Dr. Karen Coplan, Ph.D. - Senior Consultant

The Executive Edge

Role

Karen Coplan, Ph.D., is an Industrial/Organizational psychologist with over 13 years of corporate and consulting experience working across a variety of industries including private equity, telecommunications, technology, financial services, education, industrial, and healthcare. She is fluent in Spanish, spent six months on an expatriate assignment in Spain, and has also led global talent management projects. These experiences enable Karen to be particularly effective in coaching leaders who are working in global or multi-cultural environments. Additionally, she has deep expertise across the spectrum of talent management including coaching, assessment, feedback, competency modeling, training, succession planning, and leadership development. Her analytical skills and ability to relate to individuals across organizational levels, backgrounds, and personalities have enabled her to be successful in understanding the root causes of issues, in order to help bring about individual growth and learning.

Experience and Expertise

Karen has extensive experience in leadership development and executive assessment, with a focus on helping leaders develop to their full potential. Through her work she developed a keen understanding of 'best in class' leadership, as she has had the opportunity to consult with clients across a wide variety of industries throughout North America and Latin America. She conducted in-depth assessments of hundreds of executives for purposes of executive selection, internal development, succession planning, and mergers/acquisitions, as well as provided subsequent feedback and coaching for clients. these assessments typically included various combinations of in-depth structured interviews, leadership and thinking styles assessments, personality assessments, learning agility assessments of potential, and 360 degree feedback. As part of this work, she provided feedback and coaching in Spanish to dozens of individuals who were located in Latin America. Previously, at Motorola she led large scale projects, both domestic and international, within the areas of corporate succession planning, high potential leadership development, expatriate selection and repatriation, and training.

Karen currently serves as an occasional lecturer in the Effective Leadership series at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business MBA program.

  • Assessment for executive selection, international development, succession planning, and mergers/acquisitions
  • Feedback and coaching 
  • Leadership and high potential development
  • Cross-cultural skills
  • Fluency in Spanish

She has worked with numerous clients including: Sterling Partners, Fortune Brands, Laureate International Universities, Zurich Financial Services, Fifth Third Bank, EDS, Northwestern Mutual, Banner Health, Notre Dame University, Skyline Steel, Henkel, Phelps Dodge Corporation, Hampton Sydney College, Seminis, Cornerstone Records Management, and Cervecería Regional.

Client Quotes

  • "I have known Karen Coplan approximately 12 years. I had the privilege to have worked together with her at Motorola where she provided strategic quidance and internal consulting expertise in the areas of talent selection, expatriate pre-departure assessments and leadership development. Most recently our careers have crossed paths again with Karen providing us at Laureate Education outstanding consulting services in both executive assessments and talent development. Over the years I have appreciated Karen's professionalism, expertise, cross-cultural sensitivity and thoughtful insight in the area of leadership development. I value her opinions and recommendations and look forward to continuing working on projects with her in the futre." - Vice-President of Leadership Development & Strategic Staffing, Laureate International Universities
  • "It is an honor to recommend Karen to Potential clients. Karen is dedicated to  her profession and has demonstrated a strong ability to identify, analyze and present solutions. She is an active listener and provides insight, advice and quidance. Karen is also consistent in her approach  and helps her clients through challenging situations. Karen has proven herself an assest in my professional dealings thanks to her unwavering commitment to high ethical standards and thorough feedback and follow-up." - Manager, Maxvantage
  • “Karen has provided excellent insights and analyzes… Her training, experience and bi-lingual skills have been very valuable in the diagnostic, feedback and coaching work that we have asked her to do. She is very thorough, and has the highest standards of excellence in her written and verbal communications with assessed executives.” - Senior Client Partner, Korn/Ferry International
  • “Karen is a hard-working, personable, and conscientious individual who delivers on her commitments. I hired her to write custom integrated leadership assessment reports for an international client and the quality of her work was very good.  She was able to integrate complex information, convey it succinctly and meaningfully, and delivered the reports ahead of schedule.” - Principal, Korn/Ferry International

Professional Certifications

  • The Executive Edge®: The Coaching AdvantEdge™
  • Hogan: Hogan personality Inventory, Hogan Development Survey, and Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory
  • Lominger: Leadership Architect, VOICES 360, viaEDGE, CHOICES Architect, Learning from Experience Interview, Interview Architect
  • SHL: Occupational Personality Questionnair
  • Center for Creative Leadership: Benchmarks, 360 By Design, Executive Dimensions, and Prospector
  • Campbell Leadership Inventory
  • Vangent: LH-STEP
  • Decision Dynamics: Decision Styles assessment

Education and Professional Associations

Karen holds a BA in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Houston in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She is active in the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago and the Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

More About Karen

Karen, her husband, and their two sons like to spend time hiking, camping, and traveling. Karen has lived in Spain several times and enjoys Latin food, music, and dance.

Learn More

For additional information about The Executive Edge®, please contact us at:
Phone: 1.630.404.2256
Email: info@theexecutiveedge.net
Web: http://www.theexecutiveedge.net/