Nancy E. Parsons Photo

Nancy E. Parsons

  • Global Personal Development Expert & Author

Nancy E. Parsons Biography

NANCY E. PARSONS is one of today’s foremost experts in combining the science of assessments with the art of developing people. She is the President of CDR Assessment Group, Inc. that she co-founded with Kimberly R. Leveridge, Ph.D.  In 1998, they authored the break-through CDR 3-Dimensional Assessment Suite® an ideal coaching tool which has been translated to five languages for global clients. The CDR 3-D Suite measures:  leadership character traits, inherent risk factors for derailment, and drivers and rewards.

Nancy works with global leaders to accelerate success by helping them identify and develop their true talent at the launching point of a coaching engagement.  She provides executive coaching services for the C-Suite and leaders across all sectors, facilitates strategic team development sessions, and instructs custom “Authentic Leadership”  and “Women in Leadership” workshops. She instructs CDR Executive Coaches’ Certification Workshops and acts a mentor/advisor to coaches.

Nancy authored her researched based book, Fresh Insights to END the Glass Ceiling in 2017, has written more than 70 articles, has published a blog since 2009.  Nancy has completed her second book titled, Women Are Creating the Glass Ceiling & Have the Power to End It to be released in September, 2019 with her third well underway titled Transforming LEADEROCRITY® expected in 2020.  She has presented at international, national and regional industry conferences.

Nancy is a member of The Alexcel Group, an elite, global executive coaching and leadership develop consortium and of CoachSource.  She is the architect of “Vets Coaching Vets” which is a philanthropic initiative helping to accelerate veterans’ success in the job market which was launched in 2016.  CDR has worked now with more than 5 veterans’ organizations and has provided assessment, individual coaching and training workshops for over 50 veterans using volunteer executive coaches and assessments contributed by CDR since starting Vets Coaching Vets.

CDR has been a WBENC nationally certified women-owned and operated business since 2000.

A partial client list includes:  Frontier Communications, PDI, Inc., Humana, SouthCentral Foundation, Isosoft, C.R. Bard, Instituto de Empresa (Madrid) – Executive Education, Liquid Power, Nomura Global Investments (Hong Kong), Weston Foods, Lyft, Rexall, Inc., CP Chemical Company, Sunoco Logistics, Phillips 66, Oklahoma City University – Meinders School of Business, AbbVie, Ortho-McNeill, Chinowth & Cohen, SmartBrief, Americas Styrenics, Oneok, Illinois State University, SemGroup, U.S. Beef (Arby’s), American Express, Boston Scientific, ANTHC (Alaska Healthcare,) The Department of Defense at the Pentagon (OUSD AT & L), U.S. Army, Department of Homeland Security (TSA), and the Department of Treasury, U.S. Mint.

Previous to forming CDR, Nancy served as Corporate HR Director for Sun Pipe Line Company.  She served also served in HR roles at Cordero Mining Company in Wyoming and Sun Ship, Inc. formerly in Chester, PA.  She also served at Williams Energy in Tulsa as a Sr. OD Consultant prior to forming CDR.

Nancy is married to William C. Parsons, MD, who serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Phillips 66 and they have four grown, highly successful children and five grandchildren.

Nancy E. Parsons Photo

Nancy E. Parsons

  • Global Personal Development Expert & Author

Refocusing Coaching to End the Glass Ceiling

Session length: 90 minutes

2020-03-05T17:00:00-05:00 Thursday, March 5th 17:00 EDT

Coaches and leadership development experts are key catalysts to ending the glass ceiling.  While efforts and investments in developing women leaders are at an all-time high, trends are going in the wrong direction.  I will share research showing the real reasons that the glass ceiling exists and why it stays so strong. What’s most surprising is that the reasons are not what most people think. That is why today’s solutions, including coaching, are not working or making necessary inroads.

While men and women both have personality strengths well suited for leadership roles, we found there are inherent, personality-based risk factor differences between men and women leaders.  These differences are holding women back while propelling men forward.

Equipped with these significant findings, coaches will be prepared to zero in on what is holding women back. Coaches can reveal clear insights while coaching and developing women with new tactics and effective approaches tackling the real struggles. With this personalized development, women can manage and prevent their risk factors from limiting their upward trajectory.

Leadership development consultants can also facilitate and expedite change by sharing research and new approaches for assessing and developing leader talent, including risk factors, with C-Suite, succession planning, and diversity executives.

Key Learning Takeaways

  1. Many women, unknowingly, take themselves out of the running for higher level positions due to their personality-based risks. This means that women have the power to turn this around (and this is where coaches are essential!).
  2. Refocus approach to developing women as leaders who are, to a large extent, a hidden resource just waiting for the right type of development.
  3. Actions that coaches and leadership development experts can take to be the catalysts to end the glass ceiling.