Kristen Jacobsen
Kristen partners with leaders to think out loud about their challenges, changes and choices. Leaders often value a thought partner to sort through the noise for the signal on how to take their organizations where they want to go. Consulting with Catalyst Consulting Team since 1989, Kristen links executive presence and interpersonal savvy with strategic thinking to produce results. She coaches leaders and teams from many cultures and disciplines, and provides perspective to help their organizations manage tough times as well as good ones.
Her career has centered in Silicon Valley, working with Bay Area firms from pre-IPO to Fortune 500 companies at all stages of development. Kristen has led leadership, teamwork and change initiatives from Finland to New Zealand. As a consultant or executive coach, she has worked with nearly every industry from Internet commerce to Hospice. Committed to connecting business and personal dynamics, Kristen currently serves as faculty for leadership development programs for Airbnb, American Leadership Forum, eBay, NetApp, PayPal, Salesforce, Splunk and Taleo.
Kristen’s coaching approach is informed, flexible, practical and strategic. Leaders live in a pressure cooker of challenges and possibilities; Kristen partners to quickly get to the essential questions facing them. How can they bring their wisdom to bear? How can they best influence key people and groups? How will they lead change, or convene the conversations that matter? How can they interrupt habitual ways of interacting to achieve their highest hopes?
Kristen is certified in Emotional Intelligence, the MHS 360, and other assessments. She holds a Masters in Applied Behavioral Sciences from the Leadership Institute of Seattle at City University and did post-graduate mentoring with Action Design on Strategic Dialogue Skills. Since 1995, Kristen has served as adjunct faculty with Action Design. She studies and works with Stanford Graduate School of Business as a Master Coach for Leadership, Interpersonal Dynamics and Executive Education courses.