Coach Carrie Larson, SPHR
About Carrie
Carrie Larson is an experienced leadership coach who guides professionals, emerging leaders and executives to develop their unique leadership style.
Carrie has spent 20+ years developing, coaching and guiding employees as a human resources leader. She has led the human resources function for several well-known organizations, including Dendreon Corporation, Cray, Inc. and Genie Industries. She brings her positive, can-do attitude and her love of helping others to her successful career.
As a leadership coach, Carrie creates a safe and judgment-free space in which her clients feel both supported and challenged to grow. Her coaching style is described as “insightful, supportive, motivating and results-oriented.” She believes moving leaders out of their comfort zone is the way to grow and create sustainable change. Carrie focuses on building strengths and minimizing weaknesses through feedback, support, challenge, goal setting, self-discovery and action plans.
Carrie is a Certified Professional Coach (CVPCC) through the Center for Coaching Mastery at CoachVille, an accredited training center through the International Coach Federation (ICF). Carrie is also a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the Human Resources Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) through the Society for Human Resources Management.
A Different Approach to Leadership Coaching
Each coaching assignment is individualized to meet the specific needs of the executive, emerging leader or professional. Three mainstays in Carrie’s coaching philosophy include the coach approach to leading others, coaching to support strengths and building the work environment to support success.
The “coach approach” to leading others
A leader focuses on the immediate needs of the business and a leader-coach focuses on the needs of the person in support of the goals of the business. A leader might tell someone how to perform the duties of a given job. In contrast, a leader-coach thinks from a judgment-free perspective of curiosity and intentionally focuses questions that enable the individual to realize their full potential and maximize positive outcomes. Effectively delivering a coach approach requires trust and skill. The investment an organization makes in individual or group leadership coaching pays back in higher employee engagement, lower unwanted turnover, higher performance and greater goal attainment.
Coaching to support strengths
Leaders define a company. Carrie knows that leadership development is one of the most impactful investments an organization can make toward defining its company culture. Leaders shape the future, inspire and grow people, and set the pace and attitude. A leader has the capability to create an environment that is positive, enthusiastic, creative, hardworking, fair, innovative and challenging. Leaders also have the ability, if not properly aware, to create the opposite atmosphere and effect.
Knowing strengths and playing to those strengths has incredible self-confidence-building power. Carrie helps professionals and rising leaders explore and look for ways that can expand the things they are good at. She doesn’t try to fix all of the challenge areas. Instead Carrie looks to mitigate any ill effects from challenge areas and takes advantage of the strengths already there. The point is to become genuine and impressive in a positive way that will show through when a person is playing their best game!
Building the work environment to support success
Work environments are a huge, hidden contributing factor to the success or failure of a leader. The saying “you are a product of your environment” is very true. It is the nature of human beings to adapt to their environment. For example, in the beginning, you’ll see a new employees providing ideas and asking questions. It is exciting and new. After a period of time the employee learns the rules of the game and adapts or, in some cases, checks out.
As a leader, it is essential to become aware of and create change in the work environment as needed. Making adjustments to aspects such as team dynamics, networks, physical space, relationships, norms and employee’s beliefs and career aspirations can render an enormous effect on the leader, their team and their organization.
Beyond Approach
Carrie supports professionals to shine as leaders through her thoughtful approach to coaching that focuses on a person’s strengths and creating positive work environment and culture. Reach Forward Coaching also explores these other areas and takes advantage of these assessment tools while coaching leaders:
- Developing the right mindset for success
- Earning trust and gaining respect
- Learning why great leaders have high emotional intelligence and embrace humility
- Tackling areas of management such as conflict resolution, delegating, effective communication and feedback, and goal setting
- Creating an environment where people are challenged and can grow
- Maximizing team’s effectiveness
- Profiles XT Assessment
- CheckPoint 360 Management System process
- BEST Instrument style assessment