Leadership Development & Executive Coaching
Your best managers were never taught to lead.
I spent thirty years building leadership programs inside MetLife, H&R Block and Citibank — running a $54 million training operation and a global talent strategy across sixteen countries. Now I do that work for companies of 100 to 1,000 people: the ones with real leadership gaps and no L&D department to close them.
The problem
Mid-market companies have leadership gaps and no one whose job it is to fix them.
You promote your strongest individual contributors. They were excellent at the work — and nobody ever taught them how to set direction, hold a difficult conversation, build trust across a team, or influence people who don't report to them.
A Fortune 500 has a learning function to solve this. At 100 to 1,000 employees you have an HR generalist doing three jobs, buying training without a strategy behind it, and hoping something sticks.
That's the gap I fill. Not a course. The function.
Services
Five ways to work together.
Most engagements start with one and grow into another. Every one is scoped and priced before we begin — no open-ended retainers, no surprise invoices.
Fractional Chief Learning Officer
Two to three days a month, I act as your head of learning and development — the role you need but can't yet justify hiring.
How it works →Leadership Development Programs
A multi-month program for a cohort of 15–25 managers, built on seven leadership competencies and measured before and after.
How it works →Executive Coaching
ICF-credentialed one-to-one coaching for senior leaders. Sponsored by the organization, confidential to the leader.
How it works →Workshops & Team Assessments
A focused half or full day with an intact team, including Everything DiSC and MBTI sessions with the instrument included.
How it works →Keynotes
Conference and company events — a leadership talk with an unusual proving ground behind it, and a framework the room can use on Monday.
Speaking topics →Results
Measured outcomes, not satisfaction scores.
Every program I build gets measured against the business result it was meant to move. A selection:
The approach
Seven competencies that decide whether a leader is followed.
Authority gets you compliance. Everything beyond that — discretionary effort, candor, people staying — comes from capabilities most managers were never trained in. These seven form the spine of every program I run, and each one is assessed, taught and measured.
About
Thirty years inside the function I now run for you.
I was Chief Learning Officer at MetLife, leading global talent strategy for 30,000 employees across sixteen countries. At H&R Block I ran one of the largest corporate universities in the United States, on a $54 million annual budget.
Most consultants who sell leadership development have never run a learning function. I've run two, at Fortune 50 scale — with a board asking me what it returned.
The unusual part
I was the runner-up on season 30 of CBS's Survivor — the oldest player in the cast, with no authority over anyone. It turned out to be the most literal test of leading without authority I could have designed on purpose.
What people say
From the people who hired me.
“Carolyn is an inspirational leader, trainer, mentor and coach. I had the privilege of working with Carolyn at two Fortune 50 companies where she demonstrated excellent presentation and training skills at all levels.”
“I have attended many leadership workshops in the past, and none even come close. As a result of her sessions, we have the tools needed to help our employees grow and succeed with the company.”
Where are your leadership gaps?
Start with a conversation — no pitch, no obligation. Tell me what's happening with your managers and I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right person for it, and what it would take.