We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cassandra Corona. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cassandra below.

Alright, Cassandra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

When my client, the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of over 500 employees, approached me, they were feeling unmotivated and lacked engagement in their role. They also expressed a desire to sharpen and develop their leadership capabilities. It became evident that my client possessed a growth mindset, believing in their capacity for change and learning. Our initial session delved into understanding my client’s background, revealing that this role was a dream opportunity for them. They aimed to positively impact and influence as a change agent, aligning with their long-standing aspirations. As a leadership and development practitioner, our focus shifted to exploring the underlying motivations and aspirations driving my client. We aimed to view them as a whole individual, beyond their current role or job title. We delved into my client’s upbringing, their adult experiences, and how they arrived at their current role. Adopting a holistic approach to understanding clients’ diverse paths allowed me to identify any misaligned thought patterns. Subsequent sessions centered on conducting a values assessment, empowering my client to navigate both their professional and personal life from a values-based perspective. Embracing values-based leadership enabled my client to live in alignment and experience greater fulfillment in their role. After over 6 months of working together, my client walked away with five key takeaways from our sessions. Firstly, they gained insights into self-reflection, learning a specific 3-step method to maximize every interaction, both personally and professionally. They also developed a deeper understanding of balance, mastering the art of effective delegation to expand their organizational impact without overextending themselves. Furthermore, my client cultivated humility, creating a learning environment for their team members and themselves, actively seeking feedback and avenues for personal and professional growth. Authenticity became a cornerstone of their leadership approach, operating with transparency and integrating their personal values with the organization’s, fostering open communication. Lastly, we focused on continuous improvement, conducting a thorough leadership assessment and delving into strategic execution to consistently identify and pursue growth opportunities. As a result of our sessions, my client experienced a newfound sense of invigoration, motivation, and competence. These outcomes are vital, as a values-based leadership approach is crucial for a CHRO overseeing an organization 500+ employees.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I embrace multiple roles as a wife, stepmother, sober leader, and organizational and leadership development practitioner with pride. My core values revolve around empowerment, education, inclusion, diversity, and authenticity. My journey into Organizational Psychology initially stemmed from the desire to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist, but I recognized the potential challenges due to my deep empathy. Upon realizing my passion for research, challenging norms, and strong interpersonal skills, my professor/mentor encouraged me to explore Organizational Psychology as an alternative path. This guidance led me to enroll in a master’s program in Organizational Leadership Psychology, focusing on talent management and delving into researching diverse leadership styles across cultures and the impact of remote work on leadership. During my studies, I ventured into entrepreneurship by establishing a physical presence for my consultancy and providing guidance to the diversity, equity, and inclusion department at an institution. Leveraging my academic foundation, I cultivated my business, managing aspects like recruitment, onboarding, and team training while also taking on a consulting role with the diversity, equity, and inclusion director. Over the past three years, my expertise has been sought after for coaching and consulting, often to address specific challenges or proactively develop leadership capabilities. Organizational culture assessments, requested by CEOs or decision makers, have been a key part of my work, providing unbiased insights based solely on workforce data to understand and guide organizations. Additionally, I have conducted personalized 1-on-1 coaching with executive leadership to enhance team and vision alignment, offering tailored, real-time coaching without relying on standardized programs. I advocate for the importance of a practitioner with a psychology background, emphasizing the value of feeling heard, supported, and understood, especially in a time dominated by technology and AI. Lastly, I believe that shared values are a strong indicator of potential successful collaboration.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team involves three crucial factors: Psychological Safety, Role clarity, and establishing clear expectations. Psychological Safety is the ability for team members to be their authentic selves, ask questions, make mistakes, and seek help without fear. Establishing clear expectations and role clarity is of utmost importance, as it ensures team cohesion and success. Role clarity involves clearly communicating responsibilities for tasks and communications within the team. Communicating expectations should be done through written, verbal, and visual means, providing confidence, transparency, and clear goals for the team. Understanding what motivates team members, such as recognition through verbal praise, pay increases, and job titles, can drive high morale.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As a small business owner who survived operating through the pandemic with continued engagement of employees and then when returning to in-office work finding the level of interest in the business from both employees and clients had reduced

I opened my first store – a brick and mortar CBD boutique in year 2019. As a small business owner I spent a lot of time engaging in training employees, perfecting the store layout, and curating an arrangement of products to sell. I continuously worked on the business practices, establishing brand presence in the community, recruiting, hiring, onboarding training and developing staff. Through proper delegation, and value based leadership I created a team that was aligned and highly functioning. As a leader, I always train my team to learn and develop, never stop growing. Inevitably, some employees found opportunities to grow and develop with different organizations. I was thrilled for them as I believe new challenges and opportunities mean growth. I was then tasked with working more hours and recruiting new staff. This is when the true challenge began, of course the pandemic came it with its own set of challenges. The challenges of engaging a workforce to perform after the whole world shut down and individuals gained a deeper meaning of their lives. Many organizations are faced with attempting to bring their workforce into the office. The work from home model is still highly desired by many. Hiring and recruiting talent was a challenge post pandemic. I worked at the store and took organizational development clients from my office. I had to learn how to multitask two careers at once, a store owner and consultant. I did this for 4-5 months until I found an employee who was serious and interested in working. 1 year later, I decided to part ways with my brick and mortar and consult full-time. What I share with you is the resilience to push through even when the world closes down and it almost seems impossible to find talent. I also share the ability to walk away from roles and spaces that no longer serve or bring you joy. Of course, closing my first brick and mortar hurt my ego, but closing has opened so many doors that are aligned with my future vision of myself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thereelcassi & @corconsultingboston
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandracorona08/
• Other: https://Calendly.com/corconsultinggroup

Image Credits

Photos: @madeira_ilya + @anastasia.reut.photo