Coaching
Tap into motivation for action
“Kara made such a strong connection as a coach. She really helped me explore issues from different angles and maintain perspective when I was too focused on the downside of challenges. Her questions and reflections helped me reframe my thinking, become more solutions oriented with my approach and she helped me tap into the motivation I needed to take action. I’ve seen great progress with some of my business relationships after implementing what came out of our coaching. I look forward to having an opportunity to engage her again and highly recommend others take advantage of the opportunity to work with her. ”
– Robert Briggs, Founder of Levity Music Consulting and former executive at BMG and EMI Music Publishing
Develop into a human-centered, high-impact leader
"As a mid-career, sector-switching professional with a lot of change happening in my career on a regular basis, Kara's coaching has been immensely grounding. Having spent the bulk of my time in nonprofit organizations, diving head-first into the startup tech sector has involved lots of growth, joy and frustration. Our sessions have provided me with the opportunity to pause for reflection in the middle of the chaos. She has a practical, subtle way of "holding the mirror up" in front of me so I can guide myself to my own ah-hah moments. As I finally find myself at my ideal level of leadership (department head, manager of managers, senior leadership, etc.), the clarity, self-awareness, and intentionality her coaching provides me is helping me walk myself towards my goal of being a human-centered, high-impact leader."
- Brianna Swartz, Technical & Operations leader
Transform in leadership and life
When I first met Kara, I was in a not so great place. I was unsure if coaching was right for me or would help me with the challenges I was facing at that time. Kara was respectful and allowed me grace to decide whether I wanted to engage in a coaching relationship. And I’m so glad that I did.
After just a few sessions I could see how her coaching enabled me to dive deep into the introspection I needed to understand my challenges and work to find some solutions. Kara brought a holistic approach to coaching, helping me to find ways to improve various aspects of my life. Kara asked incredibly thought-provoking questions and connected with me on my level by bringing in exercises she thought would resonate with me, which they did. Not to mention, she is so easy to talk to and empathetic. Our sessions to me felt like grabbing a cup of coffee with an old friend.
At the end of our coaching engagement, I felt like a new person and could really see the progress I had made in just a few short months. Coaching with Kara has given me so many valuable tools and lessons that I will carry with me forward to continue working on my best self. I am incredibly appreciative for the opportunity to be coached by Kara and would highly recommend Kara to anyone seeking the same.
-Kendall Valentin, Program Operations Associate, Global Citizen Year
Training & Facilitation
Supported senior leaders on execution priorities to hit goals
"Thank you Kara for all you did to challenge my senior leaders and encourage them to think critically about the strength of their respective teams. As a result of your session, my leadership team was able to plan for the coaching and development support their direct reports would need to successfully execute on our annual goals.
I wanted the first in-person meeting of my new team to be meaningful. I wanted the meeting to accomplish 3 goals: challenge my leadership team to think strategically about what it would take to achieve our goals for the year, provide time for my leaders to plan the specific supports their individual teams would need to execute on the goals, and create an opportunity for engagement and connection among the team. While I was planning to facilitate much of the meeting myself, I though an external presenter who could lead the group through a workshop style session and enable them to start the the planning process would be a great compliment to the areas I would facilitate.
Having worked with Kara in the past, I knew she was the perfect person to engage my leadership team and get their wheels turning. What I love about Kara is she has lots of tools in her toolbox that enable her to tailor her presentation to whatever you are trying to build. We had 2 brainstorming sessions together to tease out content, then landed on Kara leading my team through a PxWxR assessment to determine the strengths of their teams. She was an incredible guide... pointing out the key takeaways while letting the team navigate through the assessment of their teams using objective measures.
My team raved about that session with Kara and really appreciated how she was able to connect their assessment of their teams to our earlier morning session on Divisional priorities and annual goals. In the session that followed Kara’s workshop, the team was able to build on their PxWxR analysis of their team to identify supports and coaching that would be needed to hit our plans.
I would highly recommend Kara for team development or facilitation of a team strategy session. My team found her session to be engaging, motivating, and challenging... exactly what you want your team to feel coming out of a strategy session! They were well prepared to execute on their plans to strengthen their teams and deliver on their goals."
- Lisa K. Miller, Senior Vice President, LIfeStance Health
Consulting
Built feedback system that promoted executive leadership learning and growth
"As leaders, our executive team has always grounded our work in a belief that quality feedback leads to greater professional development. Because of that belief, for years we focused on implementing a strong performance review process for our staff that was structured, meaningful, and objective. We contracted with The Upward Spiral Group because we wanted to apply that same level of intentionality to performance reviews for our executives.
Kara worked closely with the executive team to deeply understand our firm, learn about our roles and responsibilities, and help us design a structured process for our larger team to review us objectively and anonymously. Through collaboration, she developed a set of core competencies that reflected what executive leadership excellence means at our firm. The final product was easy to understand and score, and the process she developed was open and transparent. The tools and templates she designed helped us meaningfully reflect on the feedback we received and pinpoint our next steps in building our leadership skills.
Kara’s guidance and expertise were instrumental in helping us reflect on our strengths and growth opportunities, and the learnings from our new review process are making us more effective leaders of our growing consulting business."
- Dalia Mechanic, Partner, Bennett Midland