Kim Meninger

Keynote Speaker| Leadership Coach | Host of the Impostor Syndrome Files podcast at Executive Career Success, LLC d/b/a Kim Meninger

Professional Training and Coaching

Education: Boston College, BA, Psychology - Boston College MBA
Boston, MA, USA
INVITE TO SPEAK

Biography

As a leadership coach, consultant and keynote speaker, Kim Meninger leverages psychological insight, business acumen and leadership experience to help leaders recognize and disrupt the internal triggers that limit their impact so they can operate with clarity, confidence and intentionality. She has lived this work, first as a leader inside high-demand tech environments like EMC and Monster, and now as a trusted speaker and coach to leaders at Amazon, Salesforce, Fidelity Investments, Bain Capital and many others.

Kim’s approach to helping leaders navigate high-growth, rapidly changing business landscapes goes beyond theory. It’s practical, actionable and designed to create lasting business value. When leaders learn to better lead themselves under intense and unrelenting pressure, they make better decisions, communicate more effectively and drive stronger results across the board. To learn more about Kim, visit www.LinkedIn.com/in/KimMeninger.

Passion

I am passionate about helping emerging and established leaders bridge the gap between their aspirational selves and the version of themselves that shows up under pressure. Each of us has a best self that we hope will appear in the moments that matter most. Too often, however, we become triggered, leading us to overthink, over-function or overcompensate. I've developed an actionable framework to help leaders quickly shift from instinctive reaction to intentional leadership, which deepens trust, fuels innovation and accelerates performance.

Best Story

One of the stories I regularly share comes from my own experience navigating impostor syndrome in the high-tech industry. As a non-technical, early career professional on a team of highly experienced engineers and technical folks, I often felt like a fraud. I worried that, at any moment, someone would ask me a question I could not answer and the entire house of cards would collapse. This created intense anxiety that made it difficult for me to do my best work.

To address the problem, I immediately turned to an academic solution. I thought that returning to school for a master's degree in engineering would provide me with the skills and language needed to better communicate with my colleagues. After three courses, I concluded that that was not the path for me. As a next step, I reached out to our EVP of Engineering and asked for his advice. I shared vulnerably that I often felt in over my head in technical conversations and asked if he thought I needed an engineering degree to advance within the company. He looked at me funny and replied, "Engineering degree? You don't need an engineering degree. You're surrounded by engineers. If you need to have a technical conversation, bring a technical person into the room with you. You don't need to know everything. You just need to know who knows what you don't know and build relationships with them."

When I left that room, I felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I also realized for the first time that not once, not in my interviews, resume or conversations, had I ever positioned myself as a technical person. Yet they invited me to their meetings anyway. There must have been another reason I was invited to the conversation. This allowed me to re-orient myself to the work I was indeed there to do, which was relationship management. Once I could focus on my strengths and let go of competing with my technical colleagues, I found my own way to add value, which boosted my confidence and overall impact. I now teach others to do the same.

Origin Story

When I was growing up, I never expected to join the corporate world. I dreamed of becoming a psychologist and focused my undergraduate education on preparing for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. My plans were derailed shortly before applying to graduate school when I couldn’t afford to spend five more years as a full-time student. Instead, I found a position at EMC through a personal connection and built a successful career managing strategic partnerships.

In my corporate role, I quickly learned that my psychology background was useful. I intuitively understood, in a way that many others didn’t, how to build strategic alliances, assert influence without authority, and effectively manage office politics. And I observed how many high-potential professionals struggled with confidence and self-doubt.

Throughout my career in the high-tech industry, I observed that many professionals were vulnerable to confidence issues and self-doubt, which kept them from seeking high-profile projects, forging relationships with senior level influencers and strategically promoting their accomplishments, all of which served to hold them back and further erode their confidence. When my older son was born in 2010, I decided to leave my corporate career and build a business that leveraged my unique talents and experiences. Helping people who struggle with self-doubt to recognize and embrace their strengths, as well as develop the confidence and strategies needed to advance their careers felt like the perfect fit!

I’ve had the privilege of coaching hundreds of talented, high-potential leaders, individually and in groups. Each time I partner with a new client, I feel genuinely honored to share in their career growth and leadership development. The extraordinary results these leaders experience inspire me to do the work I love.

