We don’t believe in “fixing”
We believe in the inner intelligence and innate capacities of people and that the seeds for different possibilities in organizational life are present today. We create the conditions to bring those forward.
Executive Coaching
The heart of our client partnerships focuses on enabling and accelerating the growth and expansion of people through executive coaching. While our primary focus is on 1:1 development-oriented relationships, we also engage with intact leadership teams and curated groups of peer leaders. We choose to work with values-aligned companies who represent a global range of industries and organizational life stages, from pre-IPO to the Fortune 500 or equivalent.
For Individuals
Our 1:1 coaching engagements are with the senior-most leaders in organizations.
Why? To enable more humanistic organizations, it means the relational atmosphere that is created within meetings and interactions needs to shift, catalyzing a new cultural climate. To spark sustainable climate change, we focus on the weather systems of these leaders who have the most significant influence on that climate given their roles. We partner with executive leaders in raising their awareness and expanding their ways of thinking, being, and doing (their weather systems) to effect new possibilities and different conditions in the atmosphere of daily work.
The individual coaching work is introspective and reflective; we work backwards and forwards across your journey to develop more awareness on shaping forces, motivational drives, enablers, and limiters. With understanding and appreciation for all the different parts of who you are and how those were influenced, you identify default lenses that you use to view, interpret, and navigate the world and life overall. Surfacing the stories and predictions that influence your thoughts and actions enables you to make choices on intentional shifts in inner narratives and outward actions that support your aspirations and your effectiveness throughout your web of relationships.
Examples of what prompts a leader to initiate a coaching engagement with us:
Role changes
Entering a CEO or C-Suite / enterprise leadership role for the first time
Entering a CEO or C-Suite / enterprise leadership role at a much larger scale/scope than previously held
Context changes
Integrating effectively when transitioning into a new company and new culture
Leading a major transformational initiative
Navigating through a significant event in the organization’s lifeline (e.g., merger, acquisition, material strategic changes)
Facing significant risks and uncertainties in the broader context
Direction changes
Visualizing and designing options for what’s next on a professional path and what is needed for bringing those to reality
Exploring and crafting a new and different chapter (e.g., retirement)
Relational friction
Addressing tensions within key organizational partnerships : with the Board, with executive team members/direct reports; with other stakeholder groups
For Teams
We partner with executive teams in a team-based coaching experience which deepens individual and collective awareness on patterns, dynamics, and the assumptions that fuel them.
We seek to elevate the quality of interactions to increase decision effectiveness, deepen relationships, strengthen trust and promote learning. Through facilitated workshops, teams deepen awareness and perspective on who and how they are today, develop shared clarity on their go-forward vision as a team, and define the bridge from present to desired future with experiments to support new behaviors and reinforce learning — integrating leadership development real time.
For Curated Peer Cohorts
We design and lead Catalyst Cohorts of up to 8 peer executives.
In this crafted group coaching experience, explorations promote individual growth and collective learning while supporting meaningful progress against real-time challenges or opportunities members face. The focus is on clarifying and evolving one’s leadership model while increasing their effectiveness in influencing enterprise dynamics.
Participants typically represent different industries and geographies and are selected for participation through an application process. We also craft experiences for peer cohorts of leaders across functions/regions within a company. Cohort sessions are virtual and typically held monthly; there is also opportunity for an in-person retreat.
Interested in learning more?
CEO Advisory
For Organizations
On a limited basis, we offer a retainer-based “thinking partner” model where we engage with the CEO and/or executive team members as a trusted source for realizing organizational aspirations.
As an objective, confidential sounding board, we provide guidance on surfacing, understanding, and influencing organizational, team, and cultural dynamics that affect the relational fabric and health of an organization. We help to co-create a leader-led path to realize higher levels of employee engagement and commitment, value creation, and positive societal impact.
To explore working together, please contact us.
Webinars
Spark Leadership Partners offers webinars that introduce specific facets of relational intelligence and provide practical, actionable ways to further your own exploration and learning.
Speaking Engagements
Karin Stawarky is available for speaking engagements in different formats: keynotes, offsites/retreats, professional organizations, and executive education. In her talks, she knits together stories, imagery, and experiential application to create dynamic experiences that open minds, illuminate new perspectives, and foster connection.
To invite Karin to speak, please contact us.
In their words, the experience of some of our clients: