Hire a fractional or full-time Head of Learning and Development

I spent close to twenty years as the owner of Authentic Leadership Advisors, honing my subject matter expertise in talent management, leadership development, learning and development, and executive coaching across organizations of every size and in multiple industries.

I am ready for something new. I want to serve one company whose mission deserves my full attention, in one of the two directions below. Thirty years of subject matter expertise come with me, along with a turnkey leadership development portfolio that carries two active global accreditations.

Eligible for work in the US, EU, and UK as a dual US and Irish citizen.

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Kathleen A. O'Grady

Kathleen A. O'Grady, MCC
Originator of Authentic Intelligence™

Portfolio

The Offer

Full-Time Hire

Title commensurate with the scope of the role and the size of the organization.

Fractional

A budgeted engagement of twelve to thirty-six months, with senior decision makers as stakeholders.

  1. Subject matter expertise across talent management, leadership development, learning and development, and executive coaching
  2. A bespoke leadership development curriculum, twenty years deep, built to ICF Master Certified Coach standards for client organizations
  3. A seasoned leader who built and scaled a coaching company through the 2008 financial crisis, in a field still largely unknown at the time, when the International Coaching Federation (ICF) had yet to take off
  4. An actively accredited leadership coaching certification program, ICF Level 1 (ACC) and Level 2 (PCC), recognized by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a Recertification Provider. If transferred before its renewal cycle in July 2027, the accreditations allow your company to award ICF and SHRM continuing education credits internally

Sample Areas of Focus

The list above is only a subset of work that I've done, either internally or as a trusted vendor. In every case I shaped the strategy with the leaders who owned it, built the programs, facilitated them, and developed the leaders who carried them forward.

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Background

Internal

10

Years in-house

  • Worked within global asset management, a real estate investment trust (REIT), and scientific research. Reported directly to Ray Dalio, CEO of the world's largest hedge fund
  • Built learning and leadership roadmaps as a collaborative strategic partner to HR and executive leadership
  • Designed and launched a first mentoring program and scaled it company-wide
  • Frontline link between HR and the executives on performance, succession, and policy
  • Ran assessments and 360s across teams and whole companies to anchor long-term transformation
External

20

Years advising C-suite leaders

  • Founders, CEOs, and executive teams at some of the biggest brands in games, fashion, healthcare, biotech, technology, higher education, and national food franchises
  • Developed a signature coaching methodology grounded in Authentic Intelligence™ and scaled it for 15 years as Certified Authentic Leadership Coach (CALC™), accredited by the ICF at Levels 1 and 2, with SHRM Recertification Provider status for HR leaders
  • Developed leaders from CALC™ students and activated executives as coaches and champions of learning
  • A decade on the ICF Global Ethics Committee. Championed greater rigor in coach accreditation and credentialing, with formal recommendations to ICF leadership for independent oversight of credential approvals, consistent educator standards, and defined protocols for misconduct
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Book

Book cover: Authentic Intelligence, The Third Domain of Human Awareness, by Kathleen A. O'Grady
Authentic Intelligence™ AQ™ · We Resonate IQ · We Rationalize Cognitive Intelligence EQ · We Relate Emotional Intelligence

Authentic Intelligence: The Third Domain of Human Awareness formalizes two decades of applied work into a rigorous account of AQ™, a pre-rational, pre-emotional awareness that joins cognitive intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ) as part of the Trinity of Human Intelligence™ (THI™).

Published by Third Domain Press, the book grew out of two decades of field research in human behavior, organizational systems, and the leaders I helped transform along the way.

Third Domain Press · May 2026
ISBN 979-8-9949397-0-3 · Print and Ebook

Buy on Amazon
Past clients
Epic Games Salesforce Red Hat Cisco Taco Bell Comme des Garçons Deloitte Dover Street Market AICPA BP UNC Health Biogen GSK Duke University UNC-Chapel Hill

Inquire

Write to kathleen@al-advisors.com with the following. I reply personally.

Availability ends the day a contract or offer letter is signed.

  • Your name, title, and company
  • Which option you are exploring, full-time, fractional, or not sure yet
  • Short-term and long-term goals
  • Which senior decision makers will be stakeholders
  • Ideal timeline
Email Kathleen