My Story

How coaching saved my sanity and dramatically improved my leadership style

My name is Kristiana Corona and I’m a wife and mama to 3 incredible kids. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota, and now my family and I live in the beautiful hill country of Texas. I'm a design & technology leader and certified executive coach who has spent more than two decades building and developing diverse teams for some of the most admired Fortune 500 companies in the US. I’ve been an “intrapreneur”, spinning up new teams and businesses and teaching others how to innovate inside of corporations, and an entrepreneur starting with a team of one. It’s been an incredibly fulfilling journey and I’m thankful for the many opportunities I’ve had to create impact and help others grow.

However, the path to get there wasn't easy.

Like so many leaders, I started with very little training and made every mistake in the book. Having people cry in my office from frustration was not an uncommon sight. It seemed like everything I tried was met with resistance and I was getting in my team’s way more than I was helping. It was so confusing to be a high performing individual contributor with all the answers one day and a stressed out manager who couldn’t do anything right the next. I almost called it quits on management, convinced that if it was this hard, I must be in the wrong role.

But after encouragement from some wise and patient mentors, I decided to give management more time. I pushed through the discomfort, kept an open mind and kept learning. I slowly made progress and built trust with the team, gaining confidence day by day. However, as the size of my teams grew, I found it harder and harder to manage the details, decisions and deadlines for my team. I was becoming a bottleneck and wasn’t able to spend time on my own work, define strategy or think about the big picture. My to do list seemed never ending and I kept working longer and longer hours (cue burnout!). I feared I’d never be able to go on vacation - there was just no time!

In 2016, I attended a corporate leadership training that changed everything.

The course instructor asked for a volunteer to do an executive coaching demonstration. For the next 45 minutes, I observed how she listened attentively to this person’s challenges, asking questions and getting the leader to think about things from different perspectives. By the end of the session, without receiving a single piece of advice from the coach, the leader had solved their own problem and come away with a confident plan of action. My jaw almost hit the floor! What was this secret psychological magic?! I had to learn more.

My first taste of executive coaching had me hooked.

I immersed myself in coaching: reading any resource I could get my hands on, practicing techniques on my team and getting my own executive coach through a student certification practicum (totally worth it!). I learned so much about myself and my blind spots, which was transformational in helping me become the leader I wanted to be. I eventually went back to school at University of Texas Dallas to get my masters-level training and certification through the International Coaching Federation. Throughout this time, I spent hundreds of hours coaching every day as part of my leadership role and I loved every minute.

So what changed in my leadership style and what did I see in my teams?

The biggest shift I made was to listen more and ask questions instead of immediately providing answers. So easy to say, soooo hard to do! I challenged my teams to think strategically and make decisions as if the business was their own. I remained supportive and encouraging, but also held a high standard for the level of innovation and creativity I wanted from them. I wasn’t satisfied having teams of order takers. I wanted to develop a teams of leaders.

Over time, my teams began to gain confidence in their own skills and ideas. As their boldness grew, they started taking more risks and proposing new ideas. They stopped asking me for all the answers and started telling me their plans. They started handling problems more effectively and mentoring others who were struggling. And the best part? This freed me up to spend time on things I had always wanted - looking ahead, driving strategy and cultivating innovation. I could also finally take a vacation worry-free because I knew they were capable to handle things while I was gone.

As I began doing more formal coaching engagements, I also saw the power that coaching has to truly transform lives. I’ve seen women overcome imposter syndrome and step up for promotions more (and receive them!). I’ve seen individual contributors go from zero strategic experience to writing drafts of their team’s annual and 3 year plans in the same year. I’ve had fearless employees earn a seat at the table with leaders two and three levels above them and negotiate confidently. I’ve helped leaders overcome doubt, communication barriers, burn out and self imposed ceilings. And I’ve celebrated as my coachees proactively take on challenges that scare them, knowing they are capable to figure things out.

The transformative power of coaching as a leadership style is the reason I started this business.

I want to provide leaders, and aspiring leaders, with the tools, the mindset and the inspiration to cultivate their own authentic blend of leadership and coaching that changes lives. If you’re a leader who is looking to bring more empowerment to your teams and truly make an impact, you’re in the right place! I’d love to get to know you better and help you on this journey.

Want to take the next step to learn about how you can start developing your own coaching leadership style?

Check out my new podcast, Worthy to Lead, where I help leaders develop their coaching skills, interview inspiring leaders, and give you the tools and mindset you need to transform your leadership style. Subscribe to get an email notification whenever I release new episodes and downloadable resources.