Episode 25 - Interview with Karen Wright
Listen to this episode on Apple or Spotify
Karen Wright is the Founder of the Parachute Executive Coaching,a recent recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the coaching profession, and the author of two books on leadership. Her latest being “The Accidental Alpha Woman: The Guide to Thriving When Life Feels Overwhelming.”
Karen started her company in 1996 and has helped top business leaders and teams from Fortune 500 companies to manage change, increase productivity and achieve success. Featured in the media several times, she is a strategic advisor to the startup “Animo” which aims to help employees understand and manage their well-being using Artificial Intelligence.
Karen is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and a past Board member and founder of the Toronto Chapter for the International Coaching Federation. Karen has an MBA in Marketing from the Ivey School and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Western University.
In this episode, we talked about how leaders, especially women leaders, can thrive when they get overwhelmed, especially during challenging times.
Based on her personal and coaching experience, Karen says suffering from burnout happens quite often to “Accidental Alpha women” with the first clue often being a regular feeling of resentment. Compared to the “non-accidental” Alpha women who know this is the kind of leadership they want from the get-go, the Accidental Alpha women often feel disconnected, and frustrated.
Karen says in order for these women to thrive, the first step is to recognize their reality and accept that delegating to others and asking for help is part of leadership. She says women need to get comfortable with admitting that they are overwhelmed and asking for specific support.
She emphasizes that self-leadership is the key to leading with more intentionality and that preparing for the worst case scenarios while detaching from the actual outcome is vital transitioning into a more rewarding life and career.
You can find Karen’s book here:: “The Accidental Alpha Woman: The Guide to Thriving When Life Feels Overwhelming”
Find out more about Karen on her website: https://www.parachuteexecutivecoaching.com/