When complexity increases

Leadership Gets Harder

find out why with the Leadership Skills Audit
Why does leadership suddenly feel harder than it should?
The skills that help you do the work are not always the skills that help you lead the people.

Most leaders are getting a lot of leadership right, but even small leadership gaps can create big problems.

Leadership works best as a system. When you have the right skills working together, leadership becomes easier and more effective.
Find your strengths with a 3-minute Leadership Skills Audit
How Leaders Build High-Performing Teams
High-performing teams are built when leadership skills work together as a system.
Foundation Skills 200

Build the Foundational Skills

Confidence, empathy, and trust create the foundation teams need to perform.

Application skills icon

Build the Application Skills

Alignment, decision making, and effective one-on-ones turn strategy into execution.

Results icon

Get Better Results

Motivated teams take ownership, collaborate effectively and deliver better results

What clients say about me

Alan

Lisa starts with who you are and what kind of leader you want to be. She helps you develop a philosophy to make you a better leader.

Biotech engineer
Biotech Engineer

Karen

With Lisa’s guidance, I resolved a tough team conflict. We now collaborate better—and our project completion rate has doubled!

Isa
Senior Manager

Adam

Lisa helped our team take ownership, work better as a group, and handle tough conversations. Our whole organization is stronger because of her.

Millenial leader
Executive Director

Betsy

In just 4 weeks, my team made more progress with your coaching than we did with our last coach in 7 months. Thank you, Lisa!

smiling professional woman
Business Owner

Ethan

Lisa helped me see personal patterns that were holding me back. I realized things I hadn’t noticed before—and it made a huge difference.

happy professional man
Robotic Engineer

Shannon

I would have been floundering without my coaching calls with Lisa. She helped me see what I care about and guided me to a career path that matches my values.

business owner
Entrepreneur
when in doubt try empathy for My Gratitude Project

Empathy vs Sympathy: Why One Heals and the Other Distances | My Gratitude Project Day 4

Solve the Leadership Challenges You’re Facing Right Now
As leadership complexity increases, even strong leaders can begin facing new challenges around confidence, communication, accountability, and team performance. My coaching and training services help leaders build the systems and skills needed to lead effectively at the next level.

One-on-One Leadership Coaching

Build a leadership presence that earns respect and inspires your team.

one-on-one leadership coaching

Corporate Leadership Training

Develop confident leaders who strengthen teamwork and drive better results.

corporate leadership training

Group Leadership Coaching

Essential leadership skills, now within reach.

happy meeting of people in group coaching
About Me

Lisa D. Foster, Ph.D., ACC

Lisa D. Foster, Ph.D., ACC

I work with experienced leaders who are performing well—and who know they need new skills to reach their next inflection point.

My clients are seeking increased visibility, broader scope, or higher-stakes decisions. They understand that intelligence and hard work alone won’t get them there. They want to show up differently—especially when the stakes are high and ambiguity increases.

They want to be seen as ready for promotion. That means stronger leadership presence, clearer decision making under pressure, and the ability to lead other leaders effectively as scale expands.

For more than 8 years, I’ve coached leaders—particularly in biotech and pharma—as they step into bigger roles, manage other leaders, and navigate enterprise-level decisions.

On average, my clients move into their next role within 12 months. Many see meaningful increases in scope, influence, or compensation—not because they worked harder, but because they learned how to lead at a higher level.

From experience, I’ve observed that most leaders stall not because they lack strength — but because one skill lags behind the rest.

If you’re curious where you might be getting stuck—or what will matter most at your next level—I offer a short Leadership Skills Audit to help you see clearly where to focus next.

Trusted by leaders at:
Citi • L’Oréal • Northeastern University • Teradyne • Ginko Bioworks • Emergent BioSolutions (makers of Narcan)

Take the Leadership Skills Audit

ACC certification logo
EQ-i 2.0 certification logo
Forbes Coaches Council badge
KFLA
when in doubt try empathy for My Gratitude Project

Empathy vs Sympathy: Why One Heals and the Other Distances | My Gratitude Project Day 4

Empathy vs sympathy: they sound alike but they are quite different. We feel sympathy for someone and, in contrast, we feel empathy with someone, that’s the difference between empathy vs sympathy. Feeling sympathy for someone implies a certain distance. It’s more like feeling pity for someone. They are feeling something that you are not. They are struggling, and you are not.   When you empathize with someone, you feel what they are feeling. So rather than distancing, it is bonding.…

Read More
empathy is non judgment for my gratitude project

Empathy is Non-Judgmental and Transcendent: My Gratitude Project Day 3

Empathy is non-judgmental. As soon as you start judging someone—labeling them good or bad, right or wrong, should or shouldn’t, and the like—you have ceased empathizing. The point of empathy is simply to understand someone, no more, no less. Empathy cannot be about you or your opinions or how you would do it. Like you, everyone has their reasons for doing what they do, reasons that have built up over time. Decades of habits and experience that have led us…

Read More

Lisa D. Foster, Ph.D. ACC  is an independent coach. As an Associate Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation, Lisa honors and abides by the ICF Code of Ethics.  All coaching sessions and consultations are confidential.

Privacy Policy

Subscribe to learn more