What makes a great CEO? Or NOT!

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

As a leader and an executive, it’s natural to have self-doubt. If you’re not constantly evaluating your own potential and skills, you’re limiting your opportunity for success (and you may be a narcissist). Therefore, thinking introspectively about things like “what makes a great CEO?” is important. On the heels of evaluating such a critical question, I suggest you examine this …

SheLeads Panel: Jackie DeSouza, Dr. Kimberly Beatty, Karen Fenaroli, Angela Hurt,

Pursuing the Promise of International Women’s Day

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

Empirical evidence proves the value of unleashing the talent represented in half of the population – WOMEN. Imperatives for this generation of leaders and the next: Be bold. Be progressive. Lean In. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to help run the #SheLeads panel discussion held at WeWork Corrigan Station in Kansas City as part of its International …

Karen Fenaroli - Fearless, visionary, giving

Are you a CEO yet? Fearless, visionary and giving

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

“For it is in giving that we receive.” — Francis of Assisi I’m so thankful to have had an opportunity to share more about my mission and vision as not only the founder and CEO of Fenaroli & Associates, but as a corporate citizen of Kansas City. This is an amazing town and one I’m proud to give back to …

Leadership and the Cookie - Karen Fenaroli

Leadership and the Cookie

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

A passport, a key card and a cookie — all three are unlikely characters in a story about leadership. But with the right actions, attitude and drive, disruptive leaders can take these unlikely assets and use them to craft a narrative of likely success. Before we get started, it’s important to note that the other essential element of our story …

The Most Important Decision Made: Saying “Yes”

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

“Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking.” — Malcolm Gladwell My own decision made: This week marks an important milestone for our firm. We are proud to have opened our newest and fifth office; that’s right, we’re expanding our presence in the Midwest and excited to be an integral part of Kansas City! In the …

From Start-Up to C-Suite: 3 Critical Components of Entrepreneurial Thinking

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

Last fall, Uber asked me to vet 25 start-up pitches from local entrepreneurs (all women) competing with others in select cities for a chance at $150,000 in tech funding in its “Fueling the Growth” initiative called UberPITCH. I spent the better part of an afternoon in an Uber car listening to these bright CEOs give back-to-back pitches for 5 minutes …

GE Engineers More Ways for Women Execs to Get Ahead: Could You?

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

If you’ve watched live television in the past year, you may have seen one of the many quirky ad spots GE has run in its current branding campaigns. Apparently quirky is in. Geared toward altering the perception of this industrial giant, the commercials present GE as a more progressive company hip enough to attract top talent in engineering, tech and …

Empower & Engage: Are you ahead of the curve as a company leader?

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek At the heart of effective leadership lies the ability for an individual to connect, communicate and collaborate with others. Ultimately, it is through the formation of meaningful relationships that a true leader emerges. Yet the leaders who are ahead of the …

Making the Move: Are you future-proofing your board through diversity?

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”— Maya Angelou We’ve all heard the stories and read the articles about the importance of board diversity. Boards that are diverse make better decisions because they can better represent everyone who matters – that’s right, all stakeholders – including …

Where More Women Are on Boards, Executive Pay Is Higher

Karen FenaroliArticles, Views

While there is no shortage of studies and statistics indicating the positive attributes related to companies that have diverse boards of directors, there is a new piece of information just released that may surprise you. Compensation research firm Equilar analyzed CEO pay at 100 large companies to show that companies with greater board gender diversity paid their top executives about …