Member since April 2023
As an Executive Leadership Coach, Carole has spent over 25 years studying the differences between corporate and military leadership, identifying the best practices of both.
She uses a proven process to elevate her clients’ clarity in claiming what sets them apart from other leaders, defining their next steps, and leading with more influence.
If you were to Google Carole, you’d find she has
• A Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
• Supported a Military Family for 26 years.
• Speaks internationally
What you won’t find is that she is a resilient fighter with a contagious drive to thrive.
She has
• survived 3 traumatic car accidents that cost her several family members and serious injuries,
• persisted in working while continuously moving her family across the U.S., experiencing all types of leadership at every level and
• obtained her master’s while juggling working and conquering stage 3 cancer.
She has received awards that include Top 20 Leadership Coaches in 2023 by HR Tech, Top 10 Coaches to watch in 2023, Woman of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, and – her favorite: The coolest ‘Ya-Ya’ from her 6-year-old grandson.
Carole is a contributing author in Compassion @ work (2017), the best-selling Coach Wisdom Vol 1 (2019), and her own book: The Ask Framework (2021)
I am passionate about incorporating laughter into each day, helping people appreciate and see the unexpected in new ways, and making sure everyone feels valued. I am especially passionate about how people think, communicate, and listen. I also love wine, bourbon, dogs, cats, and being in the gorgeous outdoors of CO.
Another move with the Air Force, another gym as a new member.
And I am standing in a huge gym!
There’s a weight area that can fit an NFL Football
There’s a cardio room that can handle the Olympics!
But right Now - It’s early and it’s quiet
And then I hear it
REALLY. Heavy. Breathing.
I’m thinking someone’s on the speaker system it’s so loud.
This could be an interesting gym…
I look back towards the cardio room - and I see a lone person in the far corner working out hard on an elliptical …but
… no one can breathe that loud…
I look again -
and then -- I realize - I Know him! I’m married to him!
And – I quickly headed towards a separate part of the gym that day –
I’ll admit - being new - I’m just not ready for the nickname – Mrs. Heavy Breather.
Why didn’t I know this about him before now?
…ahhh - different schedules…we’d never worked out at the same time -
And there he was … loudly…breathing!
- oblivious to how he sounded.
My first impulse was to run to tell him, “Honey– we’re new here - tone it down!’
Then I have one of those moments of logic. And I realize - He can’t change the way he breathes!
Worrying about how to make this situation at the gym better - I’m asking ‘How can I fix what is wrong with this?”
I’m asking the wrong question.
I remember how his office loves to give him grief about racing with the young guys during Physical Training (which the military calls scheduled exercising), how they marveled at his abilities to run and ride a bike at high altitudes.
These very LOUD lungs may be one of his superpowers I hadn’t appreciated before!
I needed to be asking, “What is going right about this?
By asking, “What is going right?” My mind opens to what is amazing about his breathing.
And like that (snap) I switched my thinking from ‘I’m not really cool with being Mrs. Heavy Breather’ – ‘to ‘Hey! – that’s MY heavy breather!”
In 2013, after celebrating that I was still on this earth, I wanted more autonomy in how I spent my time. I've always been praised and promoted for how I engaged different people, made people think differently, and handle conflict and toxic people so I put these talents to the test and acquired my graduate degree and coaching certifications, and stepped into helping leaders understand how to do the same. Leadership is one of the most advertised need - and yet least trained, and leadership roles are still lacking in equity among genders. This is where understanding where the missing conversations exist and how to go after them. This gets me up everyday with gusto!
Wanting to know where you fit, what you are doing right, and where to grow next is fundamental to loving your work, but going after that information is unfamiliar, not taught, and not practiced. To gain the information you want, we often resort to asking, ‘How can I improve?” This is the wrong question!
Carole Stizza, an executive leadership coach and veteran strategic human resource professional, uses personal stories and new insights on the conversations that are missing that are leaving gaps in the pipeline for women aspiring to the C-suites, creating gaps in engagement for teams, and leaves each of us at a disadvantage in crafting our own paths forward.
Carole will share why waiting to be given the positive information you seek works against you (and can cost you your job), what conversations are missing for females to advance faster and how to change that, and what it means to be your own advocate to gain the feedback you actually want - when you need it.
Another move with the Air Force, another gym as a new member.
And I am standing in a huge gym!
There’s a weight area that can fit an NFL Football
There’s a cardio room that can handle the Olympics!
But right Now - It’s early and it’s quiet
And then I hear it
REALLY. Heavy. Breathing.
I’m thinking someone’s on the speaker system it’s so loud.
This could be an interesting gym…
I look back towards the cardio room - and I see a lone person in the far corner working out hard on an elliptical …but
… no one can breathe that loud…
I look again -
and then -- I realize - I Know him! I’m married to him!
And – I quickly headed towards a separate part of the gym that day –
I’ll admit - being new - I’m just not ready for the nickname – Mrs. Heavy Breather.
Why didn’t I know this about him before now?
…ahhh - different schedules…we’d never worked out at the same time -
And there he was … loudly…breathing!
- oblivious to how he sounded.
My first impulse was to run to tell him, “Honey– we’re new here - tone it down!’
Then I have one of those moments of logic. And I realize - He can’t change the way he breathes!
Worrying about how to make this situation at the gym better - I’m asking ‘How can I fix what is wrong with this?”
I’m asking the wrong question.
I remember how his office loves to give him grief about racing with the young guys during Physical Training (which the military calls scheduled exercising), how they marveled at his abilities to run and ride a bike at high altitudes.
These very LOUD lungs may be one of his superpowers I hadn’t appreciated before!
I needed to be asking, “What is going right about this?
By asking, “What is going right?” My mind opens to what is amazing about his breathing.
And like that (snap) I switched my thinking from ‘I’m not really cool with being Mrs. Heavy Breather’ – ‘to ‘Hey! – that’s MY heavy breather!”
In 2013, after celebrating that I was still on this earth, I wanted more autonomy in how I spent my time. I've always been praised and promoted for how I engaged different people, made people think differently, and handle conflict and toxic people so I put these talents to the test and acquired my graduate degree and coaching certifications, and stepped into helping leaders understand how to do the same. Leadership is one of the most advertised need - and yet least trained, and leadership roles are still lacking in equity among genders. This is where understanding where the missing conversations exist and how to go after them. This gets me up everyday with gusto!
Wanting to know where you fit, what you are doing right, and where to grow next is fundamental to loving your work, but going after that information is unfamiliar, not taught, and not practiced. To gain the information you want, we often resort to asking, ‘How can I improve?” This is the wrong question!
Carole Stizza, an executive leadership coach and veteran strategic human resource professional, uses personal stories and new insights on the conversations that are missing that are leaving gaps in the pipeline for women aspiring to the C-suites, creating gaps in engagement for teams, and leaves each of us at a disadvantage in crafting our own paths forward.
Carole will share why waiting to be given the positive information you seek works against you (and can cost you your job), what conversations are missing for females to advance faster and how to change that, and what it means to be your own advocate to gain the feedback you actually want - when you need it.