Leader Up!™ with Kim Cooper
Kim Cooper is a leadership expert whose clients include CEOs of global corporations, award-winning celebrities, best-selling writers, leading journalists, and other thought leaders. Her clients are a diverse group, but they share one thing in common: they are passionate about what they do, and driven to succeed. And even though they may seem to have reached the pinnacle of success, they continue to devote time and energy to becoming more effective leaders. For them, not being a leader is not an option.
But leadership is not just for CEOs. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they are in life, has leadership potential, and everyone can tap into that potential — if they are willing to do the hard work.
The goal of Leader Up!™ is to “democratize leadership.” Leadership, at its core, is about having a clear vision of where you want to go and a plan for getting there — and then inspiring and motivating others to join you in making your vision a reality. We all have goals that we want to achieve: we want to be more successful, to have more control over our lives, and to positively affect the people around us. To achieve our goals we need to think and act like leaders. Developing leadership abilities should not be regarded as a luxury, something that is only relevant (and affordable!) for the 1% of already successful leaders who have the resources to continuously improve themselves. Instead, learning to think and act like a leader should be something that we all focus on as a fundamental skill.
Leader Up!™ is based on three principles:
- that everyone needs to think of themselves as a leader in some aspect of their lives;
- that anyone who is willing to commit to change can improve their leadership abilities;
- that the habits of mind and behavior that leadership training involves can have a truly transformative effect, helping people to achieve significantly higher levels of success and well-being.
All too often, people believe that the qualities that make for a good leader cannot be learned, that leadership talents are innate, and that good leaders “are born that way.”
But Kim’s work with her clients proved to her that leadership can be discovered, developed, and deepened at any age and at any stage in your career. In fact, the most successful leaders tend to be those who never stop developing their leadership abilities, who know that leadership isn’t something that you learn once and then you’re done. It is a continual process of improvement and work. And if this is true for established leaders, then this is definitely a lesson that the rest of us can benefit from.
Talks and Workshops
Kim's Leader Up!™ talks and workshops are designed to help participants think differently about what it means to express leadership; to gain insights into their own behaviors, habits, and assumptions that may be undermining their leadership presence; and to focus on strengthening the qualities and capabilities they already possess (but may not always express) and that will give others the confidence to follow them.
Recent lecture topics include:
- Democratizing Leadership: Leadership for the 99% (and how it can change the world)
- Leader Up!™ Be the CEO of Your Own Life
- From Stage to Boardroom: What CEOs Can Learn from Top Actors (Hint: it's not "acting")
- The Insider's Guide to Leadership: Why Managers Need to be Leaders
About Kim Cooper
Kim Cooper, Founder
Kim grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, where her parents, a stand-up comedian and an acting teacher, ran a performing arts school. Her first job, at age 14, was teaching tap-dancing to 5-year-olds.
In 1994 Kim began teaching writing and communication at Harvard, winning Harvard's prestigious University-wide teaching award every year she taught. She also consulted for members of the Harvard community, including from Harvard Business School and the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences. While at Harvard, Kim founded Kim Cooper Associates, a boutique leadership and communications consultancy.
Since 2004 Kim has dedicated herself full time to running Kim Cooper Associates. Her clients include corporations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, representing a broad range of industries including banking, media/entertainment, high-tech, pharmaceuticals, and venture capital. She also works with celebrities, politicians, writers, journalists, and other thought leaders.
To learn more about Kim Cooper Associates, go to kimcooperassociates.com.