Laura is the CEO of Goodstone Group.
Professional Experience
Laura brings proven expertise in executive coaching, team effectiveness, and strategy implementation to her coaching clients. With more than 25 years of experience, she honed her business acumen while operating as a consultant and manager across a breadth of industries. She is co-author of the Leadership Development best-sellers: Do Your Best Coaching: Navigating a Coaching Engagement From Start To Finish and the companion workbook.
Laura has coached executives across many industries including private equity, biopharma, financial services, fintech, professional services, and nonprofits. Direct and empathetic, Laura combines practical business perspective with an appreciation for the challenges leaders face as they develop new ways of working and thinking. She helps clients identify and take steps to make real, enduring, positive change. Laura often works with clients facing subjective and ambiguous feedback like “have more gravitas” or “be more strategic”. She helps clients understand feedback in concrete and actionable terms; develop goals and a plan of action; and work through a process of practice, reflection and learning to achieve the goals.
Laura’s coaching and consulting work extends to teams. She’s been delivering High Performance Teams workshops for the last 15 years, working with global, diverse and often distributed teams to increase their effectiveness by applying best practices at the team, leader, and team member levels.
Recent Coaching Assignments
- Partner, PE Firm, during first year as a Managing Director, to build an increased capacity for thought and team leadership, and an elevated firm and market presence
- CEO, PE-backed SaaS company, serving as a sounding board and advisor on critical issues of people leadership and Board dynamics
- CEO, PE backed HealthTech company, focusing on building followership amongst the organization and developing a path to profitability
- CEO, family-owned manufacturing company, to elevate her focus and energy for strategic work while developing and delegating to her team
- Chief Strategy Officer, PE-backed FinTech, to develop an adaptive leadership approach to drive results and engage in constructive conflict
- Chief Risk Officer, public financial services company, to increase his executive presence and communicate at a more strategic level
- Chief Customer Officer, PE-backed SaaS company, to create time and practices for strategic reflection and somatic experiences that inform business and leadership decisions
- SVP, public financial services company, to increase her executive presence, skillfully challenge leadership, & develop senior relationships
- VP, PE firm, to learn somatic practices that supported her increased presence and voice, as well as her ability to collaborate with colleagues
- Global Medical Therapeutic head, global pharma, to increase self-awareness around impact on others, be more choiceful in interactions with colleagues, and generally soften his edges
- Senior Director, global pharma, to access her somatic intelligence in service of amplifying her executive presence and strategic voice
Education and Professional Affiliations
- Certified Executive Coach, Hudson Institute of Coaching
- Certified in EQ In Action, Hogan, IEQ9 Enneagram, Leadership Embodiment, MBTI
- MBA, The Anderson School at UCLA (including studies at HEC Paris)
- BA, Economics & International Relations, Cornell University (including studies at Université de Genève)