Meet Shannon O'Leary

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Shannon O'Leary, founder of Catalyst Business Consulting & Coaching,  has developed strategies and boosted performance effectiveness for organizations in the healthcare, financial services, education, media, nonprofit, and government sectors. helping them increase profits, accelerate value, and facilitate strategy and planning across organizational design, growth, marketing, and product development initiatives.

Shannon has worked with top national and global brands including Microsoft, General Electric, IBM, and Northwestern Mutual and has held management positions with CBS Television, Young & Rubicam and DDB/Needham Advertising in New York and Los Angeles.

Shannon is an executive coach, trainer, and organization development and business consultant with 30+ years working with organizations of all sizes from Fortune 100 to startups. She has led successful interventions on the individual, team, division, and organization level.

An experienced educator and trainer, Shannon has designed and delivered award-winning training programs for Columbia University, the New York City Department of Employment, Lane County Public Works, and Lane Community College, Eugene, OR, and other clients.  Her training expertise led to a leadership position with the PeopleSmart division of Active Training, the organizational development firm founded by renowned consulting psychologist Mel Silberman.  Shannon has been active in several professional associations and served as VP on the Executive Board of the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD), New York City Chapter.

Shannon was associated with New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, where she taught leadership courses in the Management Institute.  She has designed and delivered courses on Critical Thinking, Influence and Leadership, and Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, a keystone of the school's leadership curriculum.

Shannon earned a B.S. from the University of Kansas' William Allen White School of Journalism, which she regularly taps in her thorough, research-driven approach to organization effectiveness and solutions design.  She later completed a post-graduate certificate program in Training and Organizational Development from the Management Institute at New York University, completed the VJ Holcomb Assoc., New York City Executive Coaching Program in 2003 and has a Certificate in Corporate Innovation from the Creative Problem-Solving Institute in Buffalo, New York.
Shannon incorporates a wide variety of best practices assessments, tools, and interventions, including:
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  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • PeopleSmart​
  • StrengthsFinder
  • MBTI
  • DiSC
  • FourSight Thinking Profile
  • The Enneagram
  • 360 Feedback
  • Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)
  • Management Skills Assessment Instrument (MSAI)​​