HUMAN-CENTRIC
EXPLORE
LEADERSHIP
Highly Personalized and Deeply Reflective Executive Coaching for Purpose-Driven Leaders
You are a purpose-driven leader wrestling with a relentless cycle of doing more and faster with less resources and no time - all at the expense of your values and the team’s well-being (and YOURS).
Here’s the problem you are facing at this moment…
You’re overwhelmed with “busy work” (aka admin tasks) or constantly “putting out the fire” and don’t have time for strategic, value-add work. You’ve lost a sense of purpose and feel disconnected from the company's mission.
You are caught in the crossfire of decision making and competitions amongst cross functional teams and stakeholders, and don’t know how to get everyone on the same page to deliver against expected milestone.
Ambiguity with project prioritization, unclear roles and responsibilities, and changing and competing demands leaves you frustrated. Fighting uncertainty and time and resource constraints, you are unable to provide clear direction to your team and losing confidence in your ability to lead.
You’ve been told you have to be more like “Jack or Sally” to be effective. But you know it’s not who you are or who you want to become.
You keep avoiding having career development conversations with your employees. You think to yourself “How can I help them with their career when I don’t even know how to help myself! “
You watch Individual Contributors become managers without receiving training and understanding what it means to "lead,” creating major dissonance in your organization.
You’re tired of being surprised by hasty, careless decisions and changes. The downstream impact is creating churn and confusion in your team, and you feel helpless.
You feel immense pressure to perform, produce, and please. You don’t know how to say ‘NO’ or “Not Now” without looking like a jerk.
You received another resignation from your key talent. You’re worried about declining team morale and not sure how to inspire and re-engage them.
Stakes are high. You are feeling the intense pressure to innovate, deliver, and stay competitive. The frustration of balancing your core values with your organization’s goals is constant. And the overwhelm of managing time and priorities is daunting. You care deeply about your team and their well-being, yet the path to achieving a harmonious and productive work environment can feel elusive and exhausting. (And makes you want to nap…seriously!)
So you’ve tried it all—trainings, books, podcasts, workshops, conferences, and even mindfulness apps - only to find the cookie cutter, one -size-fits-all approach doesn’t solve your problem.
You say to yourself:
“How can I achieve a better balance between my professional and personal life? “
“What other resources are available to help me become more effective and confident?”
“I need someone to bounce ideas off with so I can strategize!!”
How can you get unstuck?
A coach with a deep understanding of unique challenges that a purpose-driven leader faces can help facilitate a process to expand your true leadership capabilities so that you can inspire, influence, innovate, scale…with clarity and confidence.
welcome to signature COACHING EXPERIENCE
Explore a new kind of leadership— one that embraces human experience and real connection amidst the pressure and chaos.
Highly personalized, deeply reflective 1:1 coaching experience for purpose-driven leaders that want to anchor in their core values and amplify their impact with human-centric leadership.
typical partnership Includes —
✓ 1:1 coaching sessions (# of sessions will vary based on engagement length)
✓ 1 intake assessment
✓ 360 feedback assessment & result integration
✓ email and text support (as needed)
✓ learning resources (as applicable)
✓ development exercises (as applicable)
✓ sponsor alignment (corporate sponsored client only)
✓ 1 post engagement capstone session
*Example of actual client engagement. Your experience may vary as we’ll collaboratively design what works best for you based on your specific need.
comittment —
✓ 4, 5, or 6-month partnership. Extended packages available.
ALL COACHING SESSIONS OFFERED VIA ZOOM
What Clients Are Saying about My Coaching Approach
vp improved her leadership presence
and landed a new job with a promotion
“I got a new job!”
Kay’s coaching made a real difference for me. I learned to be myself in interviews, ditching the ‘shoulds’ for what actually matters. It wasn’t about fitting into some ideal; it was about being genuine. I dropped the attachment to outcomes, and surprisingly, confidence just tagged along.
- VP, GLOBAL DIGITAL COLLABORATION PLATFORM organization
cto discovered his purpose
“Kay helped me discover one of the most important things someone can do in their life – their ‘why’ – what motivates them and gives them purpose at their core.”
Coaching resulted in a meaningful change in how I spend my time professionally and at home. I am now more fulfilled, content, and purpose-driven in driving my goals and with the things that are most important to me.
-CTO, GLOBAL SAAS SOLUTIONS ORGANIZATION
THIS DIRECTOR REBUILT HIS LEADERSHIP CREDIBILITY AFTER FACING A SETBACK
“I highly recommend Kay for a coach as her contributions have been invaluable to my progress and success.”
Kay’s unique ability lies in her capacity to seamlessly integrate coaching pivots into the foundational structure and narrative of our objectives and sharing mind-opening exercises and prompts. She brings a fresh perspective to our discussions, exploring unique angles and approaches that enrich the coaching experience.
- DIRECTOR, NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION
“Kay uniquely combines empowering, non-judgmental coaching style, ‘on-the-ground’ employee perspectives, and deep HR expertise working in tech. She intuitively knew which lever to pull based on my needs at the moment and strategically facilitated a process that worked for my specific style of learning. She helped me come up with creative strategies to optimize unrealized opportunities and actionable steps. I was able to approach a very sensitive, politically charged problem in a way that aligned with my leadership values and priorities.”
TAKE THE NEXT STEP
Ready to architect your leadership?
client spotlight
Leading and Influencing Transformative Strategies with Leadership Values
VP of a Billion-Dollar Tech Company Follows Her “North Star” and Achieves Growth, Profitability, and Promotion.
Leading an effort to establish a brand-new division, this VP struggled with undefined roles, lack of direction, and internal conflicts while launching new products. Through our work together, she uncovered her blind spots contributing to others’ unfavorable perception of her leadership style. We explored the impact of identifying her “North Star,” and she began aligning her approach to set the course in the new direction. This journey of self-discovery helped her transform her division and elevate her brand, creating a positive and lasting impact. She drove the division to achieve remarkable growth and profitability, culminating in an annualized value of $306M and her well-deserved promotion to SVP.
“Working with Kay helped me focus on my North Star and navigate the tricky waters of cross-functional partnerships and setting up a new line of business. Coaching conversations helped me see things I didn’t see before. Thanks to her support, I was able to up-level my leadership and earned a promotion I’d been working towards for a long time. “
Enhancing Organizational Alignment and Personal Fulfillment
Senior Tech Consultant at a Global Tech Organization Overcomes Fears, Finds Purpose, and Connects More Deeply With His Values
Facing fears of failure, this leader considered leaving his career for early retirement and was about assume an unknown financial risk . Through pivotal discovery sessions, he realized he’d lived 90% of his life in fear and worried about the legacy he was leaving his son. Our work helped him shift his mindset and enabled him to position himself as an incredible asset to the organization. He was rewarded with a big project that asked him to travel across the country for 3 months to support other functions and create infrastructure.
“Coaching from Kay has given me a result I didn’t get from other forms of support I’ve tried in my lifetime.”
Gaining Clarity and Paving a Path Forward for Business Growth
Founder of a Consulting Firm Spearheads a Strategic Overhaul to Scale Operations
This leader had the major misalignment of roles and people and didn’t have the skillset or capacity in staff to take the business in the direction she was striving for. Through coaching, she was able to recognize her limiting belief and challenged herself to identify critical gaps in skills and crafted a plan to enhance resource capabilities and scale her operations effectively. The initiation of a meticulous hiring criteria, aligned with these new strategic insights, not only met with the her high satisfaction but also led to the renewal of our contract.
“I really enjoyed being coached by Kay. She helped me see my business planning in a different way. More importantly, she helped me identify an emotion that is holding me back and stopping me from reaching my business goals. I was able to name that emotion, and now I can take steps to strengthen this area of myself.”
