The people and principles behind Catalyze Associates — and the mission that drives our work.
Kirstin Lynde founded Catalyze Associates to help successful companies and their leaders reach higher levels of performance — more wins, stronger results — by strengthening their leadership bench through innovative, results-driven development. Catalyze's programs overcome the downsides of over-relying on executive coaching (high cost) or traditionally-structured training (limited impact), and span The Cost of Avoidance for mastering difficult conversations, 1:1 executive coaching, proprietary 360° feedback, and company-focused leadership immersion programs.
"The skills to become the kind of leader for whom others love to work CAN be cultivated — and we've built the programs to prove it."
Kirstin Lynde has a passion for helping people become the kind of leaders for whom others love to work: namely, leaders who have a knack for inspiring and facilitating great performance, while making work enjoyable along the way. Leaders who approach their teams with trust, respect, and an open mind. Contrary to popular belief, the skills to become this kind of leader CAN be cultivated.
Professional BackgroundEarly in her career, Kirstin worked in a variety of operational roles: as a strategy consultant at Bain, as an advertising VP running client accounts, as a marketer at American Express, and as director of client services operations at a large customer insight research firm. She brings real-life business experience to the table – not just an academic or 'training background.'
Eventually Kirstin's passion shifted to helping others get stronger at their work. She built a world-class learning & development function at Digitas that helped fuel the firm's skyrocketing growth as it went from 150 to over 2000 employees during the ten years prior to the firm's going public. She taught leadership workshops at Forrester Research. She built and facilitated the popular Leaders in Motion program for Randstad, one of the largest and most successful people placement/recruiting organizations in the world.
Kirstin was invited to help redesign leadership courses at Harvard Business School, and co-authored the best-selling Harvard note "Developing Yourself as a Leader." Her "Difficult Conversations" program — the one leaders consistently rate the most useful — has been delivered to organizations ranging from a global staffing company to Southwest Florida's largest Ace Hardware franchise.
LifeKirstin graduated magna cum laude from Williams College and has an MBA with honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She resides in Naples, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona. When not at work she can be found walking on woodsy roads & trails, concocting healthy food, communing with her miniature goldendoodle Ginger, tapping her foot to Celtic music, and sneaking dark chocolate.
Michael Kolowich has been creating and building businesses — and the high-performing teams to drive them — for more than 40 years. At companies large and small, Michael has recruited, developed, and inspired high-performing leaders who have transformed important aspects of many industries, including personal computing, telecommunications, strategy consulting, digital media, video marketing, and artificial intelligence.
Professional BackgroundEducated at Harvard College in Engineering and Applied Physics, Michael began his career as an Emmy-award-winning television news producer and reporter in Boston. After earning an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School, he fast-tracked to VP and Partner at Bain and Company. His career in technology began at Lotus Development Corporation as VP of Marketing and Business Development, where he helped develop an early version of Lotus Notes. He was founding publisher of Ziff Davis' PC/Computing magazine and founder and president of Ziff-Davis Interactive (now ZDNet).
Later, he was president of AT&T's New Media division, CEO of Individual Incorporated (the first internet content IPO), and co-founded NewsEdge Corporation, later acquired by Thomson-Reuters. He founded DigiNovations and KnowledgeVision Systems, merging the latter into OpenExchange Incorporated in 2019. Most recently, he has been Chief Product Officer of College Guidance Network, specializing in creating artificial intelligence applications for college and career planning. He holds seven U.S. patents covering innovations in video streaming, editing, and tracking.
LifeMichael is an avid commercial pilot, both of conventional aircraft and unmanned aerial systems. As a former television journalist, he enjoys writing and film-making. He's often seen at Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park, where he admires the leadership styles that lead to sustained excellence on the field.
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