Testimonials
Karen did an outstanding job with leadership skills needs assessment at Carolinas HealthCare System, now Atrium Health. She conducted focus groups at front-line and mid-level leadership across the organization's corporate and facility operations.
During the process, Karen was extremely responsive, collaborative, and strategic. She brought enthusiasm and passion to her work and was the upmost professional throughout.
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This was the second time I had worked with Karen in this capacity because her program and her delivery was flawless and exactly what we needed to build our delivery muscle.
I would be remise if I also didn't give accolades to Karen's executive coaching skills. She was a multi-year coach in the VP & above leadership development program at Time Warner Cable, giving executives coaching around their 360 results and on their presentation skills. I always appreciated how centered, calm and caring she was during this high-visibility fast-passed program.
-R. Le, Assistant Vice President, Atrium Health
We have known and worked with Karen for many years – because we want to! She is one of the smartest and personally authentic consultants we have ever seen.
Karen consistently provided invaluable problem-solving abilities in the most professional way. She is multi-talented and just plain smart. Not only does she do one-on-one consulting with our clients, she also consistently does whatever it takes to guide clients to the right organizational decisions for them.
She is amazing in the classroom with consistently outstanding evaluations. She can deliver training as well as design and develop it customized to client needs. Finally, Karen epitomizes building strong client relationship. She is a master at it.
- K. Kellow, Principal, Drawing Number One, Inc. (DN1)
It was many years ago when I first had the pleasure of attending one of Karen’s workshops. I knew immediately that my positive learning experience was due to her expertise, infectious energy, and uncanny ability to engage us fully in the session.
My good fortune continued, as over the years I’ve worked with Karen on various projects. Along the way I was exposed to some of her many talents, including leadership coaching, facilitation, problem solving, and course design and development. I’ve seen these skillsets blend in any variety of ways to bring high quality programs to her clients.
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​Karen’s dedication and professionalism with each client she serves clearly has contributed to her success. She knows how to listen to what her client wants, collaboratively explore the real needs at hand, and strategically partner with stakeholders to meet their desired goals. I can’t imagine anything but a successful outcome for an organization that brings Karen on board to help solve its problems
- D. Waterstone, Learning Coach and Consultant, Spirit of Success
I worked with Karen for six months and I feel privileged to have had her as a coach. As a result of her coaching, I take actions that maximize my results and I spend minimal amounts of time on side issues.
After being in a leadership role for many years, I was able to learn to approach issues in new ways that I could employ immediately and get positive results.
In addition, she has helped me improve relationships with our Village Board, as well as employees by teaching me insightful leadership skills to empower my directors and allow me to focus on Board sensitive issues.
Karen’s ongoing humor, wisdom, and graciousness made our conversations enjoyable, and educational which are a wonderful model for anyone at any time.
- J. Keim, Director/Civil Engineer, Village of Antioch, IL
I saw Karen’s breadth and depth of skill demonstrated on two projects where we collaborated together. The first was development of sales and leadership development curriculum for United Airlines, and the second was creation of a leadership development program for mid-level managers at VF, a Top 10 worldwide apparel and footwear company.
In conducting the needs assessments via focus group, Karen displayed outstanding facilitation skills. What stood out was her ability to be authentic and empathetic and curious. These traits allowed her to get to the bottom of the organization needs quickly so we could begin designing leadership programs that would get results. She comes into any situation with an openness and grace, and her level of experience and ability to flex with participant needs, allowed her to obtain essential information quickly while sending a clear message that the client could trust our approach and feel confident in our work.
In a design and development role, Karen expertly combines her depth of leadership development knowledge with her instructional design expertise. The result? Learning experiences that make a tangible and lasting impact with applicable tools on the job – something that often can be hard to do with soft skills.
In these and other projects where I’ve had the great fortune to work with Karen, she has unfailingly been a consummate professional – dependably bringing her insight, positive energy and integrity to all she does. I would gladly work with Karen any time, and you would be fortunate to as well!
- R. Donnan, Director, Performance Associates
Karen has been a trusted advisor of mine for years. Three words to describe Karen: intelligent, insightful, and engaged. When she learned about our quest to expand our small library, she got to the root of what was getting in the way, created a plan, and got to work. Her empathy, ability to ask the right questions, listen, gather essential information and make recommendations contributed greatly to our eventual success at getting the funding needed to expand. I continue to use Karen’s expertise for many reasons.