CASE STUDY
Engineering VP’s Journey from Delayed Product Releases and Customer Concerns to Aligning His Team and Building Engagement and Collaboration
the challenges
This Engineering VP at a tech start-up faced repeated setbacks within his team as they struggled with software development protocols, decision alignment, and critical updates. These issues delayed project releases and led to significant customer dissatisfaction.
the learnings
During our coaching sessions, it became apparent that his authoritative style was a barrier, suppressing open dialogue and reducing team efficiency. His over-reliance on instant messaging for 90% of communications contributed heavily to confusion and misalignment. Through reflection work, he uncovered deep-rooted beliefs that he needed to be an expert in all areas and that without direct intervention, the team would fail—both notions that hindered team development and collaboration.
the result
Together, we re-architected his leadership to reflect closer the leader he aimed to be. He reduced his reliance on digital communication, opting for face-to-face interactions that enhanced decision-making and information clarity. By adopting a style focused on asking open-ended questions and practicing active listening, he learned that building meaningful connections with his team and honoring their experience was a pre-requisite for upholding the engineering excellence. This shift empowered his team to engage more openly and facilitated a more collaborative environment. As a result, the team’s adherence to protocols improved, project timelines were met, and customer satisfaction rose significantly.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP
Tell me about your leadership vision?
Imagine What’s Possible
What if you can convert uncertainty into confidence and hesitation into decisive action as you navigate the complexities of tech leadership with clarity and purpose?
What if you can upgrade your leadership playbook from transactional to transformational, creating a lasting legacy of success?
What if you can change internal conflict into alignment, instilling confidence and trust among your team members, stakeholders, and peers as you explore possibilities with curiosity and integrity?
What if you can go from under-appreciation into recognition and celebration as you inspire, influence, and impact positive change within your organization and beyond?
This is for you if you:
Are committed to creating a long term, transformative change for yourself to achieve your goal.
✓
Are open to learning about yourself through a thought provoking, reflective, creative journey.
✓
Are a purpose-driven leader interested in anchoring in your core values and exploring leadership that’s uniquely yours.
✓
Are interested in working with a thought partner and accountability ally that empowers you.
✓
This isn’t for you if you:
Want tasks and solutions to be provided or executed for you without your involvement.
✕
Prefer to be taught and receive explicit instructions instead of self-driven exploration.
✕
Are looking for direct "how-to" instructions or step-by-step guidance.
✕
Need quick, short-term fixes rather than a sustainable, transformative growth.
✕
Desire a structured, prescribed learning experience with fixed modules.
✕
TAKE THE NEXT STEP
Ready to architect your leadership?
MEET YOUR COACH
COACH | PARTNER | STRATEGIST
Hello, I’m Kay Hughes
I empower purpose-driven leaders to navigate high-stake scenarios in high-pressure environment with deeply human leadership.
Leveraging my two decades of strategic HR leadership experience at Fortune 500 companies, I’ve helped transform leaders at powerhouses like Google, ServiceNow, NCR, Axon, and Dialpad from being overshadowed and frustrated to becoming impactful, celebrated leaders.
I have supported clients through the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a high-pressure environment and mastering a leadership style that’s deeply human.
I KNOW YOU ARE curious…………
This coaching experience is for proactive leaders ready to dive deep into self-discovery and intentional transformation rather than for those seeking a prescriptive training experience.
My coaching centers around activating and amplifying authentic, purpose-driven leadership.
This approach isn't just about leading effectively; it's about leveraging your expertise and experiences that make you uniquely you AND deeply human skills to ignite positive change and create ripples far beyond the immediate scope of work. It's about transforming challenges into opportunities—not only for personal growth and self-discovery but also for advocating meaningful, enduring connections that elevate entire communities and industries.
If you're driven by a desire to enact leadership that achieves more than business goals and resonates deeply on a human level, I invite you to schedule a call.
THE REFLECTION
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WHERE ARE you TODAY? WHERE do you WANT TO GO? WHat makes this important now?
what ASSUMPTIONS are you holding about yourself and the world? What might hapeen if you let go of the assumptions?
how might your desired leadership MINDSET, BEHAVIORS, AND HABITS look like? how are they different from today?
how do you want to reflect your values in your leadership? what will you release to create space for new?
what part of you do you want to call upon to stay focused in the midst of challenge?
FAQ
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ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The coaching process can help you improve your outlook on work and life, while improving your leadership skills and unlocking your potential.
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Professional coaching focuses on setting goals, creating outcomes and managing personal change. Other professions, like therapy, training, and mentoring, are based on the wisdom and expertise of the professional. In coaching, the coach’s role is to ask thought provoking questions, act as a sounding board, provide objective assessment and observations, listen fully and actively, challenge your blind spots, and foster shifts in thinking that reveal fresh perspectives.