Example talks

Master the Moment: Bridging the Gap Between Instinctive Reaction & Intentional Leadership

In today’s climate of relentless change, rising complexity and increasing pressure, even the most experienced leaders can struggle to show up as the leader they aspire to be. Under stress, we default to reactive patterns, including overthinking, over-functioning or overcompensating. These instinctive reactions quietly erode trust, undermine innovation and weaken the bottom line.

The real opportunity for leaders isn’t learning how to manage the onslaught of external forces driving pressure, which will only continue to accelerate and evolve over time. It’s learning to manage yourself in the face of that pressure. What leaders need are strategies to close the gap between their aspirational leadership selves and the version of themselves that shows up under stress.

In this timely and practical keynote, leadership coach and former high-tech leader Kim Meninger introduces the LEADS framework—a science-backed, actionable system to help leaders quickly shift from reaction to intentionality under pressure. Through compelling stories and real-world strategies, Kim empowers leaders to step more consistently and seamlessly into their aspirational selves, especially in the moments that matter most.

Audiences will walk away with:

  • A deeper understanding of what drives reactive behavior in high-stakes moments and how to effectively manage it to enhance leadership effectiveness under pressure.
  • A practical framework to quickly shift from reactivity to intentional, values-based leadership to foster greater trust, collaboration and psychological safety.
  • Strategies to show up more consistently as a leader, which drives faster, more confident decision-making, greater engagement and accelerated innovation.

Impostor Syndrome Is Real. Here’s What Leaders Can Do About It.

Impostor syndrome is more than a personal challenge. It’s a hidden business risk that affects individual performance, team dynamics and organizational success. In today’s rapidly changing, high-pressure workplaces, impostor syndrome has become a pervasive and costly experience, especially among high performers.

When left unaddressed, impostor syndrome leads to burnout, risk aversion and untapped potential. It limits innovation, erodes confidence and keeps capable professionals from fully stepping into their roles. This isn’t just an individual issue, it’s a business imperative.

Leaders at every level need to understand how impostor syndrome operates: what causes it, how it shows up, and how to support others through it. When leaders are equipped to recognize and address impostor syndrome, they not only strengthen their own leadership, they foster healthier, more collaborative and higher-performing workplaces.

In this keynote, leadership coach Kim Meninger offers a research-informed, real-world look at impostor syndrome as a systemic challenge. She shares actionable strategies to help leaders manage impostor syndrome within themselves and others, unlocking greater confidence, innovation and impact across the organization.

Lead with Your Value: Self-Promotion Strategies to Advance Your Career

Many professionals are reluctant to actively promote their value because it feels self-serving or inauthentic. Rather than promote themselves, they prefer to believe that their work will speak for itself. Unfortunately, without the confidence and commitment to share your value with others, you may lose out on important opportunities to raise your visibility, make a bigger impact and advance within your organization.

In this interactive session, we will:

·      Re-frame self-promotion in a way that allows for greater authenticity and integrity

·      Examine and address key challenges

·      Identify the benefits of self-promotion to ourselves and others

·      Explore simple, actionable strategies you can take immediately to raise your visibility

Building a Better Workplace: Bringing Men & Women into Conversation

Women’s networks have long been promoting the need for greater gender equity and inclusion in the workplace, not just for the benefit of women, but for the benefit of all. However, these conversations often lack a critical perspective – that of men. To achieve the true vision of diversity, equity and inclusion, we must join forces to better understand each other’s experiences and challenges in ways that allow for mutual trust, collaboration and support.

In this interactive session, Jake Fishbein and Kim Meninger, certified professional coaches who lead gender-specific groups focused on self-empowerment, will co-facilitate a safe, respectful, gender-inclusive conversation to break down gender barriers, expand our understanding of each other’s workplace experiences and create opportunities for greater gender equity.

