Skip to content

Kathy Gallo

Senior Executive Coach
Goodstone Group LLC
New York, NY
Email:  kg****@************up.com
Phone:  202-494-0064

Education and Professional Affiliations
  • S., Electrical Engineering, Virginia Tech
  • B.A., Marymount University of Virginia
  • Certificate in Leadership Coaching, Georgetown University
  • Certificate in International Systemic Team Coaching, January 2019
  • Stanford University’s Rock Center for Governance, Directors’ College
  • Completed Goodstone/Blaqwell Developing Lawyers as Leaders training
  • Completed training in the Immunity-to-Change-Approach with Kegan/Lahey
  • Certified in a range of contemporary assessment and typing tools including MBTI, Hogan, Conflict Dynamics Profile, EQinAction, Predictive Index, CCL and Lominger instruments

Professional Expertise

Kathy coach’s senior executives and high potential leaders wanting to take their leadership effectiveness to the next level.  Her clients are those with a desire to develop and a will to take some risks in learning to change.

Believing that leadership expectations must be defined in the context of a leader’s business, organization, culture, and current/desired role, she begins her coaching work by understanding each of those dimensions.  Kathy has extensive experience working with individual leaders, with business functions, and with entire organizations to understand business-based leadership expectations, to communicate them constructively, and to then help leaders to meet them.

With more than 16 years in a leading global management consulting firm with an up-or-out performance culture, Kathy is deeply skilled at both challenging and supporting very smart, driven, and successful leaders who receive feedback about expectations for moving up or gaining broader support at the most senior levels.  A particular strength is in discovering the behaviors underlying the often vague terms used to describe unmet expectations like “doesn’t fill the room,” “doesn’t convey strategic thinking,” “acts like a second in command,” and “doesn’t inspire followers”.  After translation, Kathy supports her clients in taking the risks needed to experiment with new behaviors and in staying disciplined to the point of competence.

Kathy’s clients include senior and rising leaders in asset management, consumer goods, executive search, education, legal services, private equity, retail, technology, telecommunications, and transportation.  Her work also includes design and implementation of targeted initiatives to develop, retain, and advance female leaders across a wide range of industries.

Kathy’s pro-bono clients are working to address hunger, develop at-risk youth, and improve America’s models for electing civic and government leaders.

Recent Coaching Experience

  • CFO for Fortune 100 firm to demonstrate enterprise leadership skills and more effective boardroom presence as a candidate to succeed to CEO
  • For $2bn public company, to prepare CEO and his identified successor, and to advise Board on their readiness for succession
  • Corporate Controller for a Fortune 50 firm to accelerate readiness for succession to CFO
  • CEO of $1 billion PE-backed consumer product company to address some derailing behaviors; repair damaged relationships with key colleagues; and rescope his role for the next stage of company growth
  • For founders of family-owned iconic consumer brand to develop more constructive conflict resolution skills
  • President and COO of global luxury consumer brand to develop readiness for succession to CEO
  • For the Governance Committee of a $4bn international consumer services firm, to advise on CEO succession approach and timing, and to assess and create a development plan for the CFO’s transition to CEO
  • President of Ivy League University to understand how his leadership was perceived by Trustees, the Provost, Deans, Faculty and his staff, and to identify ways to improve his effectiveness
  • Chief Technology Officer in innovation driven industrial firm to strengthen communications effectiveness and to develop a bench of potential successors
  • Millennial generation founder and CEO of energy start-up to hone fund-raising pitch and to build organizational leadership skills
  • MD in a global asset management firm as she transitioned from a series of internal staff roles to head a line of business with challenging growth prospects and significant margin pressure
  • EVP of major airline carrier to accelerate transition into expanded role
  • CEO of international airport authority to develop greater tenacity for dealing effectively with her Board
  • First-time CEO of retail and leisure business to transition to new role followed by 6-mos check up for discussion with his Board
  • Managing Director of privately held executive learning firm to strengthen self-confidence, strategic communications skills, and poise in high-stakes forums
  • SVP of Operations in hospitality sector to enhance her candidacy to become a brand President and CEO, with a particular focus on demonstrating greater senior presence and gravitas
  • MD and sector head for leading global PE firm to improve personal impact including presence and communications
  • Heiress and executive of 150-year-old family-owned-business to assume new role following reorganization of leadership roles among siblings
  • Female non-equity partner in Am Law 20 legal firm to demonstrate skills and results expected of equity partners
  • For senior most leaders of Ivy+ university to provide 360 leadership assessments from a customized 360 survey designed under the direction of University President
  • For incoming President of a highly-ranked state university in the midst of intense public controversy and scrutiny, to co-lead design and support for an elegant transition
  • Founder and CIO of high performing hedge fund to improve communications effectiveness with current and prospective investors
  • MD in a leading private equity firm to transition mindset and behaviors from deal expert to trusted advisor
  • Global head of recruiting for Fortune 500 to develop and demonstrate more strategic leadership
  • Millennial generation founder and CEO of non-profit social venture to develop business and organizational leadership skills

Recent Coaching Experience

Goodstone Group, LLC (2004-present)
CEO and Founder, Senior Executive Coach
In addition to coaching individual clients, Kathy helps firms integrate coaching programs into their overall leadership development agendas, works with clients to select appropriate coaches for specific leaders, and oversees the performance of Goodstone coaching services.  Kathy leads client development, coach selection and staffing, product/service design, finance, operations, and strategic partnerships.  She also consults with clients on HR organization and strategy, talent development, performance management, and succession planning.

Fannie Mae Corporation (2002-2004)
SVP Human Resources
Kathy led the development and implementation of new performance management and executive compensation systems for the top 200 executives, redesigned health and welfare benefits for all employees, and designed new programs to build business and leadership skills.  Kathy also worked directly with the Board to prepare the annual performance assessment of the CEO and to develop succession plans for C-level officers.

McKinsey & Company (1985-2002)

Partner, Director of Personnel for Client Service Staff (1988-2002)
Kathy held a broad leadership role covering the firm’s people mission to attract, develop, excite, and retain top talent:

  • Developed and applied metrics to analyze performance against people mission; recommended and shaped policies to improve performance
  • Led analytic support for the personnel committees that evaluate partner election candidates, conduct annual reviews of all partners, and set firm-wide people policies
  • Formulated and led the implementation of firm-wide change program aimed at increasing consultant excitement and retention. Measured consultant satisfaction improved significantly within 18 months.
  • Led fast-paced design and development of upward feedback system, syndicated unprecedented global acceptance, launched and used in annual evaluation cycle for all consulting team leaders and partners

Energy Consultant (1985-1988)
Kathy worked with middle and upper management of US and Canadian energy companies to plan and implement strategies for improving operations and to evaluate major capital investment decisions.
Earlier in her career, Kathy worked as a Planning Engineer for a public utility and later as a Corporate Planner, where she evaluated leveraged finance investments for its unregulated generation subsidiary

Nonprofit Leadership Role
Board Member, SPACE on Ryder Farm (2016-present)
Board Member, Mindleaps (2019-present)