Leadership is the activity of mobilizing people to face reality.

Through my consulting, coaching, and speaking, I help people and organizations mobilize to face realities  – with insight, compassion, and humor.  Together, we tackle tough questions: What reality are you or your organization not facing? What is getting in the way of taking leadership in your work, your company, your own life?

These are the questions I have asked myself and my own organizations. The answers require a willingness to adapt.

Personally and professionally, adaptive challenges shape our daily lives. How we respond is up to us.

Identifying and leading through adaptive challenges is the base of my consulting and coaching practice, and what I speak about in trainings and presentations.

Core areas of consulting practice include:

• Executive Transitions – organizational preparation, search, and onboarding
• Organizational Assessment and Strategic Directions – identifying organizational strengths, addressing challenges, and defining strategy
• Managing Transitions – developing organizational leadership to navigate thorny cultural change
• Leadership Coaching – strengthening executive muscle to effectively mobilize people to face reality

Based in primarily in Maine, my consulting, training, and speaking has taken me to Micronesia and Dubai and point across the U.S.  My experience is nontraditional – spanning the public, private, and nonprofit sectors – and includes: internal organizational development consulting and executive coaching with Hannaford Brothers/ Delhaize America, a Fortune 500 company; external consulting for nonprofit, public, and private organizations of all sizes; interim executive leadership for several organizations; adjunct faculty for Boston College Graduate School of Social Work; and, founding executive director of a nationally recognized youth leadership organization serving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.

Clients say my diverse experience is a “very big plus”, yielding new perspectives and fresh ideas so they can respond to their own situations effectively.

A graduate of Smith College, I hold masters degrees from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (Public Administration) and the University of New England (Social Work).

I can be reached via email:   ckidman1@maine[dot]rr[dot]com