KAREN ELMHIRST - EXECUTIVE COACH

Karen Elmhirst is an experienced educator, advisor and coach working in the domains of leadership and communication. Her background as a sales and marketing executive across diverse industries has provided a solid foundation of real-world experience that informs her coaching practice. In her work with directors through to C-level executives, Karen supports clients in identifying opportunities for stepping into their potential as leaders and realizing their stretch goals.

Karen Elmhirst has successfully coached executives in a wide variety of industries including: software, technology, business services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, entrepreneurial start-ups, and non-profits. She is committed to helping leaders gain clarity about what needs to be accomplished and how best to do so. Emphasis is placed on supporting clients to find their authentic 'sweet spot' - where skills, knowledge and interest converge and make extraordinary results possible. Karen supports clients to navigate the path to success - leveraging their natural strengths and using that momentum to support improvements in the development areas critical for success.

Karen's coaching has supported senior leaders at companies like MONSTER.com, Accenture and Informatica to achieve the next level of success.

• Newly hired executives have accelerated their ability to contribute to their new organizations, established solid relationships of trust across functions and geographies, and accelerated their learning about the new organization's cultural norms and dynamics. This has enabled organizations to realize fast and long-lasting return from these new hires.
• Senior executives have improved their ability to communicate compelling messages in ways that stimulate action and address the issues and concerns of stakeholders. The result has been accelerated response time, faster adoption of change initiatives, and improved staff perceptions of trust and credibility in senior leaders.
• Busy leaders have identified the critical and compelling 2-3 priorities for their professional development and invested in making change, based on practical activities embedded in their workdays. This has enabled significant improvement without adding undue burden to already overwhelming schedules.

Prior to becoming an executive coach, Karen spent twenty years in sales and marketing leadership roles in industries including media, business services, corporate training, advertising, consumer products and hospitality. Karen has worked in both large, multi-national firms and small internet start-ups. In addition to her leadership responsibilities, Karen has conducted sales training, and coached executives preparing for high-stakes presentations on their communication effectiveness.

As Senior Leadership Analyst for HR.com, Karen was responsible for conducting secondary research and reporting on the best practices of leaders and the best ways to develop leaders. She has presented at national conferences and delivered educational workshops, both online and in-person. She has written several articles for HR publications and for three years, she hosted a bi-weekly webcast interview series with leading business experts.

Karen is in the process of completing coursework for her Masters in Counseling Psychology. She has furthered her learning with extensive research on leadership best practices and with formal training in systems coaching and facilitation.

"Karen Elmhirst has worked with several of our leaders on executive communications, helping them motivate and inspire both internal and external audiences. Executive feedback on her collaborative coaching has been very positive and we have seen marked improvement as well." --Linda Pfeifer Director, HR Global Learning and Performance Informatica Corp.