Walking the Tightrope: Mastering the Balance between Likability & Respect

As workplaces strive to achieve greater diversity, equity and inclusion, traditional gender expectations continue to present challenges for all of us. Those who identify as women often face the double bind -- show up as likable and be seen as less competent, or show up as strong and competent and risk being seen as less likable. Those who identify as men but don’t fully embrace traditionally masculine norms are often stigmatized as well. While the pandemic has proven that leaders who demonstrate empathy, humility and vulnerability are more effective than their command-and-control counterparts, deep-rooted gender expectations make it difficult for everyone who deviates from our traditional mental models of leadership to authentically navigate the workplace and rise to higher levels. This often leaves all of us, regardless of gender identity, feeling as though we have a very fine line, or tightrope, to walk. In this session, we will identify actionable steps to more confidently and successfully navigate this “tightrope” in our everyday work environments.

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Topics

impostor syndrome leadership executive coaching influence womens leadership confidence career management career advancement strategic relationships executive presence change management strategic thinking office politics conflict management career success self promotion motivating others strategic mindset networking career transition women in technology communication overcoming the imposter syndrome women in business women in the workplace empowering women workplace visibility professional visibility personal branding relationship management leadership presence career development mentorship and sponsorship selfadvocacy negotiation influence without authority workplace politics psychological safety power of vulnerability authentic leadership hightech technology leadership communication skills intentional leadership accountability

Best Story

One of the stories I regularly share comes from my own experience navigating impostor syndrome in the high-tech industry. As a non-technical, early career professional on a team of highly experienced engineers and technical folks, I often felt like a fraud. I worried that, at any moment, someone would ask me a question I could not answer and the entire house of cards would collapse. This created intense anxiety that made it difficult for me to do my best work.

To address the problem, I immediately turned to an academic solution. I thought that returning to school for a master's degree in engineering would provide me with the skills and language needed to better communicate with my colleagues. After three courses, I concluded that that was not the path for me. As a next step, I reached out to our EVP of Engineering and asked for his advice. I shared vulnerably that I often felt in over my head in technical conversations and asked if he thought I needed an engineering degree to advance within the company. He looked at me funny and replied, "Engineering degree? You don't need an engineering degree. You're surrounded by engineers. If you need to have a technical conversation, bring a technical person into the room with you. You don't need to know everything. You just need to know who knows what you don't know and build relationships with them."

When I left that room, I felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I also realized for the first time that not once, not in my interviews, resume or conversations, had I ever positioned myself as a technical person. Yet they invited me to their meetings anyway. There must have been another reason I was invited to the conversation. This allowed me to re-orient myself to the work I was indeed there to do, which was relationship management. Once I could focus on my strengths and let go of competing with my technical colleagues, I found my own way to add value, which boosted my confidence and overall impact. I now teach others to do the same.

Origin Story

When I was growing up, I never expected to join the corporate world. I dreamed of becoming a psychologist and focused my undergraduate education on preparing for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. My plans were derailed shortly before applying to graduate school when I couldn’t afford to spend five more years as a full-time student. Instead, I found a position at EMC through a personal connection and built a successful career managing strategic partnerships.

In my corporate role, I quickly learned that my psychology background was useful. I intuitively understood, in a way that many others didn’t, how to build strategic alliances, assert influence without authority, and effectively manage office politics. And I observed how many high-potential professionals struggled with confidence and self-doubt.

Throughout my career in the high-tech industry, I observed that many professionals were vulnerable to confidence issues and self-doubt, which kept them from seeking high-profile projects, forging relationships with senior level influencers and strategically promoting their accomplishments, all of which served to hold them back and further erode their confidence. When my older son was born in 2010, I decided to leave my corporate career and build a business that leveraged my unique talents and experiences. Helping people who struggle with self-doubt to recognize and embrace their strengths, as well as develop the confidence and strategies needed to advance their careers felt like the perfect fit!

I’ve had the privilege of coaching hundreds of talented, high-potential leaders, individually and in groups. Each time I partner with a new client, I feel genuinely honored to share in their career growth and leadership development. The extraordinary results these leaders experience inspire me to do the work I love.

Example talks

Master the Moment: Bridging the Gap Between Instinctive Reaction & Intentional Leadership

In today’s climate of relentless change, rising complexity and increasing pressure, even the most experienced leaders can struggle to show up as the leader they aspire to be. Under stress, we default to reactive patterns, including overthinking, over-functioning or overcompensating. These instinctive reactions quietly erode trust, undermine innovation and weaken the bottom line.