When she is coaching and teaching our staff, her expertise in team building has made great impact in how the team functions. Any time Karen is asked to bring in one of her workshops, she carefully tailors the material after assessing our challenges and needs so she can use real-life situations during a workshop and assure the training we get is what we need. Karen’s positive energy, clarity, authenticity and engagement make it easy for staff, managers and trustees to trust her problem-solving process, coaching and training. I highly recommend Karen!
- S. Kozel La Ha, Executive Director, Homer Township Library District
Karen is a unique and gifted solutions consultant and adult learning facilitator. During initial consultation, her questioning and clarification methods allow her to craft training solutions to resolve challenges, raise performance, and stimulate morale. In the classroom, Karen combines the skills the of a creative instructional designer and superb classroom process skills to bring her design and learning objectives alive. Her warm, welcoming manner, love of her craft and the safe environment she creates for experimentation and risk-taking stimulates the free sharing of thoughts and ideas.
She is a masterful and engaging listener. She guides versus dominates discussions. Her application of Socratic questioning allows her to tap into the wisdom of each person and the collective learning of the group she serves. In short manner participants learn that she supports the well-being of each learner as well as the group regardless rank or responsibility.
Her process interventions are both fluid and flexible based on the demonstrated needs of each group with whom she interacts. Her authenticity is fully self-expressed in an easy and open manner. Her neutrality is flawless and natural. Yet perhaps her most distinguishing characteristics are the passion, fun and commitment she brings to each new learning challenge she faces. Her collective skill sets have few peers.
- F. Cumings, Owver, Drawing Number One, Inc.
Karen is a wonderful Leadership Development strategic partner. Karen leads by communicating clearly, thoroughly, and often to ensure stakeholders are considering the relevant issues and impact our decisions will make. Karen’s customized courses are among our most highly rated in our organization, and employees report easy application on the job. I believe the success of her deliverables comes from her ability to connect our organization’s needs with applicable tools that close the gap on problems we face.
Our teams also benefit from her creative and masterful instructional design skills. I also count on Karen for the practical: to assure her projects are completed on time and within budget. She has a keen eye for design and a gift for coaching. I have witnessed Karen engage and delight participants in the classroom and in meetings with her facilitation skills. No matter the task, she remains focused on delivering impactful solutions for her clients. You can trust that she will deliver what she commits to! It is always a pleasure and continued learning experience when partnering with Karen.
- K. Feaster, Sr. Director, Charter Communications/Spectrum (Time Warner Cable)
Karen elevates your performance, whether business or personal, to pull out your best characteristics and capitalize upon them. Karen gently drills into any issue(s) that may be holding you back in a kind, thoughtful, patient, and respectful manner. She shares personal life experiences to help you connect with her. Karen has an uncanny way of bringing you back to task when you veer off track. She asks poignant questions that cause you to self-examine and problem solve, which builds self-confidence and emotional intelligence.
Unlike many coaches, Karen does not dictate, rather she continually asks for your feedback and permission, so you are vested in the process and feel valued. I very much look forward to her calls and consider her coaching sessions to be the best business and life training I’ve ever received. Karen makes you feel significant, and that you are capable of achieving anything.
I scrutinize and analyze most things, and Karen Thornburg has earned my highest trust, respect, and regard!
- D. Soltess, Director, Wheaton Sanitary District
I have seen Karen work her magic with our team on two occasions, bringing “The Art of Facilitation” training workshops to the University of Virginia. As a consultant, Karen is incredibly thorough, ensuring she’s designing the session to meet our specific needs. The workshop itself is a hands-on, real-life, supportive and encouraging experience, teaching participants skills and techniques that they can begin using right away. And while the skills learned will stay with you for a lifetime, it’s not unusual for past participants to ask if they can attend again, to fine-tune and build on what they’ve implemented. I recommend Karen and her colleagues without hesitation or reservation. She is a game-changer for any organization. ~ Carolyn Cullen Director, Talent Management, University of Virginia
- C. Cullen, Director of Talent Management, University of Virginia
I have had the pleasure of working with Karen on numerous occasions in an intensive 5-day, in-person professional services program. She exudes an engaging energy and warmth that fills the room with positivity. Karen's breadth of experience and passion for her work shine through when instructing a wide variety of audiences from varying experience levels. She provides thoughtful insights around MBTI analysis, presentation skills, deriving positive outcomes from difficult situations, and successfully adapting to different working styles. Karen's ability to role play is an asset that allows her to provide in-the-moment feedback in a variety of situations. Anyone who has been a participant in Karen's class not only leaves as a better professional but leaves as a better person as well.
- M. Vadas, Manager of Learning and Development, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP