Consulting Engagements for Organizations and Leaders

Get Measurable Results through Conflict Mastery

Over the course of more than 20 years, I’ve guided organizations and their leadership in mastering conflict using a time-tested, highly-effective methodology I call Spiral Impact®. Drawing from the lessons of nature, science, engineering – and my practice in the martial art of aikido – I teach intra- and inter-departmental teams repeatable, sustainable skills and provide them with reusable tools for using conflict creatively. Together, we measurably increase productivity, improve interpersonal relationships, and collaborate to create an environment of trust where innovative thinking can take root and grow.

“Mastery is not perfection, but rather a journey,
and the true master must be willing to try and fail and try again.”

— George Leonard

Outcome-Oriented Conflict Mastery

I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working with many types of organizations, across a variety of industries. Over time, I’ve gleaned – and continue to glean – numerous insights into how teams operate in vastly different contexts and cultures.

Using Spiral Impact as a framework, I tailor our engagement to fit the specifics of your situation. I invite you and your team to step courageously into exciting new territory and:

  • Build bridges between departments with competing agendas
  • Define a culture of collaboration and cooperation
  • Create unity in a diverse group of people
  • Navigate the transitions required to align with change

As we work together, we’ll explore not only how your team can work more effectively but also how they want to work together to achieve their goals for personal and professional development.  Check out this case study measured by a third party vendor.

Give Your Team the Tools to Achieve the Success They Crave

Every team, on some level, craves success. Without the tools to achieve that success, teams become frustrated and often devolve into destructive behaviors, such as blaming, complaining, and even sabotaging each other’s efforts. Spiral Impact provides a tool set for teams and their individual members to engage effectively, collaborate eagerly, and move with change instead of resisting it. I work on three important levels of development:

Personal Awareness. Conflict mastery for groups begins with the individual. I teach team members to identify and reshape their own physical, emotional, and verbal responses to stressful situations.

Other-Awareness. Developing sensitivity to both the spoken and unspoken responses of others is critical to successful interpersonal relationships. I teach team members to recognize and “move with” disagreement to foster understanding and trust.

Interpersonal Awareness. Teams are highly complex and dynamic organisms, composed of individuals with diverse needs, talents, and skills. Together, we apply what we’ve learned about personal awareness and other-awareness to the evolutionary changes experienced as a functioning team.

Measure Your Team’s Progress Toward Their Goals

Planning outcomes without measuring your progress defeats the purpose. Whether it’s reviewing a formal, corporately-administered survey or creating an informal check-in, we decide together how best to measure your team’s progress and celebrate their successes. Because the tools I teach create independence, teams can use them again and again to manage their future successes, as well, without the need for long-term coaching.

Join a complimentary MasterClass

“[Post-engagement] survey results produced the highest level of employee satisfaction improvement…in the survey’s history. I am confident that Karen’s work will provide my employer with millions of dollars in reduced expenses and improved customer satisfaction.”
William Ward

IU Health

“What I like best about working with Karen is she is passionate about helping people and organizations get unstuck and deal with the real issues. She is also respected as a coach of leaders because she doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff and provides real strategies that have immediate impact for all involved.”
Jan Green

Learning and Development Officer, Blue & Company, LLC

Boost your Power with Grace

Transcript: Karen here.  Got a question for you.  What if your driving is a model of how you live the rest of your life? Do you get stressed out with people who break the rules? Do you speed? Do you yell at people in your...

Master Conflict. Be More Free

When you can master conflict you achieve certain degree of freedom in your life. What is mastery? Listen in and find out!

Force versus Power

How you choose between using force vs. using power impacts every interaction you have — even if you’re interacting only with yourself. Do you know what that difference is? Believe it or not, the answer is based in physics.

Watch now.

Conflict and the Evolution of Innovation

Conflict is a powerfully transformative force. It is, in fact, the beginning of innovation. Without conflict, we would never stretch ourselves, never reach beyond our own comfort zones. View my brief exploration of how conflict is the starting point of innovation.

What's standing in your way?