Client Endorsements

In keeping with the client confidentiality practices of Konect Consulting, LLC, the identities of the individuals quoted below are not revealed. Complete endorsements including identifying information and the opportunity to speak with these individuals about the services will be supplied when requested by qualified potential clients.

"I worked with Karen after receiving a significant promotion at work. My goal was to better understand and develop my professional skills, taking what I had and translating them to a new context. Karen was thorough in her analysis of my strengths and weaknesses, and worked hard to understand my specific work environment. Together we developed strategies to support me in my new position. One of the most helpful tools Karen gave me was a way to step outside of myself and analyze how others see me in my new role, especially those who knew me in my former position, and how to best present myself going forward. “

"The biggest benefit of the coaching has been an objective view of how to manage situations and think about alternative solutions to issues. You were very helpful in listening and offering several different suggestions regarding how to manage these situations. I liked that you didn’t give a “one size fits all” solution. You were thorough in assessing my personal characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and how they contributed to some of the issues that I find difficult to manage. By being more aware of these, I am now more assertive in handling certain situations and have achieved better results than being the victim of others’ unrealistic expectation.”

"Some of the highlights of working with Karen have been her ability to identify the issues and develop a working plan at our first session. She has a great ability to see within and understand character types and personal strengths (and weaknesses)! She is intuitive and perceptive. She is an excellent facilitator. Karen was able to help my supervisor and I work through some tough issues together, during individual and joint sessions and keep us on task and focused on priorities and process. Karen is a true professional. I found her to be reliable, communicative and responsive. The testing tools to determine my leadership style and preferences were extremely useful. She interpreted and applied these with tact and wisdom. I continue to use them professionally and personally. They played an important role in the way we problem solved and found consensus in the next steps. As a freelance artist working in the corporate environment, Karen helped me learned valuable lessons about clarity in roles and responsibilities.”

Karen combined more traditional approaches to executive coaching with a good blend of other tailored techniques that as a whole have given me the tools and self-confidence I needed to achieve the goals Karen and I established collaboratively. The strength of Karen’s involvement for me has been that going forward I have acquired a framework or foundation that allows me to more easily grow professionally. Karen’s approach has been very holistic and therefore more powerful in terms of results and improved self-awareness. I feel equipped to address future developmental needs and face high profile changes within my organization. I would recommend Karen to any person in a management or leadership position looking to expand their horizons within an organization. Karen’s unique approach of working with the whole individual would be particularly effective for persons facing significant transitions or changes in their professional lives.

"About three years ago we began working with Karen Ostrov of Konect Consulting. Karen blends the art of psychology with business. She’s really done a great job in helping us understand how we individually process information, which has vastly improved our communication. Retaining a business advisor is one of the smartest things we have done for our business. We are thrilled to be continually improving our communication and management skills with Konect.”

"Over a two year period you worked with me to understand my management style preferences. These were not new to me but you helped me understand better the management style preferences of others, especially my immediate supervisor. Of particular help to me were the “scripting” exercises when important conversations were anticipated with my supervisor or other types of personalities with which I had little patience. Those exercises were also beneficial to me when spontaneous stressed conversations would occur. I also benefited from your assistance in the clarification of my personal goals to remain in my current location rather than to relocate for a promotion with an alternate employer. I would recommend your individual executive coaching services to others. I would be happy to respond positively to any confidential professional reference request regarding your executive coaching services. “

"As a trial attorney serving on the Board of Directors for an insurance company seeking to fill an executive position, my suspicions were raised when the outgoing CEO suggested we employ a psychologist to assist us in the selection process of his successor. How could an individual with little knowledge of our company or the needs of its insureds possibly contribute in a meaningful way to our work? Here’s how: By listening. By learning. By suggesting. This was my experience in working with Dr. Karen Ostrov, whose thoughtful approach to ensuring our efforts would succeed began with listening to the Board describe the needs of the company, then learning what we expected of our CEO, and finally guiding us towards a recognition of the qualities required in the successful candidate. When the selection was made, we were pleased to continue Dr. Ostrov’s participation, asking her to work with our new executive who faced many challenges in responding to staff, maintaining the high success level of the company and earning the confidence of the customers. The transition was smooth and the result a solid success. All of us who worked with Dr. Ostrov appreciated her skill and commitment to the project. She earned our trust and respect.”