Source - ICF
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Is there an upcoming opportunity or challenge that you want to leverage? Do you feel “stuck” on the path to achieving your goals? These are two excellent examples of topics to bring to a coaching conversation. Other common reasons for partnering with a coach include:
• Optimizing work performance
• Expanding career opportunities
• Increasing self-esteem/self-confidence
• Maximizing potential
• Defining strengths and weaknesses
• Improving business management strategies
• Managing work/life balance
Source - ICF
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If you want to take advantage of an opportunity or challenge, feel “stuck” on the path to achieving your goals, or simply believe there’s something more to discover in your personal or professional life, partnering with a professional coach could benefit you. Coaching clients who responded to the 2017 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study reported positive coaching impacts including:
• Improved communication skills
• Increased self-esteem/self-confidence
• Increased productivity
• Optimized individual/team work performance
• Improved work/life balance
• Increased well-being
• Improved business management strategies
• Expanded professional career opportunities
• Accelerated on-boarding into a new professional role
Source - ICF
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The most successful coaching partnerships begin with a client who has a clear idea of what they want to accomplish and is open to collaboration and new perspectives. As a coaching client, your role is to:
• Create the coaching agenda based on personally meaningful goals
• Assume full responsibility for your own decisions and actions
• Use the coaching process to promote possibility thinking and fresh perspectives
• Engage big-picture thinking and problem-solving skills
• Take the tools, concepts, models and principles provided by your coach and engage in effective forward actions.
Source - ICF
about coaching
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Before you begin the process of hiring a coach, I encourage you to reflect on your objectives for the coaching partnership. Being clear on your goals during the hiring process enables you to find the coach best-suited to help you reach them.
Additionally, I recommend that you interview at least three coaches before you make a hiring decision. Ask each about his or her qualifications, experience and skills.
I offer a complimentary discovery call. It’s for you and I to get to know each other, and you can ask me any questions you’d like to determine if we are a match!
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I’m an ICF accredited professional coach. I’m also certified as an Executive Coach by a premiere coaching education organization, Hudson Institute of Coaching.
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It varies based on your goal and circumstances. My clients partner with me for 4 to 6+ months, and 80% of them have ended up renewing or extending. If this is your first time partnering with a professional coach, I recommend starting with 4 months and see where it might take you.
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The most successful coaching partnerships begin with a client who has a clear idea of what they want to accomplish and is open to collaboration and new perspectives. As a coaching client, your role is to:
• Create the coaching agenda based on personally meaningful goals
• Assume full responsibility for your own decisions and actions
• Use the coaching process to promote possibility thinking and fresh perspectives
• Engage big-picture thinking and problem-solving skills
• Take the tools, concepts, models and principles provided by your coach and engage in effective forward actions.
Source - ICF
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All coaching sessions are conducted on a 1:1 basis, using a flexible, proven methodology. It’s highly personalized and designed to foster a sustainable, transformative change. We do not offer content driven lessons and on-line courses that could limit client growth and only aim to support masses. Rather, our coaching sessions are tailored to support your specific focus and needs in such a way that harnesses the unique quality of you as a whole person, anchored in your core values.
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We are currently offering all coaching sessions via Zoom, so you can be locate anywhere in the world!
about partnering with me
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The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is the world’s largest organization leading the global advancement of the coaching profession and fostering coaching’s role as an integral part of a thriving society. Founded in 1995, its 35,000-plus members located in more than 140 countries and territories work toward common goals of enhancing awareness of coaching and upholding the integrity of the profession through lifelong learning and upholding the highest ethical standards. Through the work of its six unique family organizations, ICF empowers professional coaches, coaching clients, organizations, communities and the world through coaching. Visit coachingfederation.org for more information.
Source - ICF
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Anyone can call themselves a coach. But ICF Credentialed coaches are professionals who have met stringent education and experience requirements, and have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the coaching competencies that set the standard in the profession. Additionally, they adhere to strict ethical guidelines as part of ICF’s mission to protect and serve coaching consumers. Selecting a coach who holds an ICF Credential ensures that you’re working with the best in the industry.
Source - ICF
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Yes, I am. I hold the ICF ACC credential. I’m also certified by a premiere coaching education organization, Hudson Institute of Coaching.
about icf and its credential
start the journey
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