Leadership Coaching, Events, and Resources

With over two decades of experience in talent management and leadership development, I am passionate about helping individuals and organizations unlock their full potential. As the Co-Founder of Viante Talent Solutions, I leverage our proprietary FORWARD™ framework to deliver personalized, human-centered coaching that taps into each client's unique strengths and aspirations. My extensive background includes leading global talent strategies at companies like Carrier and Driscoll's, where I successfully improved internal leadership pipeline strength and employee engagement related to leadership effectiveness. Whether you're looking to enhance your leadership skills, drive greater team performance or transform your organization's talent strategy, I'm here to guide you on your journey. Let's connect and explore how I can support your growth and success!

The jump from high performer to people manager is one of the least-prepared-for transitions in someone's career. I coach Millennial and Gen Z leaders at all points in their leadership arc, from new managers finding their footing to senior leaders who want sharper self-awareness and a clearer read on how they're showing up to their teams. My background is in People and HR leadership across high-growth companies, which means I understand the organizational dynamics at play alongside the personal ones. I've built leadership development programs, run performance processes, coached leaders on delivering difficult feedback, and worked alongside the executives whose expectations you're now being held to. I'm an ICF-certified coach (ACC), Hogan-certified practitioner, and NYU Stern MBA. I coach the way I'd want to be coached: direct, honest, and grounded in your actual situation.

Welcome to my profile! With over a decade of experience in HR leadership and executive coaching, I specialize in developing leadership capabilities and driving organizational growth. As VP of People I lead strategic HR initiatives and coach C-level executives across global tech organizations. As an Executive Leadership Coach at Arete, I design leadership development frameworks for high-growth startups and enterprises and provide personalized coaching to senior leaders. I have successfully coached numerous individuals, enhancing their leadership effectiveness and supporting their career advancement. Let's work together to elevate your leadership skills and achieve your professional goals!

Welcome to my profile! I’m Joyce Heckman, a leadership coach with a background as a human resources executive. Over the years, I’ve worked in the global financial services and public utility industries—leading initiatives that supported thousands of employees and strengthened organizational culture. I have experience in Human Resources consulting focusing on healthcare, pharmaceutical, and energy. I have Higher Education experience as well. Today, I work with leaders and individual contributors to help them find solutions that empower them to reach their goals with confidence and clarity. Let's work together to elevate your leadership skills and achieve your career aspirations. Reach out to start your journey today!

Leadership challenges rarely stop at the edge of the situation. The ones that keep recurring, despite your best efforts, usually have a personal dimension: a pattern in how you manage others, a story you've stopped questioning, a reaction that keeps pulling you off course. I work with public and social-sector leaders at precisely that intersection. My approach draws on Adaptive Leadership — a methodology developed over forty years at the Harvard Kennedy School — and on adult development theory, which offers a rigorous framework for understanding how we grow and what gets in the way. Together, these help us look at both the system you're trying to move and the inner dynamics that shape how you're meeting it. My coaching sessions are unhurried and attentive, and follow your sense-making rather than a set path. I ask questions more than I give answers. I'm not afraid to name what I notice — a tension, an incongruity, a place where something seems to tighten — and I work to make it safe enough that you can look at it directly. That's usually where the most important work happens.

I believe leadership is influence. It isn't about having all the answers—it's learned through experience, reflection, and a willingness to grow. I grew up in a family-owned construction business, where I saw firsthand both the rewards and challenges of leading people. I later spent 23 years as a U.S. diplomat, leading teams in high-pressure environments throughout Latin America and Washington, D.C. Across both careers, I kept seeing the same pattern: leadership challenges rarely stemmed from a lack of intelligence or technical ability. More often, they came down to communication, trust, self-awareness, and the ability to navigate change. Those experiences shape how I coach today. I don't believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. Every leader brings different strengths, blind spots, and goals, so I begin by understanding the person before trying to solve the problem. I ask thoughtful questions, listen carefully, and help leaders think differently, make better decisions, and build practical habits they can sustain long after our coaching engagement ends. Clients often tell me they appreciate that I balance encouragement with accountability. My goal isn't to create dependence on a coach—it's to help leaders build the confidence, judgment, and leadership capacity to lead well long after we're finished working together.

For more than two decades, I have done the demanding, essential work of leadership — sitting with executives in moments of crisis, untangling fractured team dynamics, and coaching leaders at every level to move with clarity and conviction when the stakes were highest. As a former C-Suite Officer at the National Geographic Society, Associate Dean at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and civil rights practitioner, I have worked inside the rooms where hard decisions get made and helped leaders think more clearly, act more deliberately, and lead more effectively. My approach is grounded in certified training in cultural intelligence, conflict resolution, and leadership development, and I am currently completing my formal coaching certification. I do not traffic in easy answers or generic frameworks. I bring hard-won experience, rigorous thinking, and a direct but deeply human approach to every engagement. If you are a nonprofit or higher education leader — or someone working to build a more inclusive, high-functioning team — I would welcome the chance to work with you.

As President of a private equity–backed business, I’ve led teams through high-growth, high-pressure environments where leadership and decision-making directly drive results. With an MBA from Stanford and years of experience scaling companies, I’ve developed a practical, tested approach to leadership that blends strategic thinking with people-first execution. I coach emerging leaders and executives on the skills that matter most: managing teams, driving accountability, influencing stakeholders, and balancing professional demands with personal priorities. My goal is to equip you with actionable frameworks and real-world insights that help you not only succeed in your current role, but also prepare for the next level of leadership.

Leadership coaching for new and rising leaders who are strong on paper and stretched in reality: first time leading leaders, a bigger scope, a team that includes AI, or a pace that has quietly stopped being sustainable. I am an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Certified Co-Active Coach (CPCC) with nearly 20 years inside Amazon, IBM, and Ogilvy, most recently as a Senior Manager of Product at Amazon, where I led cross-functional teams, hired and promoted at a high bar, and coached new managers into leaders. We work on the two things that decide whether a leader scales: clarity about what only you can do, and the system that protects your attention for it. That includes delegation as a leadership skill, including what to hand to AI agents and what must stay human; executive communication and presence; decisions you will not need to walk back; and the inner critic that turns ambition into overdrive. Ambition Without Burnout is the frame for all of it. Rated 5.0 across 36 reviews; one client was promoted to Director within the year. Leland AI Builder Level 4 certified.

Hi there! I'm Chris - an accomplished executive coach (ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC)) and Certified Team Coach (CTC) with 15+ years of strategic leadership experience in diverse industries. I leverage my entrepreneurial experience and deep background in technology to guide leaders through complex career transitions, executive presence development, and organizational change - but mostly, I help people better understand their work, each other, and themselves. I've completed over 500 hours of ICF-recognized coaching to more than 60 individuals from corporate vice presidents and directors, to educators and entrepreneurs. I'm always looking for ways to give back to the coaching community whether it's through organizing conferences and meetups, teaching in the Center for Coaching in Organizations ECO Coach Training Program, or as a coach supervisor. Let's connect and talk about how coaching can help you can Unleash Your Awesome.