Cynthia Corsetti – Coaching Executives to Lead with Success

In the past, coaching was viewed as a last resort when companies felt the need to handle their troubled managers in order to keep things running smoothly. But now, organizations, and even individuals worldwide, look for coaches who can give them an edge over their competition. And a name that stands tall among the coaching community is Cynthia Corsetti. A former executive herself, she is a 2021 TEDx Speaker and a contributing author of “The Successful Mind, Tools to Living a Purposeful, Productive, and Happy Life.” With over 3,500 hours of coaching expertise in the last 15 years, she is adept at creating influence, optimizing team dynamics, and helping people navigate the toxic work culture in the corporate world. A no-nonsense approach and a candid nature are two of her aspects that the clients vouch for. With a sixty percent increase in productivity, her clients include names like CMU, Thermo-Fisher Scientific, or CMU’s Tepper School of Business. 

Cynthia Corsetti served as the Vice President of Human Resources for a national engineering firm, the President of a county Chamber of Commerce, and the Director of Human Resources for a pharmaceutical company during a 200% growth strategy in preparation for an IPO. An expert at changing careers, she understands that every job has a pattern, and a person must look for them to stay happy. 

Coaching as a Career 

Cynthia Corsetti loves working with people and feels that coaching executives are what she knows best. She cannot imagine doing anything else. According to her, most people consider coaching as a last resort and that is where it fails to deliver results. Instead, it works best when you are already on top and want more. She mainly focuses on one-on-one coaching with C-suite executives but also caters to executive teams of six to eight people. 

Transformational Coaching 

She does not work with people who need coaches but with high-impact people who are already successful and want to get better. These are the people who want to increase their business, and revenue, impact on society and leave a legacy behind in the world. She likes to call it transformational coaching, where she helps people reach their highest levels. It could be an individual or an organization. 

“I do not want to coach people who think they need a coach. I want to coach people who understand that they want a coach.” ―Cynthia Corsetti

Career Transition Coaching 

Many people get stuck at a job they do not like, and after 20–30 years, they feel that they do not want to do it anymore. But they do not know where to go because that is all they know. There is a program for such people where executives help them in shifting careers. Cynthia Corsetti mentions three critical steps that are important in this transition — “Reflect, Rebuild, and Rebrand”. 

Reflect 

To know what to do next, you have to reflect on where you have been. You may not be happy with the current position you have held for two decades and may change your profession. However, you may still feel the same after a year. For example, Cynthia took a long time to understand that the person looking for a change is different from the person she was twenty years ago. Back then, when she chose that career, she had a different set of values, priorities, and even dreams. So, to figure out who she is today, she had to reflect on how she got here and what has changed for her. This also gave her a clear picture of the person she is today. 

Rebuild 

The rebuilding phase begins here, where Cynthia focuses on providing skills that are compliant with the new position and breaking down the barriers. 

Rebrand 

In this phase, she rebrands the resume and the profile of the client. Basically, a new professional image of the client is built. Although it is targeted toward career transition, Cynthia feels that the same process could be used for successful entrepreneurship. 

Job Search Boot Camp 

Throughout her professional career, Cynthia Corsetti has interviewed over 3,000 people. She confesses that she is a tough interviewer and feels that people who can master an interview with her are almost prepared for everything. Her Interview Mastery Program is specially designed for people who have one or more interviews scheduled. The client is made to go through some mock interviews where Cynthia observes the body language and trains the client to give the correct answers even when the interviewer is not asking the right questions. She also instructs her clients on how to avoid traps during the interview. Overall, she teaches clients how to stand out in an interview and make themselves memorable. 

Cynthia adds that she provides expertise to companies for conducting interviews as well. She helps to keep the discussions on track so that the process is fruitful. And the company gets to know everything about the candidate. 

Cynthia’s Technique 

Cynthia’s mission is to transform lives and help people achieve their goals. She has a consulting background but what sets her apart is that she wants to help by enabling her clients to solve the crisis themselves by using their intelligence, creativity, and brilliance. She makes her clients push themselves harder. 

Sometimes an executive can get stuck on some negative thought pattern, and because they cannot communicate, they fail to think rationally. Cynthia helps such people leverage communication by understanding their mental processes and controlling their emotions. This way, they can think rationally, come out of that phase with ease, and show up as the best version of themselves. 

Challenges 

Cynthia’s main challenge initially was messaging or reaching out to those in need. According to her, the business community felt very lame talking about energy, mindset, authenticity, and things they believe in. She felt that most companies had no idea they needed guidance and were too proud to accept it. “It is something which is still evolving,” Cynthia said. 

Advice to Female Founders 

Cynthia feels that most women let insecurities get their best. Every individual is held back by certain stories about themselves. Doubting your capabilities or not having enough confidence tends to hold you back. Even if you become successful, these insecurities will never let you reach your full potential. Hence, to control such insecurities, you must identify them and find the source. 

Future Plans 

Cynthia has been working on her signature program called CARE to Lead, which will launch soon. This hybrid program (part virtual, part live) is designed to coach senior C-suite executives. For companies with hundreds of managers, it can be a three-day workshop. Apart from that, it can be a collaborative effort for people who need coaching and looking for a group program—a group of twenty people going through the program together for twelve weeks. 

On a concluding note, Cynthia espouses the value of coaching. She wishes that people take it in the right spirit and understand that they need coaching to manage their emotions well and become better versions of themselves.