Ep. 10, Season 4: Today, organizational and leadership consultant Kelly Soifer stopped by to speak with Carmen and I about her incredible work helping leaders and organizations achieve their best potential. She offers several really important insights about what it takes to lead, how organizations need to think about leadership, and the importance of identifying one’s strengths to maximize effectiveness at home, at work and beyond. She’s down to earth, clear-headed, and offers insights that make you go “now if I would have only thought of that 10 years ago!” I think you’ll enjoy listening to Kelly as much as we enjoyed recording the episode.
To learn more about Saybrook University, visit us online at saybrook.edu.
Kelly Soifer's Bio (Visit Kelly's website at www.ksleadershipdevelop.me
Hi, I'm Kelly Soifer (pronounce it like "Surfer" with a Brooklyn accent!) I come to you with with 35 years of experience in leadership and management development. I have ongoing expertise with college students & Millennials, churches, non-profits, academic institutions, business & intercultural contexts. I'm an active practitioner and coach in Strengths Finder (Activator, Strategic, Maximizer, Individualization, Input are my top five) & Covey's 7 Habits. I also enjoy fostering team building & collaboration and setting up staff training & mentoring. As for a quick biography, I graduated from UCSB in 1979 with a degree in English literature. I am also conversationally bilingual. After working for a year in research and development in the private sector, I came on staff with Young Life, a nonprofit that works with teenagers. I became the regional director and supervised staff and programs from San Luis Obispo down to Ventura. (1984-1994). After that, I worked with a church from 1994 through 2009. I started several community outreach programs during that time, especially working with underserved populations (homeless, Latino children, Central American families).
Since 2009, I have worked in a variety of contexts, especially in higher education. My main focus has been on internships and leadership development of young adults. I have had over 70 interns and have forged new programs in Southern California, Washington state, and Southern Illinois. I have also been an adjunct faculty member at Westmont College during that entire time. I'm also now currently actively advising TCS Ed System in their leadership development around the country. Bottom line, I love helping organizations, whether they are start-ups, academic institutions, family businesses, non-profits or larger companies, figure out how to develop and maintain pervasive culture that lives among their employees. I like the messy "people" stuff that exists in every entity, large and small. I have always worked with people, and enjoy partnering with leadership and managers to strengthen the soft skills needed to get stuff done, collaborate well, manage interpersonal dynamics, and connect with clients, boards, and investors. Other than that: I've lived in Santa Barbara for 40 years (yessss!!), I drive a scooter or ride a bike instead of a car, and I blog a bit a www.ksleadershipdevelop.me. I look forward to meeting you soon.