Harrison Monarth, CEO and Founder

Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author, Harrison Monarth coaches C-suite leaders, senior executives, high potential managers and other top professionals on effective leadership and positive behavior change for professional and organizational success. He helps leaders at all levels develop a powerful personal brand and authentic executive presence. With Harrison’s coaching, leaders from various sectors develop increased self-awareness, overcome “derailer” behaviors, enhance personal effectiveness, develop new leadership skills and competencies and communicate with confidence and competence.

His approach incorporates the latest research in effective leadership, interpersonal communication, and behavioral sciences. “Working with leaders who are willing to learn and evolve and who are actively engaged in their personal development is incredibly rewarding.”

Harrison’s client list covers organizations such as General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, MetLife, AT&T, Northrop Grumman, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Deloitte Consulting, Cisco Systems, GE and Standard & Poor’s among others, as well as start-up entrepreneurs, political candidates and Members of Congress.

Harrison’s latest book, the second edition of Executive Presence–the Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO (McGraw-Hill 2019), is a critically acclaimed guide that helps readers develop self-awareness, influence and a powerful personal brand in life and at work. His other books include Breakthrough Communication: A Powerful 4-Step Process For Overcoming Resistance and Getting Results (McGraw-Hill 2014), which provides a way to look at communication in new and insightful ways. It teaches readers how they can get on decision-makers’ radar, powerfully influence the agenda, infuse meaning that resonates, and spark the desired actions. Other books include The New York Times bestseller The Confident Speaker (McGraw-Hill 2007), and 360 Degrees of Influence (McGraw-Hill 2012), which Stanford Graduate School of Business professor, Jeffrey Pfeffer said is “…must reading for everyone who needs to build their personal brand and sell themselves”.

Harrison is a contributor at Harvard Business Review, FORTUNE and Entrepreneur.com.

Larry Tracy

President Ronald Reagan praised Larry Tracy as “an extraordinarily effective speaker” for his speeches on controversial policy issues addressing some of the U.S. toughest audiences. A former army colonel, Larry originally managed and trained the Pentagon’s top briefing team, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Presentation Division. He was responsible for daily strategic intelligence briefings to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense, Congressional staffs and other Washington decision-makers. His skills took him to the State Department, where he delivered hundreds of presentations on contentious foreign policy issues, many of them debates occurring before demanding, often hostile, audiences. Described by his superior as “the State Department’s most sought after and articulate spokesman,” he was invariably assigned the most difficult speaking assignments. Larry brings that experience to GuruMaker, helping train speakers and presenters to convert audiences that have already made up their minds. His specific training and consulting specialties include presentation skills for executives, public speaking for professionals, persuasion skills training, managing audience emotions, and preparation for media appearances.

Laura Belsten, Ph.D.

As an executive coach specializing in leadership, communication, and management, Dr. Belsten works with CEOs and senior-level executives on negotiating and influencing skills, organizational and political skills, working with difficult people, improving personal power (speaking up, claiming their results), and sharpening their skills in team leadership, conflict management, emotional intelligence, executive presence, building trust, delegating, motivating and coaching others, providing honest and effective feedback, personal and professional resilience, stress management, and time management.

Laura’s focus in coaching is to work with executives and teams so they can better lead their organizations toward strategic performance objectives.

Laura has first-hand leadership experience, holding senior executive positions in the private, public and non-profit sectors for over 25 years.   Her clients span a variety of industries, from high-tech and telecommunications, to financial services, health care, manufacturing, defense and aerospace, and the energy sector.  Select clients include Qwest, Symantec, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, Xcel Energy, Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Verizon, T-Mobile, Newmont Mining, First Data Corporation, UBS, Oppenheimer Funds, MWH, Turner Construction Company, CH2M Hill, HealthONE, Kaiser Permanente, The Medical Center of Aurora, Skyridge Medical Center and Swedish Medical Center.

Laura holds a Ph.D. from the University of Denver, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has been on the faculty of the University of Denver since 1990, teaching graduate courses in leadership and communication.

Michael Collins

Michaels Collins is a veteran presentation skills coach and actor, bringing his storytelling expertise to GuruMaker Executive Development. His approach is to fully understand a client’s needs and help identify and tell the stories that represent the client’s core values and business objectives.  Michael is known for his ability to establish trust with his clients, making them feel at ease as they are guided through exercises ranging from personal stories to business pitches to high-level town hall talks. His coaching philosophy is not unlike improv itself, to meet people where they are, to support and build on ideas, and to be present in the moment. Michael is a long‐time performer and instructor, graduating from the renowned Second City Conservatory in Chicago. Michael has performed on stage and in front of the camera in Chicago, Los Angeles and Denver, and was a host for Outside Television. At GuruMaker Executive Development, Michael has improved the communications skills of our diverse clientele, from medal-winning Olympians, to forensic accountants to world-renowned surgeons.

Fernanda Afonso

Fernanda is a commercially-driven organizational psychologist with an outstanding track record of delivering innovative people solutions to drive better business performance and personal transformation for senior executives and high potential individuals. With a personal approach that combines both professional rigor and compassion, Fernanda draws on a range of tools, techniques and methodologies to help her clients achieve their business outcomes. Fernanda has over 15 years experience in coaching managers and senior executives at all stages of their career on a broad range of leadership challenges. Her experience spans blue chip organizations, partnerships and not for profit organizations across a range of industries including management consulting, media, banking and finance, professional services and global industrial businesses. She has gained significant experience working with middle to senior management around issues such as developing leadership styles, gaining buy-in, managing teams, promotion to leadership roles, developing and raising personal profile, executive presence and increasing self-awareness to build longer term leadership capability. Fernanda’s clients appreciate being challenged and encouraged to build on their strengths to become more focused, influential and successful. Through greater self- understanding, her clients learn tailored strategies to confidently and effectively manage their personal challenges, lead their people and deliver better business performance. With a reputation for innovative thinking and connecting humanity in business to deliver better business results, Fernanda has held several leadership and advisory roles in Australian Psychological Society including National Chair for the College of Organizational Psychologists. She is currently on the Board of International Affairs White Papers for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychologists (USA), on the Advisory Council for Global Alliance of Organizational Psychologists, an Adjunct Supervisor with Macquarie University and Adjunct Associate Lecturer for University of New South Wales, Masters of Organizational Psychology.

