About Laura
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The short version...
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Hi, I'm Laura! đź‘‹ I'm a certified leadership development coach and consultant, and author of the book STRENGTHENED: Developing the Leader Within.
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I specialize in providing customized coaching and consulting services to leaders, teams, and organizations who are looking to achieve peak performance. My certifications include:
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ACPEC (advanced certified personal and executive coach) from the College of Executive Coaching;
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BCC (board certified coach) through the Center for Credentialing and Education; and
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ACC (associate certified coach) through the International Coaching Federation.
Additionally, I hold a master's degree in Organizational Leadership with a minor in Change Leadership from Gonzaga University, and am currently working towards a PhD in Leadership Studies. (You can read about my research here.)
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The above education (which reflects my ongoing commitment to growth and development) sits atop 20-years of corporate experience (12+ in corporate leadership), followed by nearly 15-years as a business owner.
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This combination of experience and education empowers me to understand the myriad of business challenges today's leaders face and support them in their ability to be effective in their roles, both personally and professionally.
The long version...
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Over the span of my career, I've experienced both ends of the leadership spectrum.
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Early on in my career, I was fortunate enough to work for a couple of exceptional leaders. The environments were energizing and engaging, and the experiences sparked my love and passion for identifying the positive patterns that lead to flourishing cultures and collective goal achievement.Â
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But over time, I also experienced some horrible leadership examples. The kind that destroys cultures, negatively impacts health, and eventually leads to corporate implosions. Despite their gut-wrenching negativity, these situations were equally intriguing to me. I wanted to understand what drove toxic leadership behaviors. And seeing its pervasive presence in and across organizations, I wanted to know if an antidote to this behavior existed. (My current PhD research provides some insight on this.)
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For the bulk of my corporate career, I had unique visibility into the leadership structures of other organizations. As a Sales Manager in the technologies field – a role that required me to wear multiple hats including consultant, trainer, facilitator, presenter, coach, and leader - I worked with leaders and decision-makers at thousands of businesses of varying sizes, helping them to design better business practices, increase their revenues, and create heightened customer experiences.
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In this role, I witnessed a wide array of leadership styles and developed an increasing sensitivity toward the direct impact leaders have on their followers.
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In 2009, when I made the transition from employee to entrepreneur, I naively believed that all negative leadership experiences would be in the rearview mirror. Surely, as a sales and marketing consultant, I would only encounter positive environments where rainbows and unicorns adorned every office space. After all, I chose who I took on as clients.
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Then, it happened - the straw that broke the unicorn’s back. A succession of three contracts where I grew increasingly frustrated with, and saddened over, the repetition of a common pattern.
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I'd be hired to work with a sales and marketing team who were facing business challenges, only to discover that the underlying issues originated with the organizational culture and the executive teams’ philosophies toward leadership. Though the trickle-down effect seemed obvious from my vantage point, leadership insights from a sales consultant were rarely, if ever, welcomed.
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This led to a period of deep introspection where I realized that, for far too many years, I'd been part of the problem instead of the solution. In the process of working with companies to drive revenue through sales and marketing tactics, I was ignoring the toxic cultures that prioritized profits over people.
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Experience taught me that often when a business faces challenges, it’s generally not the marketing, sales force, or product set that is at the root of those challenges. A deeper look into the company culture, leadership styles, and mindset of those within the organization often unveils underlying issues that must be resolved in order for an organization to achieve positive, lasting, revenue-building change.
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Motivated by my desire to help companies and executives at a much deeper level, I elected to scale back my career and pursue a formal education in the leadership sciences. I wanted to do better and be better so I could help others do the same. And those efforts have now come full circle.
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I now work with leaders, helping them to reach their goals by providing the necessary support, insights, and tools needed to develop and elevate the leader within. Leveraging my expertise in self-leadership theory, coaching psychology, organizational behavior, and change management, I help my clients identify and embrace their strengths, adapt their behaviors to achieve their goals, and break down the barriers that prevent change.
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I do this work in a variety of capacities and am available for speaking events, corporate training seminars, leadership development coaching, one-on-one coaching, and organizational consulting.
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If you still want to learn a bit more, you can read my personal leadership philosophy, connect with me, or schedule a call where I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
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In the meantime, may you always Show Up! Shine Bright! And Be The Leader the World Needs!
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