"Our company has worked with Karen Ostrov of Konect Consulting since the summer of 2002. We initially used Karen to improve communications between the principals of PLANNING in an effort to resolve a series of disagreements. After successfully resolving the disagreements and creating a steadily improving climate of communication between the principals, we began using Karen to improve the effectiveness of the management team. Several of our department managers have excellent technical skills, but limited managerial and leadership experience. Our company depends on effective teamwork to deliver successful building projects to our clients. Karen has provided practical advice and approaches to our managers on how to improve their communication and collaboration skills. Karen’s coaching has improved the effectiveness of our new managers and has resulted in better teamwork by creating an atmosphere of open two-way communication. I found Karen Ostrov to be both very professional and service-oriented in all of her dealings with us. Karen has been respectful and sensitive to confidential situations, demonstrated the ability to adjust coaching styles to individual needs, and has shown flexibility in adjusting her schedule to meet the changing demands of our business. I recommend Karen Ostrov as an executive coach for any situation where improved communication and /or managerial effectiveness are needed.”

"I have worked with Dr. Karen Ostrov over the past three years. Karen has provided consulting/coaching services to the upper management team of my organization for the past years. Karen was first introduced to our firm through a UW Madison Executive Education Leadership Seminar, where she conducted one-on-one coaching with me. I was very impressed with Karen’s ability to understand the dynamics of our business, my personality and how it relates to other people within our organization. This really advanced my ability to communicate within our management team, clients and vendors. Karen also works with my two brothers, who are members of the business. Her ability to work with the dynamics of three brothers running and growing an organization has elevated our communications with each other, to allow us to strengthen our relationships and provide us with the ability to work together, separating both professional and family situations. We are able to deal with very tough situations on a straightforward professional manner. I would highly recommend Konect Consulting Services to any executive team struggling with communication. She is a highly driven professional who can be an asset to any organization. We are very fortunate to have her as a part of our organization."

" I found Karen to be an objective and honest sounding board. She was quick to grasp the complexities of my work environment and was a great help to me as I dealt with the day-to-day challenges of my position and set a course for the organization's future. She was a great help to me along the way "

When I sought Karen's assistance, I was in the process of making some long-term career decisions, and a process that required a lot of self-examination. My goal was to ensure that whatever decision I made, would be made for the right reasons.

The work that we did added clarity to that examination process and helped me to identify which issues were valid and needed to be considered as I worked towards defining the direction I wanted to take my career.

Along the way, I developed not only a better understanding of myself, but also how others may perceive me, which will go a long way to enhancing the rest of my career.

I would recommend Karen's services to anyone who is working to manage change, both from a personal and organizational perspective.

Financial institution
Assistant Vice President
Portfolio Management

Karen was a presenter at a conference break-out session I attended, and her clinical background and approach toward executive coaching struck me in a positive way. Being the "touchy feely" HR Director in an analytical business, I would occasionally become frustrated with other members of management. In addition, I wanted to more effectively lead others in our HR group and help the firm integrate more progressive human resource practices into our day-to-day activities. Karen helped me better understand the dynamics of the people I worked with, and provided solid ways to more effectively present my ideas for consideration within the overall management group. While all is not yet perfect, I can clearly sense both more success in presenting my ideas, and more focus and progress within my area of responsibility. I would highly recommend Karen as a resource to help guide anyone in a leadership position that is seeking assistance in gaining effectiveness and self confidence.

