As one of California's first sports psychologists, Jeffrey Wildfogel built up a solid practice in the mid-1980s working with both professional athletes and weekend sports enthusiasts. But it wasn't long before he began to notice that the advice designed to improve the forehands and chip shots of his white-collar clients was having an effect on their management and sales skills. "I realized that I knew a lot more about business than I thought I did," says Wildfogel, PhD '79.
He shifted his focus from athletes to executives, changed the name of his Mountain View consulting practice from "Great Transformations" to "The Mental Edge" and has been thriving among the Silicon Valley start-ups ever since. He still draws on research he did on performance psychology at Stanford. One exercise: to help clients tap into their most competent personae, he asks them to imagine that they have a "black belt" in whatever task -- a sales call, a design challenge -- is at hand.
This summer, Wildfogel will go from coaching executives to being one. He and a group of online entrepreneurs are launching a website, HealthyCorp.com, designed to be a one-stop mall for businesses in need of consultants. "It's a chance to be in partnership and really make a difference," he says. "And this time I have stock options."
