The 20/10 Vision with Colette Ellis


Colette D. Ellis, the Founding Principal of InStep Consulting LLC joins Enterprise Radio. Since 1998, the company has helped people and organizations identify their competent advantage via Employee Orientation programs, Team Building seminars, and Strategic Planning retreats.


Colette bases her intuitive consulting approach on nearly 15 years leading creative and engaging programs for Fortune 500 companies, government and not-for-profit organizations across the United States. Her expertise includes Career Planning, Organization Development, Stress Management, Team Building and Workplace Diversity. Adept at learning her client’s needs, she has coached and trained numerous individuals in communication skills and leadership principles. Her business and consulting experience spans the Consumer Products, Financial Services, Healthcare, Not-for-Profit, and Professional Service industries. In 2008, Colette joined a select group of national facilitators for Turning the Page: Building Your Library Community, a unique leadership development program for librarians funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


Colette encourages innovative and continuous learning as an Adjunct Professor with NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, teaching courses on Managing Diversity as part of their Nurse Leaders program. She also has served as Adjunct faculty with Long Island University C.W. Post (Communication Skills for Managers), the City and State Universities of New York (Business Writing & Business Speaking), and a Business Writing Instructor with Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Colette is a certified Instructor of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® and FOCUS: Achieving Your Highest Priorities for FranklinCovey. In 2006, The Consultation Center of the Yale University School of Medicine certified her to facilitate Coping with Work & Family Stress™, a work-life balance program.


Colette has been a featured speaker for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Career Gear, Citibank at Work, Downtown Women’s Club, Grace Institute, International Association of Administrative Professionals, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, NextGen Network and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Her signature seminar, Discover Your Competent Advantage™, helps individuals identify and leverage their strengths to succeed in the workplace.


Through InStep Consulting, she is a member of the American Society for Training & Development, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Nonprofit Central, and Technical Assistance Clearinghouse. The New York City Department of Small Business Services has certified InStep Consulting LLC as a M/WBE firm.


In 2003, Colette received a Special Commendation from Mayor Michael Bloomberg for her instructional design work on Sensational Service! A Customer Service Training Program, a public-private partnership of The American Society for Training & Development-New York Chapter, HSBC Bank USA and the New York City Department of Small Business Services. Her community involvement has included serving as Junior Committee Member of the New York City Mission Society, and volunteer youth trainer for the New Horizons Community Development division of HSBC Bank USA. The Office of the Mayor also recognized her volunteer service as facilitator for the Teen Job Connection program.


Colette graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in English, and from New York University, where she was a Dean’s Scholar, with an M.P.A. in Public Finance.


Interview Notes:


  1. We’re living in the New Normal: money is tight, and time is tight. And, yet, you believe this shift in economic and workplace dynamics is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs. Why is that?

  2. Does this mean that anything goes in terms of starting a business or launching a “side hustle”?

  3. In your articles and podcasts, you mention that it’s important for leaders to develop 20/10 vision. What is it, and how can it help entrepreneurs achieve their goals?

  4. How can we stay motivated in spite of distractions or negative messages we may hear in the media or from other people in our lives (e.g., “Debbie Downers”)?

  5. You recently authored an eBook available on Amazon.com called Focus on Your Vision. Can you give our listeners a brief overview of your publication?



Links: instepconsulting.com



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