About me and the meaning of this research

I'm Debbie, and I'm interested in how you think and learn about leadership because how each of us learns to be a leader influences how our world works.  I also have a hope that as you spend a few moments with my research to reflect on how you lead, you will consider how your style impacts yourself and others.

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I am a candidate for a doctoral degree in the Leadership and Innovation program at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.  I'm exploring two elements of leadership: 1) how busy executives can learn effectively through micro-lessons in a modality of podcasting and 2)  how a style that considers giving grace to others can contribute to better relations and outcomes.

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Your participation in listening, reflecting on your leadership practice as it relates to the opportunity for giving grace, and responding to my questions is an important contribution to the scholarship.  I am so grateful for your help!

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I have dedicated my career to the development and study of leadership.   In particular, I work with designated, elected, emerging and aspirational leaders from diverse backgrounds, ages, and places to help them become more effective and ethical in how they lead and serve others.  I believe that everything gets done in relationships, and therefore, the more we understand how to work together with respect and dignity, then we can achieve more of what we want.

 

Currently, I am an organizational advisor and executive leadership coach with a global practice that helps leaders to see things differently, discover deeper learning, and effectively manage change and innovation. Woven through my history as a leadership expert, I gained field experience as a startup founder and entrepreneur, in venture capital, in coding and designing educational technology, and in classroom teaching

 

At Stanford University, I earned my master’s degree in Learning, Design and Technology in its early offering of the program and launched an online leadership learning program for future elected leaders in California's Central Valley.  I also developed the design skills to co-invent a digital consumer product and launch a company around its global distribution.  My undergraduate degree from Occidental College was in Public Policy which leveraged my policy work in Washington, DC and my national service work in Los Angeles.  In between this education, I was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in St. Louis and subsequently directed the Coro Foundation’s leadership program in New York City. 

 

To be maximally effective in my current work as an executive coach, I earned an evidence-based coaching certificate from Fielding Graduate University, and I have an ICF Professional Coaching Credential (PCC).  In my coaching practice, I am a licensed coach for the Designing Your Life program sourced from Stanford's d.school and certified as an ADHD coach to support leaders to optimize executive functioning. 

 

Originally from California’s Silicon Valley, I now live with my husband and three teen sons in Park City, Utah, and I get my daily inspiration from being outdoors in the majestic mountains here.