The real opportunity for leaders isn’t learning how to manage the onslaught of external forces driving pressure, which will only continue to accelerate and evolve over time. It’s learning to manage yourself in the face of that pressure. What leaders need are strategies to close the gap between their aspirational leadership selves and the version of themselves that shows up under stress.

In this timely and practical keynote, leadership coach and former high-tech leader Kim Meninger introduces the LEADS framework—a science-backed, actionable system to help leaders quickly shift from reaction to intentionality under pressure. Through compelling stories and real-world strategies, Kim empowers leaders to step more consistently and seamlessly into their aspirational selves, especially in the moments that matter most.

Audiences will walk away with:

  • A deeper understanding of what drives reactive behavior in high-stakes moments and how to effectively manage it to enhance leadership effectiveness under pressure.
  • A practical framework to quickly shift from reactivity to intentional, values-based leadership to foster greater trust, collaboration and psychological safety.
  • Strategies to show up more consistently as a leader, which drives faster, more confident decision-making, greater engagement and accelerated innovation.

Impostor Syndrome Is Real. Here’s What Leaders Can Do About It.

Impostor syndrome is more than a personal challenge. It’s a hidden business risk that affects individual performance, team dynamics and organizational success. In today’s rapidly changing, high-pressure workplaces, impostor syndrome has become a pervasive and costly experience, especially among high performers.

When left unaddressed, impostor syndrome leads to burnout, risk aversion and untapped potential. It limits innovation, erodes confidence and keeps capable professionals from fully stepping into their roles. This isn’t just an individual issue, it’s a business imperative.

Leaders at every level need to understand how impostor syndrome operates: what causes it, how it shows up, and how to support others through it. When leaders are equipped to recognize and address impostor syndrome, they not only strengthen their own leadership, they foster healthier, more collaborative and higher-performing workplaces.

In this keynote, leadership coach Kim Meninger offers a research-informed, real-world look at impostor syndrome as a systemic challenge. She shares actionable strategies to help leaders manage impostor syndrome within themselves and others, unlocking greater confidence, innovation and impact across the organization.

Lead with Your Value: Self-Promotion Strategies to Advance Your Career

Many professionals are reluctant to actively promote their value because it feels self-serving or inauthentic. Rather than promote themselves, they prefer to believe that their work will speak for itself. Unfortunately, without the confidence and commitment to share your value with others, you may lose out on important opportunities to raise your visibility, make a bigger impact and advance within your organization.

In this interactive session, we will:

·      Re-frame self-promotion in a way that allows for greater authenticity and integrity

·      Examine and address key challenges

·      Identify the benefits of self-promotion to ourselves and others

·      Explore simple, actionable strategies you can take immediately to raise your visibility

Building a Better Workplace: Bringing Men & Women into Conversation

Women’s networks have long been promoting the need for greater gender equity and inclusion in the workplace, not just for the benefit of women, but for the benefit of all. However, these conversations often lack a critical perspective – that of men. To achieve the true vision of diversity, equity and inclusion, we must join forces to better understand each other’s experiences and challenges in ways that allow for mutual trust, collaboration and support.

In this interactive session, Jake Fishbein and Kim Meninger, certified professional coaches who lead gender-specific groups focused on self-empowerment, will co-facilitate a safe, respectful, gender-inclusive conversation to break down gender barriers, expand our understanding of each other’s workplace experiences and create opportunities for greater gender equity.

Walking the Tightrope: Mastering the Balance between Likability & Respect

As workplaces strive to achieve greater diversity, equity and inclusion, traditional gender expectations continue to present challenges for all of us. Those who identify as women often face the double bind -- show up as likable and be seen as less competent, or show up as strong and competent and risk being seen as less likable. Those who identify as men but don’t fully embrace traditionally masculine norms are often stigmatized as well. While the pandemic has proven that leaders who demonstrate empathy, humility and vulnerability are more effective than their command-and-control counterparts, deep-rooted gender expectations make it difficult for everyone who deviates from our traditional mental models of leadership to authentically navigate the workplace and rise to higher levels. This often leaves all of us, regardless of gender identity, feeling as though we have a very fine line, or tightrope, to walk. In this session, we will identify actionable steps to more confidently and successfully navigate this “tightrope” in our everyday work environments.