COACHING
What Becomes Possible — and What to Expect
Something unexpected often occurs early in the coaching process. You start with a question, a challenge, or a vague sense that something needs to change, and somewhere in the conversation, you realize that what you thought you were dealing with isn’t the full story. A deeper pattern emerges. A blind spot becomes clear. A possibility you hadn’t yet thought of opens up.
That’s not a coincidence. It’s what happens when someone listens deeply, not just to your words, but to what your body is holding and what the patterns across the conversation reveal, creating the conditions for you to access your own wisdom.
What You’ll Experience
The outcomes clients describe often span multiple dimensions, sometimes all at once, sometimes one at a time.
Is not just about what you want, but about understanding who you are and why some things have felt so tough. As one client explained, things she already knew gained new significance, and things she wasn’t even aware of started to come into view.
The ability to approach challenges with resilience instead of just reacting; to manage complexity without becoming overwhelmed by it; to recognize what was once unseen.
A more genuine and consistent way of showing up in work, relationships, and how you carry yourself through daily life.
For many clients, what shifts isn’t just how they think about something; it’s how they live it. When we work somatically, the body becomes a source of wisdom instead of just a backdrop for your thoughts. The result can be unexpected: emotions processed, tension released, and presence deepened in ways that conversation alone rarely achieves.
A fundamentally new relationship with what you've built and what you desire next. This manifests differently for each person: a career shift with renewed confidence; a clearer, more honest understanding of yourself and your future; relationships that align more closely with who you truly are; values that finally influence how you live, rather than remaining in the background. For some clients, it's a change in how they go through daily life: more present, less reactive, more at home within themselves. For others, it reaches something deeper: spiritual clarity, a long-held understanding finally coming to light. What changes is rarely just one thing.
What It’s Like to Work Together
No two coaching journeys are exactly the same because no two people are. However, there are certain things you can reliably expect.
You’ll encounter patience, calmness, and genuine curiosity. I speak less than most expect. I ask more than most are prepared for. The questions seem simple but are unexpectedly powerful.
Clients consistently describe the space as both easy-going and structured: there is clear direction and plenty of room to breathe. You don’t need to perform or prepare; you just need to show up.
When it is helpful, we may work somatically, paying attention to what your body knows alongside what your mind is thinking. This isn’t unusual or esoteric; it’s based on solid research on embodied cognition, which shows that our bodily experience is closely connected to how we think, feel, and find meaning. For many clients, it’s where the most surprising breakthroughs happen.
What Makes This Different
Many coaches will help you set goals and build accountability around them. That’s important. But there’s more happening here.
I bring a distinctive background to this work: a PhD in psychological anthropology with extensive research on how identity is performed and shaped by context, along with training in somatic coaching, emotional intelligence, and positive psychology coaching. I understand, both academically and practically, that who we are is not just uncovered; it is enacted and can be changed.
What this means in practice: I’m not just listening to what you say. I’m paying attention to how you say it, what your body does while you speak, and what patterns across our work reveal. The questions I ask aren’t meant to push you toward an answer I already have; they’re intended to open up terrain you haven’t yet explored.
Clients have come to this work from all over North America, Europe, Qatar, Uruguay, Cyprus, and Australia. What they share isn’t a demographic, but an internal experience: the feeling that they’ve built a life that seems right from the outside, yet something still hasn’t clicked internally.
GROUP COACHING
I offer group coaching programs geared toward personal development and customizable programs for leveling up teams. According to Psychology Today, these are the key benefits of group coaching:
Group coaching creates awareness and challenges how you think about yourself.
Noticing the differences in yourself and others is what creates individual growth.
Observing others’ challenges allows for deep introspection, awareness, and hope.
Current group coaching programs:
Testimonials
Laure, France/Spain
This program helped me gain a greater understanding of myself and my behavior, giving me new skills and a way forward on how to change and get different outcomes. The program is well structured, clear, and easy to follow, yet provides great insight into ourselves, setting the ground for changes and positive impact on one’s life. Adding to that Jonathan’s great facilitation skills and knowledge, and you are in for a transformational journey!
Nelly, USA/Brazil
As someone who is always involved with self-development and growth, I still get amazed with how much we can explore and get to know about ourselves with a new tool. The “Maximize Your Strengths” program opened my eyes to some of my underdeveloped strengths, and it also helped me get some guidelines on how to intentionally work on them. My favorite part of the program was to be reassured about what I am really good at.
It feels so empowering to dive deep into what I can be/do best. I’ll definitely not take my strengths for granted anymore. I’ll also focus and work on the parts of me I really want to grow. Thank you so much, Jonathan, for putting this program together and giving us an opportunity to dive deeper into who we are and who we want to be!