Engineering firm
Director of Human Resources

I was referred to Dr. Ostrov by my organization in an effort to hone my listening skills and personal communication style to enable me to optimize my performance in the arena of fund raising. My target market of potential donors is comprised of successful, high net worth individuals. While my over twenty years of experience in the business world had prepared me to interact positively and confidently with this audience, the assessment of my personality traits and work style were invaluable in opening my eyes to both my inherent strengths and weaknesses and how they affected my ability to be successful in my new endeavor, which has a heavy emotional component.

The MBTI assessment, in particular, revealed that my personality preferences, while appropriately dominated by extroversion, also tended toward “hard” skills of fact gathering, practical analysis, timely decision making and implementation. While these are often effective methods in a business setting, they tended to overpower the “softer” skills of attentive listening, putting other people at ease and, most importantly, developing an emotional intimacy with another person, which is what most drives motivation and the ultimate decision to make a major gift.

Dr. Ostrov’s interpretation of my assessment and subsequent coaching built upon the positive aspects of my personality, while encouraging me to explore and utilize the opposite personality traits, such as intuition and feeling, to help me develop a more empathic style. While still a work in process, this deliberate “softening” of my personality has helped me achieve both my organizational and personal goals of successfully interacting with higher profile (and higher giving potential) individuals in a more relaxed, graceful and ultimately effective manner.

I would strongly recommend Dr. Ostrov to anyone who is looking to better understand their own personality and communication style, and how it enhances or limits one’s effectiveness in dealing with others. Dr. Ostrov will use those findings to broaden one’s skill set which will ultimately enhance behavior that can lead to improved business performance.

Director of Development
Professional Fundraiser
Non Profit Foundation

"Goals:  I decided to meet with an executive coach to work on my interpersonal communication skills and improve my confidence and effectiveness in a leadership position. I wanted to better understand how to communicate more effectively with management team, coworkers and direct reports. This involved learning how to approach difficult situations with more tact and confidence, work through actual situations and identify how to improve. I hoped coaching would help me understand my strengths, potential and also the type of environment and job that suits me best. I wanted to build my confidence and comfort in sharing my ideas and having voice. I also wanted to work through management changes in my organization that impact my role.

Assessments:  The Myers Briggs provided insight into my preferences and how these are perceived by other people with different preferences. Also, the analysis and discussion provided insights on how I can adjust my approach for different situations. Through our work with the MBTI, Karen did a great job in helping me to be more at ease with myself and also to appreciate the “gifts” of other people.

The skills and approaches I learned to help me become more effective in my work environment included improving my listening skills, especially asking for clarification. I learned to approach a situation with an “open door” attitude to encourage effective dialogue with reports, my boss and coworkers. As a person who prefers introversion, I learned ways to bring my thoughts and concerns to the table and keep dialogue open, without alienating others or feeling alienated by them.

Results:  Some tangible results of my executive coaching experience include Improved listening skills, and increased feeling of comfort and effectiveness in a management/leadership role in my current work environment. The executive coaching provided lots of food for thought for future directions.

Some intangible results of my executive coaching experience include helping me to overcome negative thoughts when I get “discouraged” and keep a positive outlook. It also helped to have a trusting person to listen to my concerns and provide ideas and insights. Karen helped me to see that I have a lot to offer and I feel more confident as a result.

Benefits:  I’m more at ease and accepting of myself and others, gained valuable insights about what I’d like to do in the future. Also, I’m more willing to reach out and network with other people. Karen is very pleasant to interact with and competent in her role. I feel she is an excellent role model for me.

Personal Characteristics:  Some particular characteristics, style, personality and attributes that Karen possess and that I found to be most valuable include that she has an up beat, positive attitude and confidence. Karen is a good listener and empathetic. She can be serious and also brings a sense of humor and fun to the table. I felt comfortable working with her. She encourages and allows me (the client) to define my goals and what is important to focus on in the training rather than imposing her own ideas.

I would absolutely recommend these services to another person for all situations listed that are similar to my own. Karen listens and asks appropriate questions to dissect out the pieces of a problem and identify concrete areas to focus on and then provides constructive feedback and suggestions of approaches to try."