“I enthusiastically recommend Keith Okano with Closing Strong as a business mentor for anyone who wants to take their business to the next level. Keith has been mentoring me for two months and the tools and strategies he has recommended are invaluable. Knowing that I have someone with a wealth of knowledge who has had much success in his own businesses on my side gives me the confidence I need to make hard decisions and push myself out of my comfort zone. I know that Keith has my company’s best interest in mind and that he wants me to succeed. He has gone above and beyond what I would have expected from a mentor and I am very grateful for his services. His partnership has given me confidence to push through challenging situations and the courage to dream bigger than I would have otherwise dared to dream. He is truly a blessing to our business.”

“I began consulting with Keith when I was at a critical phase in my leadership role. I spent so much of my time working on client projects that I was not giving my position as company President the attention it needed. When I reached out to Keith I was struck by his desire to understand and absorb everything about my company that he could. With that clarity, he provided insight and ideas that I would have missed on my own. As a result, I made some tough (but good) choices for the business, and have taken important steps to be a strategic leader with a vision for better management and growth. He's a great resource when external wisdom is needed. You'd be smart to work with him.”

Since I started working with Keith he has functioned as both challenger and cheerleader, helping me grow as a business leader and as a person. In the time that Keith has worked with me our business has doubled and will continue to grow into the future. He has shown me what I can achieve by trusting my instincts while staying disciplined and focused. Keith continues to help me grow each week and stay focused on both my business and personal goals. I know that Keith will continue to be an important coach and friend in the future as we work together to help The Bauen Group realize its full potential!

One thing I wish I had figured out a long time ago was the value of having a coach. Like him or no, Tom Brady, one of the best quarterbacks in football history, has a coach. I currently utilize about four coaches and one of the best I’ve seen is Keith Okano.
Keith and I have been working together for about six months. He has a way of asking great questions that get my mind thinking in the right direction which then leads to me asking him great questions. He is not afraid to tell me when he disagrees with what I’m doing – which is what I need.
I am proud to recommend Keith as a business coach. Let him inspire you the way he has me.

“Keith is an extremely smart and wise mentor. His calm and calculated approach to business, and life, makes him a valued advisor...If you know Keith, you are blessed!”

If you are looking for some awesome, knowledgeable people to work with, these are the guys I highly recommend. Their friendliness and result-driven approach is what I love about them.

Keith has been a tremendous help to my company. From helping me with strategy in daily operations, to company vision and purpose, Keith has imparted wisdom and direction which has benefited my company greatly. I️ am very grateful to have him as a CEO coach.

Keith is like a breath of WISE fresh air. His business wisdom is a wealth of knowledge and has a way of delivering advise so it flows naturally.

As a business owner, I like him on my side for that unbiased, to the point, next thing you know an hour has passed, type of consulting.

“The stories, imbedded in “ELEPHANT TALES “, depict in a humorous way realistic encounters between CEOs and their Organizations. “ELEPHANT TALES” is a required read for any CEO interested in improving his/her leadership by understanding the relationship between the Elephants, the Ants, and the Mahouts. There is much wisdom between the lines of each story. CEOs skilled in understanding what these stories reflect are better prepared and more able to discern and focus on the appropriate courses of their Corporate Decision Making.”

"(Elephant Tales is a) wonderful book. Very thought provoking. I can definitely see the value of presenting one of these stories to a leadership team for discussion and potential issue solving as the opportunity presents itself. As a professional who also works with Entrepreneurs and is one, these stories are on point and typical of what I see on a regular basis. Sometimes being too close to the problem is the problem. Stand back and look at it from an outsider perspective. Does it look the same? How many story related events have you experienced or caused? I definitely narrowed in on a few that I could relate to. Funny how much alike most business's are. It's those leaders that recognize it and do things differently who win."

"I've known Keith for years, and his ability to translate deep leadership lessons into easily-relatable messages has been part of his "special sauce" as long as I've known him. I'm so pleased he collected his messages into "Elephant Tales" -- it's an inspirational read, filled with practical, powerful leadership advice. My advice? Get a copy for yourself, and one for all the members of your team. Thanks, Keith!"

"I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Keith over the last five years as an IT service partner and most recently as a client of Closing Strong. Keith’s intimate knowledge and understanding of the challenges of the legal technology and consulting industry has been invaluable and would be difficult to replicate. His perceptiveness and insight based on years of direct leadership experience has provided me with the guidance needed to make changes that positively impact the bottom line.

One of the most important things my sessions with Keith provide, is the dedicated time to review my challenges and assess my decisions. Keith is quickly able to understand the situation, drill down on the actual issue and make me confront them. In the very short time we have worked together in this capacity, Keith has helped me to identify and focus on some of my biggest challenges towards developing a strategy for growing the firm without compromising our values.

I have no hesitation in recommending Keith. I am confident I’ll continue to leverage his guidance as we advance to the next phase."

"For the past few months I have been meeting with Keith and find our conversations to be the highlight of each month. I leave each meeting feeling like I have a heightened level of clarity, inspiration to continue challenging myself as a leader and motivation to think about things in a new way. Keith provides such a balance in his coaching: he gives advice, shares anecdotes from his extensive personal experience, asks the right questions, pushes me to think and act boldly and provides genuine encouragement.”

"Keith is a true leader; he’s got great, natural leadership skills. My experience as an officer in the military has confirmed that leadership can be taught – to a point, beyond which instinctive leadership traits emerge, but only from the exceptional leaders. That’s where Keith shines. Keith creates an inspiring vision for organizational goals. And then he knows how to inspire and motivate his team to achieve those goals. He takes teamwork to a whole new level. Keith’s team members routinely exceed their performance expectations.”

Keith has the ability to learn new businesses and organizations quickly, and to adopt their missions as his own. However his true gifts lie in being able to become part of the team in developing the appropriate strategy and goals, and define the processes and KPIs needed to fulfill it with great efficiency.