Jeronimo, Brazil
The “Maximize Your Strengths” program helped me seek solutions to everyday problems by relying on what I’m good at, reinforcing my strengths. I had fun doing the exercises… and the excitement (and validation) for doing something you are good at (and probably enjoy doing) WHILE overcoming difficulties (big or small) is a damn awesome feeling. That’s the way I want to live from now on!
April, USA
Jonathan's Strengths-Based coaching was a fast track for shifting from "I guess there's room for me in this profession" to a quite celebratory, "This is who I am, what I'm good at, why I make a difference, and how I can start moving forward with excitement." His creative strength-finding prompts helped me realize I have strengths I wasn't aware of before. Then, the opportunity to workshop our introductions, now with those strengths in mind, brought a new level of confidence and specificity to sharing who I REALLY am with the world. Shifting from fighting against my deficits to celebrating and maximizing my strengths improves my mindset and brings excitement. It starts to illuminate the path toward living a more fulfilling and aligned life
Olga, USA
One of the most important aspects of Jonathan’s approach is genuine care about participants’ well-being and success. Participating in one of Jonathan’s coaching programs gave me a different level of appreciation for life as a journey. Jonathan’s coaching allowed me to reevaluate my relationship with the concept of “should” and to be able to recognize the influence it has had on my life thus far.
Maximize Your Strengths
Ever watch the Olympics? Every single competitor was a world-class athlete! And do you know what? Very few would have been competitive in a different event! Why not? Because, as much as every one of them is an elite athlete, they are truly world-class in the activities that suit them best! In other words, you don’t ask the best swimmers in the world to focus their training on improving their gymnastics skills (or vice versa)!
Why, then, in so many personal growth and development programs, is the focus on filling in deficits or compensating for weaknesses? Honestly, the research doesn’t back this up!
Instead, what if you focus on your strengths, on what you do best, and what comes easiest for you? That’s the framework for the “Maximize Your Strengths” group coaching program! Based on the well-documented VIA Character Strengths assessment, you will receive a 40+ page report identifying your Signature, Middle, and Lesser strengths. Then, utilizing your individual report, this program focuses on developing and leveraging the optimal use of your strengths in order to live a more meaningful and enjoyable life!
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Communicate and Connect Authentically… Even at Work!
More than 15 years of research all highlight the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EI), not just in our personal lives, but perhaps even more so in professional contexts! Here are just some of the most striking results from this research:
EQ competencies were better able to predict performance and leadership efficacy than intellectual or managerial prowess (Dulewicz al. 2005, quoted in www.6seconds.org/case)
EQ has twice the power of IQ to predict performance (Mount 2006, quoted in www.6seconds.org/case)
EQ is learnable! (Fariselli et al. 2006, quoted in www.6seconds.org/case)
Top performers average 30% higher on EQ (Fariselli et al. 2007, quoted in www.6seconds.org/case)
EQ predicts 58% of variation in success (Freedman et al. 2010, quoted in www.6seconds.org/case)
EQ will be one of the Top 10 employment skills of the future (Future of Jobs Report 2016, World Economic Forum)
EQ is set to become a ‘must-have’ skill within the next five years (Capsgemini Research Institute, Emotional Intelligence Research, Executive Survey, Aug-Sep. 2019)
Clearly, EQ is a good investment both personally and professionally. When I started looking into the different models and tools related to EQ, Genos International quickly emerged as the strongest. Most powerfully, the Genos model assesses emotional intelligence based on how you show up to those with whom you’re interacting! In other words, are you really “aware of others’ feelings” if those around you don’t think so? Genos International is simply the best at emotional intelligence, having been recognized by Training Industry (in the USA) as one of the Top 20 companies for all assessment and evaluations in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Interested in discussing what I can do for you and your company as a Genos Certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner? If so, please get in touch. And, if you do, please feel free to ask me about running an Emotional Culture Index (ECI) for your company just to help gage the possible benefits of working together.
Testimonials
“I initially sought guidance from Jonathan because I needed help setting boundaries in both my professional and personal life. As the ground beneath me shifted, I realized I’d somehow ended up living in a way that didn’t reflect who I am or what I value. Over the course of the coaching program, I dismantled expectations that were never mine to carry, explored who I am, clarified what a life aligned with me looks like, and began to redirect my path. Setting boundaries was just the beginning. Jonathan provided clear guidance and a practical framework for self exploration that helped me cultivate intentionality instead of living on autopilot. It was life changing, not because life became easier or my problems disappeared, but because I learned to relate differently to the highs, the lows, and the everyday moments. My life became richer, my connections deeper, and I began to enjoy all parts of my day because I was deliberate about where I invested my energy. I highly recommend Steps Along the Way, even if you don’t yet know exactly where you want to go, discovering that is part of the journey."
Fanny, USA
Ready to explore
what working together could look like?
© Steps Along The Way
