Ayana Coston

About Ayana

Ayana Coston is an Executive and Leadership Coach at Performance Plus International, where she partners with leaders and organizations to find purpose, alignment, and joy in their work while making an impact. An International Coach Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) trained through the Coaches Training Institute, Ayana brings more than 14 years of coaching experience and over 20 years in Human Resources, Organizational Development, and Leadership Development.

Ayana's career spans corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors, with internal leadership roles that span the breadth of talent and learning work. She served as Coach and Mentor Practice Lead for a major federal consulting firm, where she led a 75-person coach cadre and deployed coaches and consultants for a large portfolio of government and private projects. As Manager of Leadership Development at a national research and analysis organization, she directed a team providing training, leadership development, and coaching programs, including design and facilitation of large initiatives for executive teams. As an internal coach and training consultant at a regional medical group, she led the internal coaching program and consulted on leadership programs serving more than 800 physicians. Earlier in her career, she revamped the internal coaching strategy at a major aerospace and defense company.

Ayana excels as a coach, facilitator, and keynote speaker. Leveraging her extensive HR and corporate experience, she helps leaders cultivate a positive mindset, get clear on goals and intended impact, align personal values with organizational missions, navigate complex environments, and lead with grace and empathy. Her unique blend of HR expertise and coaching skills enables her to foster transformative growth in individuals and organizations.

Based in Maryland, Ayana brings a client-driven approach focused on developing the whole person and empowering leaders to thrive professionally and personally. She is direct and authentic, focusing on relationships, results, and goals rather than excuses. Self-awareness, partnership, confidentiality, and a conscious commitment to excellence are characteristics she embodies and expects in every coaching engagement.

Coaching Philosophy

As a coach, Ayana draws from the co-active coaching model, which supports clients in driving their own agenda and focuses on clients as whole individuals with whole lives that extend far beyond professional job titles. She believes all people are capable of learning, growing, and developing in coaching relationships when they are open to the experience.

For Ayana, coaching is about understanding the need before a solution is proposed. She has a genuine way of understanding, supporting, and reframing the most challenging relationships and circumstances, helping clients decide how they want to approach them while staying authentic to who they are. Her approach centers on the whole person: career and life, work and well-being, the professional self and the human underneath.

Areas of Expertise

• Executive and Leadership Coaching
• Leadership Development and Talent Strategy
• Facilitation and Difficult Conversations
• 360-Degree Assessment and Feedback
• HR and Organizational Development Consulting
• Strategic Planning and Process Improvement