Ellen Ericson

Ellen is an executive coach and workshop leader with a specialty in executive presence, personal branding, and executive communication. She is a certified Master Coach, which is a distinction only 3% of executive coaches worldwide hold. She works with C-Suite, senior executives, and their teams to assist in aligning and propelling their performance through facilitation and master coaching practices. Additionally, Ellen is an adjunct professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She teaches a personal leadership insights class to both full-time and part-time/evening MBA students.

about

Ellen’s clients appreciate her unique and engaging style, business savviness, and her thought provoking questions that help them breakthrough their long-held beliefs about leadership. Ellen believes her clients are meant to achieve greatness and make a positive impact, no matter how big or small, each day. Through her business minded and ontological coaching approach, she works with her clients to explore, acknowledge, and live into their motivations and insights to achieve their desired results and legacy.

Ellen is a seasoned business developer and consultant. She began her career in telecommunications and high-tech in strategic marketing, consulting, and global business development roles.

Ellen lives in Chicago with her husband. They are recent empty nesters with a son and daughter enjoying their university years at two opposing Big 10 schools. In her spare time, Ellen enjoys golf, pickleball, yoga, paddleboarding, reading, jigsaw puzzles, watching sunsets in western Michigan, and going to Big 10 football games with her family.

CLIENT ENGAGEMENTS INCLUDE

Deloitte, AlixPartners, CapGemini, Salesforce, Workday, Uber, Twitter, HP, Epsilon, Merck, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Maersk, Alcoa, Charles Schwab, Nike, T-Mobile, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Crown Media, ViacomCBS, Wawa, Whirlpool, the United States Air Force, and Northwestern University.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
  • MBA, NYU’s Stern School of Business
  • BS Business Administration, University of Colorado at Boulder
ASSOCIATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS
  • ICF MCC Coach Certification
  • NCC in Executive Coaching, Newfield Network
  • CTPC certified team coach, Team Coaching International
  • Certified Narrative Coach, The Moment Institute
  • Vertical Development Certification from Cultivating Leadership
  • Certified in the following assessments: Hogan; FIRO-B; The Leadership Circle; Workplace Big 5; Fascinate Advantage; LVI; IDI; growth edge interviews
  • Certified Business Etiquette and International Protocol Consultant from The Protocol School of Washington
  • Adjunct Professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management
WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT neil

Neil's work with individuals, teams and our organization has had and continues to add tremendous value and real impact. He listens and understands, has a keen and nuanced sense of people, issues and solutions. Like the warm and caring person he is, he is able and willing to adapt himself to the diverse needs of clients, drawing on a deep reservoir of techniques, with practical and actionable steps that raise the quality of outcomes. His time with us has consistently provided essential support to each of us individually and collectively to help move us forward together toward becoming a fitter, healthier and higher functioning team. Having experienced many such engagements, his comparative and absolute value is beyond compare. Worth every dime and minute of investment, I will and have recommended him to others without reservation.

M.S., Chief Operating Officer, Financial Services

Neil has been an amazing partner. In every project - from facilitating teams to designing a framework for creative talent to executive assessment - he has brought deep expertise and a collaborative way of working that engages the team. It's coaching at the core and he does it masterfully, enabling us to create work that is more widely adopted and tailored to our organizational needs.

Kate B, now VP, Culture and Engagement, S&P Global

Neil changed my life. He guided me to ways to grow I didn’t think were possible. I’ve worked with Neil in individual and group settings and my time spent with him is always incredibly valuable. He helped me expand outside of my comfort zone, but also come to my own conclusions on how to grow. He asked the tough questions, but always with an underlying sense of understanding and care. I’ve been to countless leadership and team building seminars, but the work I did with Neil is far more valuable. He gives deep, tailored, actionable insights. As a direct response to my work with Neil I feel more authentic as a leader, my work has more meaning, my team is more engaged, and I am happier.

Frank Amorese, Marketing Executive, Alcoholic Beverage Industry

I have worked with Neil on several highly visible and high stakes projects in the leadership development and executive team effectiveness areas. Neil has a complete focus on the client. He listens incredibly well and provides candid and direct feedback but does so with empathy and a solution focus. Neil is also amazingly insightful, whether it is assessing an individual’s leadership potential, diagnosing the root causes of ineffective team behaviors, or helping a coaching client reframe an issue for productive action. With other leadership development consultants it is not uncommon to have predictable or tried and true solutions played back to you. With Neil I have experienced unique insight and novel ideas that are suited to the organization’s context. Most of all Neil is a pleasure to work with. He is a dedicated professional who models the leadership behaviors that he seeks to help others develop and a valued asset who works seamlessly with our team.

L.S., SVP Talent Management, Finance Sector

Neil and I have worked together on a number of organizational and talent-related projects, including coaching, leadership development strategy, executive assessment for culture ‘fit’, and team engagement facilitation. Neil is a fantastic thought partner, coach and facilitator who brings business acumen, a razor-sharp intellect, a keen curiosity, and a high degree of integrity to all of his engagements – this coupled with his rich global experience. A wonderful listener, he always takes the time to get below the surface and tune in to what’s really important. He is never afraid to challenge and is skilled in helping clients see things from different perspectives and think creatively about the optimal solution. It’s always a privilege to partner with Neil, and I would not hesitate to recommend him for consultancy work in the Talent, Leadership and Organizational Development / Organizational Strategy space.

J.T. VP, Global Talent, Estee Lauder Companies

The breadth and depth of Neil's executive coaching capabilities far exceeded my expectations of our engagement. Throughout, Neil was practiced and effective at adapting to changing professional situations. Neil's approach was highly focused, highly personalized, and architected to drive both learning and unlearning of skills and behaviors that shaped my leadership style and career path. He provided valuable, relevant frameworks to employ in today's dynamic workplace, as well as trends and insights on modern leadership that were fresh, innovative, and incredibly relevant. Neil's warm and genuine manner was ever present and his guidance was incredibly bespoke and thus easy to apply. Working with Neil was a journey and lesson in shaping and building my leadership brand as much as it was about real, personal growth. It was my privilege to work with Neil and I welcome doing so again in the future.

Khartoon Weiss, now Head of Global Agency and Accounts, Tik Tok