Jon Freda, Ph.D.

Dr. Jon Freda has been working in the fields of executive education and psychology for 30 years. Jon has spent the majority of the last 15 years coaching, training and consulting. He has developed and facilitated over 200 training programs on executive presence, effective communication/assertiveness, interpersonal dynamics, and strategic storytelling for executives; coached hundreds of managers and executives on issues related to emotional intelligence, particularly self & organizational awareness, leadership presence, and relationship management.

A skilled workshop leader, executive coach and licensed psychologist with a strong film and theater background, Jon uses improvisational acting techniques to help GuruMaker clients alter their leadership behavior and communication style. His approach is to connect clients emotionally and intellectually to their stories and messages to effectively manage interpersonal dynamics and project executive presence and leadership. Dr. Freda combines both, psychological insights, and specific creative methods in his coaching and corporate workshops.

Jon has worked with executive clients from the private, public and non-profit sectors for over 30 years, spanning a variety of industries, from IT, high-tech and telecommunications, to financial services, health care, manufacturing, defense and aerospace, and the energy sector. Select clients include GE, McGraw-Hill Financial, Hewlett Packard, U.S. Air Force, Electronic Arts, General Motors, Baker-Hughes, PepsiCo and Deloitte Consulting.

Jon is also an award winning film, TV, and stage actor, and screen writer. He is currently best known for his role as Rocco in Luc Besson’s The Family with Robert De Niro and Michele Pfeiffer, and Off-Broadway in his solo show, Imagine Dat, as Jimmy Durante. Other film and TV credits include The Blacklist, Law & Order SVU, Nikki & Sara Live, The Joe Buck Show, plus numerous local and regional theatre credits.

Jon received his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational psychology from SUNY Binghamton, and a post-doctoral Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Windsor, Ontario.

Doug Gamble

Political humorist Doug Gamble is best known for shaping the speeches and presentations of America’s most persuasive figures in politics, entertainment and business, including great communicator, President Ronald Reagan and George H.W Bush, in addition to numerous other political candidates, officeholders and CEOs. Doug wrote for President Reagan from February, 1984 until the end of his second term and Bush throughout his 1988 presidential campaign and presidency, perfecting the signature sharp witticisms that he weaves into powerful, memorable content for GuruMaker clients today. Among his many training and consulting specialties are speech writing for political campaigns and senior-level business presentations, roast writing and sound-bite writing. He also preps individuals for debates, news conferences and media interviews, helping them use humor to sell a position on the issues or craft material tailored to a specific audience, location or event.

Dona Witten, Ph.D.

Dr. Dona Witten is an organizational psychologist at GuruMaker Executive Development, specializing in leadership development, team coaching, and executive coaching. Her coaching experience includes coaching senior executives at numerous Federal agencies including, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Veteran’s Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, Naval Operations, and the Department of Transportation. Additionally, she provides executive coaching and leadership development workshops to GuruMaker’s commercial clients in the US and Asia including HP, PBS and Exon-Mobil.  She is the author of a business development book, Enlightened Management: A Compassionate Guide to Working with People. Her new book, Beyond Mindfulness: Mind Training for a World with a Short Attention Span is scheduled for publication in early Spring of 2014. Dona received her Ph.D in Clinical & Organizational Psychology at Union Institute and University.

Karina Arroyave

As acting coach for GuruMaker, Karina Arroyave coaches CEOs, executives and professionals to develop confidence, authenticity and leadership. A professional film, TV and stage actress, she uses acting and creativity exercises, role-playing, improvisation, psychodrama and writing exercises to boost GuruMaker’s clients’ personal power and propel them forward professionally. Karina is best known for playing Jamey Farrell in the FOX TV show ’24′. Other film and TV credits include 2005′s Oscar-winning “Crash” (BEST PICTURE), Flawless, 187, Falling Down, Lean On Me, Law & Order, As the World Turns, NYPD Blue, Touched By An Angel, Without a Trace, The Practice, Judging Amy, Chicago Hope, and All My Children. In addition to drawing on her acting background, Karina draws upon her knowledge of psychology (The New School/Hunter College), drama therapy (The New School), and life coaching (NYU) to help clients change and achieve lasting results.

Steven Green, MCIPD MBPsS MEd

Steven Green is GuruMaker’s UK-based ILM qualified Coach and Consultant with expertise in Occupational Psychology and Human Resource Management. Utilizing extensive knowledge of human behavior and emotional responses in the workplace, Steven has successfully provided executive coaching and leadership development to clients across the world. Recent companies that have benefited from his coaching include Hewlett-Packard and the UK Fire Service. With broad psychological training, Steven has developed expertise in leadership, employee behavior, employee motivation, personality and value driven beliefs. Having completed organizational research papers on emotional intelligence and proactivity in the workplace, Steven is well-versed in a variety of psychological theories and can use these to support and guide clients during the course of the coaching activity. Having also worked as a Strategic HR business partner in large organizations, Steven is well placed to understand the different types of operational, political and environmental factors that shape organizational behavior and underpin executive leadership. Steven completed a Masters Degree in Psychology of Education from the University of Bristol and has also received a MSc in Occupational Psychology with distinction from the University of Leicester.