ARCHIVE – Cynder Niemela, MA, MBA

12Feb 2026 by Cyndern

A life of purpose and meaning

Featured

Living a life of meaning and purpose is more than a declaration inspired by a deep seated yearning; that’s a 20th century New Year’s resolution. To be on-course and fully live the potential of your life, a little self-knowledge, good habits, a dose of curiosity and a thirst for learning goes a long way. It has been many years since I prepared a list of resolutions. Making a New Year’s resolution is a tradition where a person resolves to break an old habit and promises to perform acts of self-improvement, like exercise more, or be more kind. There was a time when I felt compelled to draft resolutions so that I might have some good answers when the inevitable question came up in conversation at work or at a party.…

28Sep 2019 by Cyndern

Reflective Inquiry Creates Breakthrough Change

Podcast

Reflective Inquiry: Breaking Through Resistance Activates Meaningful Change. Reflective Inquiry is an active replay where people are invited to see their own truth. Dr. Marcia Reynolds is the expert organizations call on to breathe life into their conversations and cultures using reflective inquiry. Marcia is energetic, funny and 100% committed to transformational leadership.

19Aug 2016 by Cyndern

It’s All About Attitude to Win the Gold

Leadership Skills, Resilience, Team Work

It’s a familiar mantra in sports and business: Attitude Reflects Leadership. In a recent global survey, ¼ of all employees view their jobs as their #1 stressor. Stress, especially prolonged stress, can lead to burnout, depression, anxiety, fatigue, reduced self-esteem, confidence, and productivity.

26Feb 2014 by Cyndern

Conscious Teaming For Sustainability

Blog, Team Work, Transformational Leadership

How leaders engage and lead creative, high performing teams for sustainability: Have you ever known someone who worked on a team that brought out the best in all the players while also achieving results beyond anyone’s expectations? Alternatively, have you ever worked on a team that started out well – everyone was friendly and eager to contribute, but the team never recovered from what seemed like a minor setback? (more…)

17Jan 2014 by Cyndern

Great Leaders Have a Coach

Blog, Executive Coaching

What is Executive Coaching? "Tiger Woods would say, ’I know how to play golf,’ but his coach is probably the most important person in his life." -Barry Mabry, Partner, E&Y Coaching is primarily aimed at improving the quality of a leader's working and personal life by creating measurable and positive attitudinal and behavioral change in selected leadership behaviors as determined by the leader and his/her key stakeholders.

12Jan 2014 by Cyndern

My First Trip to Egypt

Blog, Organizational Culture

I will never forget the first time I went to Egypt: I was 10 years old, the oldest of four. We disembarked our passenger ship in Cairo, Egypt and I felt an immediate hit to all my senses. It was December; however, unlike the cold New England winter we had just left, the Cairo air was warm and humid. (more…)

09Jan 2014 by Cyndern

Service Profit Chain Case Study

Employee Engagement

Situation: to differentiate the firm in an industry that sells same services at high end prices to the same customers and it is hard to measure the value – the CEO set a goal of become an exceptional company within the holding company and the industry. employee survey results revealed a lack of trust in senior management and low engagement due primarily to a lack of career development opportunities. This was unwelcome news at a time when the economic recession and customer survey responses presented challenges to customer engagement and retention. The future state required enhanced collaboration with leadership and more relevant services to assist clients meet shrinking demand for products. Our approach: we collaborated with the leadership team and HR to develop a leadership competency model to meet the…

09Jan 2014 by Cyndern

FAQs Executive Coaching

Executive Coaching

08Jan 2014 by Cyndern

The Olympic Village: Fostering A Culture of Compassionate Politics

Blog, Organizational Culture

Along with two billion people around the world, I too look forward to the Olympics: I watch the opening ceremony eager for stories and symbols that bring the host country’s culture to life. This is a time to bring our best athletes together for honorable competition; the focus is on our youth and our future on earth. (more…)

06Jan 2014 by Cyndern

The Consultant’s Role

Cynder Niemela, Management Consulting

Most of the issues and changes business leaders want to make do not require technical expertise such as accounting, technology, production, or finance. Leaders want behavioral change that improves how people work together, how their clients experience working with the company, and most of all – their experience of leading the company. To implement these changes requires professional consultant and change agent. Professional consultants have the requisite skills and experience to: Focus on empowering the leader and his/her team to achieve results and integrate learning for future success Empower team members to design and execute their own solutions vs. prescribing the one and only approach to moving forward Demonstrate responsibility to the consulting process by helping the team complete its work and thrive on the experience, and Model many coaching…