Donna was my coach and mentor for two years and it was the best professional development experience of my career. She helped me develop and grow my leadership skills through a COVID-modified version of her Shadow-Coaching technique. Donna challenged me to look more deeply into myself and others to better understand people, situations, actions and reactions.
Working with Donna, I acquired new tools to extend my existing skills, most particularly the approach of looking at everything through curiosity. Her unique combination of empathy, perceptiveness and no-nonsense approach provided an example to live up to as well as making her the perfect person to cut through the mental and emotional clutter of daily life and hone in on what’s important. I can’t say enough about the experience. I truly found it game-changing. I am a better leader and a better person after working with Donna and I look forward to having that opportunity again.
Donna has a keenly emotional mind -- and she is really generous with it. As my professional coach for more than 3 years, Donna helped me to navigate changes, decisions, and conflicts, not by telling me what to do, but by helping me access the answers that I knew, but was hesitant to apply myself. She is a patient listener, and the advice she gives comes from years of experience working through problems much bigger than mine, with people in jobs way above my pay grade. I've been so lucky to have access to her insights and her support, and I hope we can continue our collaboration for many years to come. If you have the chance to work with her, don't pass it up.
In my 30 years business experience I have met almost no- leader whom I'd dare to evaluate as utterly competent, trustable, talented, friendly, tech -savvy and well-connected. Donna is the "whole package", a true gem. Extremely articulate, amazingly fast, and always "on target", she makes things happen and so, advances businesses and projects. She coaches, trains, and mobilizes teams and their leaders, and above all that, shares everything with this kind of greatness you rarely see. I consider it a huge privilege having met her, working with her and learning from her.
Donna is a rare professional who doesn't really need anyone to recommend her on LinkedIn or anywhere else, because she has been coaching top leaders around the world for three decades, and work comes to her from delighted clients and their colleagues almost automatically! Regardless, I can't resist. I have had the pleasure of working with Donna and observing her during a coaching intensive. She becomes an instant mentor to other coaches, because of her knowledge and experience. Once you meet her, you will want her to coach you; it's really that simple. Donna has the substance, the approach, the mindset, and everything you would expect if you were going to list the things that one of the world's top coaches should be and have. She chooses her clients based on their desire to have global impact. If this describes you, then I hope that Donna has the time in her schedule to work with you; if so, you are in for a treat!
In one word...Donna is "brilliant." She is a world class coach, with exceptional skills to bring out the very best in her clients. Her insight and wisdom, coupled with her boundless positive spirit make her a highly skilled coach. She was a tremendous support to FCG during its time of transition and great turmoil. We couldn't have made it through without her. If you need an executive coach with finely honed skills, who always asks the right questions, look no further than Donna.
Since taking on the role as my leadership coach in 2017, Donna has been my trusted guide on an amazing journey to discover who I am as a leader – and as an individual. Donna’s ability to challenge me to think about how the unique attributes and skills that we each bring to the office every day can be used to influence and empower other individuals, entire teams, and the organization as a whole, particularly with regard to direction, strategy, and goal attainment, has greatly improved my ability to assess and successfully lead large teams.
I am fortunate to have been involved in multiple teambuilding exercises with Donna as the facilitator. To say that the results were eye-opening would be an understatement, as the attendees of these facilitated meetings were always left with meaningful actionable items, a renewed sense of value to the organization, and the motivation to implement that which they had learned in the session(s). It is for these reasons, I highly recommend Donna to any organization aspiring to improve employee self-awareness and accountability, facilitate strategy sessions, and experience an overall positive and productive leadership transformation.
Donna has a keen insight and comprehensive understanding of her client's issues. Her warm and enthusiastic manner makes everything easier to swallow , even the tough work that needs to be done. She brings a wealth of wisdom and perspective to each interaction.
Donna has shifted the way the coaching profession 'sees' what is possible for them, to broaden and deepen the impact of coaching to politicians and political bodies of the very highest order. Talk about striking at the heart of where change means most. As Donna leads the way for others, I'm sure we will see a sea change at the identity level in (1) these organizations and (2) in coach's’ hearts and minds. If you're a politician without a shadow coach like Donna, get one. Now. And if you are a coach looking for a niche...get a hold of Donna… Yesterday.
Working with Donna has resulted in me having more confidence in myself as a leader - her discretion, tact, expert advice, friendly and energetic vibe and her commitment and professionalism and keen observations have brought me to a new level at work. Donna has, in 3 days, changed my life. The suggestions and observations Donna made were provided by a credible, caring and well-informed person, witnessing the environment and dynamics in my workplace and then providing commentary which could be debated and discussed from a shared experience. The experience blew my mind and has moved me to a new plateau.
Donna Karlin has been my leadership coach for the last 5 years. Over the course of our time together she combined shadow coaching with her unique ability to reach me where I was at each moment to unlock the best person and best leader I could be. Anyone who is seriously ready to unlock that awesome potential that lives within them should get to know Donna. Your life will be changed forever...
Donna is the epitome of coaching professionalism. She is a true thought leader in the areas of executive coaching and leadership having worked with leaders on all levels, including politicians and political bodies worldwide. As an international speaker, lecturer, author and leadership coach, Donna taps into her proprietary Shadow Coaching methodology to provide leaders with real-time strategies and insight so that performance improvement can happen at an accelerated pace. I would welcome the opportunity to work with Donna again anytime!
Donna's coaching skills and expertise are amazing! I had the pleasure of working with her for nearly 2 years while at Exelon corporation, I valued our coaching sessions and learned a number of things about myself and how to improve my leadership for my team. The shadow approach to coaching is highly effective and Donna provided great insights about me, my behaviors, tendencies as a leader so I could make adjustments that made me a better leader! I highly recommend Donna and her approach to coaching!
How do you describe someone who is totally distinctive, a pioneer and at the frontier in the field of coaching. Not only does Donna have a unique style in relation to shadow coaching, but her ability to cut through and do so in such gracious way is simply amazing as well as inspiring. Donna has been on a number of trips now to the Land of Oz and we are thrilled whenever she comes and we can't get enough of her. There is no doubt that Donna is a stand-out in the field of coaching so if you get the opportunity to either hear her, or attend any of her workshops and presentations, it is simply a must. She is one out of the box as they say.