Shattering the Glass Ceiling, Avoiding The Glass Cliff

Dr. Chérie Carter-Scott is a behavioral scientist pioneer, “The Mother of Coaching” who started the coaching industry in 1974. Dr. Chérie is a #1 NY Times & Amazon Bestselling author of If Life is a Game, These are the Rules, 10 Rules for Being Human, published in 40 countries. Dr. Chérie has been a frequent guest on Oprah, appearances on CNN, Today, O’Reilly and Global CEO for 46 years, and received her Ph.D. in OD and MCC from the ICF.  She is an executive producer & featured on-camera coach in LEAP (Coaching documentary), Writer, composer & lyricist of The Workshop, A Dress Rehearsal for Life! (Musical); Dr. Chérie is a change management expert with 19 book titles in many languages. She coaches C-Suite executives, licenses her IP content globally, is an Instrument-rated private pilot, PADI scuba diver, wife, mother, and grandmother!

JAMES TURK is an executive coach, keynote speaker, facilitator, and founder and CEO of The Turk Group, a boutique learning and development consulting firm. With more than twenty-five years of experience, James has expertly designed and delivered training and coaching programs and solutions in the areas of leadership development, sales, change management, and strategic planning for clients across a wide range of industries—including financial services, digital media, biotech, and more. Clients include Spotify, Squarespace, Bristol Myer Squibb, Goldman Sachs, Equinox, and many more.  James’s unique approach is deeply influenced by his creative background as a trained actor, enabling him to establish strong, trusting relationships with his clients. He holds a BS in Liberal Arts from The New School. Early in his career, James gained valuable experience in Human Resources 178 About the Author at Goldman Sachs, Random House, and P&O Nedlloyd, serving in roles such as Technical Recruiter, Benefits Analyst/Manager, and Learning & Development Project Manager. His insights as a consultant are highly valued by clients seeking objective and forward-thinking advice.

Ken just got back from the APA SIOP conference presenting a workshop on the topic of effective feedback. Ken and his co-author Sandra will be providing two presentations at Association for Training and Development (ATD) in May (one on feedback and the other in the Career Center focusing on feedback as a career development tool) and have a new article in the March TD Magazine about the superpower of self-awareness. Their latest book, Performance Feedback Strategies, by ATD Press, was published April 2025 by ATD and available by all of the major booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes Noble and others.   Kenneth M. Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and Senior Research Officer of Envisia Learning, Inc., a global consultancy specializing in assessments and technology platforms. He has published academically in the areas of 360-degree feedback, assessment, health psychology, and behavioral medicine. Ken serves on Daniel Goleman’s Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations and served as Editor for the APA Consulting Psychology Journal.  He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 13: Society of Consulting Psychology).

Catherine Allen is Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer of AO People Partners, a Leadership Development and Culture Transformation firm dedicated to inspiring and supporting the conscious practice of people development in the workplace.    Catherine specializes in helping executive leaders and teams Own, Model and Drive business and people development integration in their organizations.  Skilled in conflict resolution, communications, business strategy and change management, Catherine has a 30-year track record in organizational leadership and management consulting helping executive leaders and their teams design strategies and work through the messy human realities of organizational life. Catherine is a sought-after executive coach to executive leaders seeking to take their business to the next level of conscious growth and senior leaders transitioning to executive roles.   As AO’s Chief Impact Officer, her focus is on guiding her team to build and deliver the full suite of service capabilities to help leaders lead effectively, develop their people and design and build integrated and holistic people development cultures that are sustainable, practical and cost efficient.  She also guides AO’s thought leadership and commitment to helping clients achieve their desired results and impact. Catherine holds an M.S. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and is a board-certified professional coach.   Catherine is co-author with Ed Offterdinger of the book: Conscious, Capable and Ready to Contribute: How Employee Development Can Become the Highest Form of Social Contribution.    Catherine is also a contributing author to the recently published book from the Association for Talent Development: Organizational Development Handbook.  Her chapter is titled: A Holistic Approach to Developing a Leader’s Soft Skills   Catherine writes and speaks regularly on leadership and people development integration and why people development in the workplace should become a recognized and incentivized form of social contribution.   Catherine lives in Rockville, Maryland with her husband and two children. More Info:  https://aopeoplepartners.com/

Robin Daniels is the Chief Business and Product Officer at LMS365. Robin has previously been a 3 x CMO with more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and growth leadership roles at Salesforce, Box, LinkedIn, Matterport, and WeWork.  He's done 2.5 IPOs, several acquisitions, and led companies through hyper-growth to become category-leaders.  Robin is also a mentor to several fast growing companies, including Uizard, Custimy, Cutover, Rhombus Systems, and Labster. His passion is creating winning teams that do outstanding and meaningful work.

An award-winning leadership expert in human behavior, Lisa Marie Platske has received accolades from the White House, the United States Small Business Administration, and The International Alliance for Women, recognized as one of the top 100 women making a difference in the world. She left her Federal law enforcement career to be the CEO of an international leadership development company, Upside Thinking, Inc. Lisa Marie delivers presentations worldwide sharing research on how vulnerability and forgiveness are critical to exceptional leadership as well as her proven 7-step leadership model centered on connection, positioning, and executive presence. An international best-selling author in 5 countries, Lisa Marie has written or co-authored 7 books. She has trained or coached over 100,000 leaders around the globe since 2005 to be the most optimal version of who they’re designed to be in order to make a bigger positive impact on the planet. www.upsidethinking.com.

Sebastian Little is a Leadership + Performance Coach who operates his own coaching and consulting practice. He partners with high-performing leaders and teams to optimize culture, close performance gaps, and unlock leadership potential and has worked with clients across collegiate and professional sports (NHL, MLB, NBA, etc), non-profit, and corporate spaces. His coaching approach consists of a mix of ontology, positive psychology, and mental performance. Sebastian worked as a consultant at the McChrystal Group, a management consulting and leadership development firm in Washington, D.C., founded by retired 4-star general Stan McChrystal. He is a graduate of Yale University and former varsity football athlete. During his Yale tenure, he partnered with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence as both a student and an intern, creating a curriculum on emotionally intelligent leadership. He received his PCC credential through the International Coaching Federation and his ACCC professional coach certification through the Accomplishment Coaching training program. A coach’s job is to say the thing you don’t want to hear, see the thing you don’t want to see, and ultimately… help you become the person you want to become.

Eduardo Briceño is a global keynote speaker and facilitator who guides many of the world’s leading companies in developing cultures of learning and high performance. His TED and TEDx talks have been viewed more than nine million times. He was recently shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award, given every two years to thinkers who “have ignited Eureka moments in management, offering radical ideas that have the potential to reshape the future of business as we know it.” He is the author of THE PERFORMANCE PARADOX: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action [Ballantine Books; September 5, 2023]. The book was selected as a Must-Read by the Next Big Idea Club, which is curated by Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink. https://briceno.com/about-eduardo/

Mark J. Silverman heeded the call into the sphere of coaching and speaking from a successful career in technology. During his corporate tenure Mark generated over $90,000,000 in sales for fast-growing startups by bringing together executives, tech leaders and stakeholders to close complex, multimillion dollar deals.   Mark has enjoyed a consistently full roster of executive coaching clients for a decade. He is committed to helping CEOs, senior leaders and rising high achievers leverage their resources and teams for greater impact while creating sustainable success in all areas with their lives.   Mark is the author of The Rising Leader Handbook - "Turning High Achievers Into Effective Leaders" and "Only 10s 2.0 - Confront Your To-do List Transform Your Life," which in its two iterations has sold over 75,000 copies. Mark helps CEOs, Senior Leadership, and Fast Rising High Achievers leverage their resources and team for greater impact. He is also the host of the “The Rising Leader" podcast and working on his third book of the same name.  

Dr Lois Phillips is a former university executive and consultant to colleges and universities for strategic planning but also has written extensively about gender and women’s advancement. Her Opinion essays and articles about communication strategies to advance women in the workplace and politics have been published in local news venues and also MS magazine. She helps executives and political candidates develop their messaging and speeches for stakeholders, voters, and Boards.  During this interview, we'll be discussing women’s advancement and the slow progress of systemic changes shown by corporate cultures in particular. While women have moved into middle management positions equal to men, the term “glass ceiling” developed as a shorthand way of discussing the barriers that women face when they seek to advance into the C-suite or the top levels of management.