Nikki Shultz
Executive Coach
Nikki is an organizational, team and leadership development coach and consultant. Nikki is known for making difficult concepts easy to understand, asking questions that evoke new insights, and masterfully coaching senior teams to navigate hard topics productively. Clients have shared an appreciation for Nikki’s ability to be non-reactive, present and effective even in the face of contentious group dynamics or negative individual mindsets. Nikki is a broad systems thinker and her practice draws on a number of frameworks to meet people wherever they might be in their development journey.
Nikki gravitates towards the work of facilitating high-stakes conversations with senior teams on topics that matter, from culture design (vision, purpose, values) to culture repair and transformation. She leverages the Enneagram, Appreciative Inquiry and Vertical Development to work with individuals and teams who want to deepen their understanding of their reactive patterns that hold them back from their potential.
Background
Nikki has practical experience leading teams across geographies and cultures in product development, sourcing and operations as well as consulting with senior teams for leadership and organizational development initiatives in multiple industries. After a two-decade career in corporations such as Target and UnitedHealth Group, Nikki launched her business as a full-time external coach and consultant in 2020, founding Courageous Roots Development. Nikki has completed advanced studies under world respected thought leaders in Vertical Development and Enneagram, which has greatly informed her worldview of what actually works in leadership development.
Nikki has coached and trained executives in a variety of industries and organization sizes, including Target, UnitedHealth Group, Marvin Windows, Otabo, Workiva, Starkey Hearing, and more.
Nikki’s Services
Coaching for Individuals, Colleague Duos, Couples, Executive Teams, and Cross-Functional Teams
Executive Readiness Leadership Training
Team Effectiveness Training and Coaching
Consulting: Vertical development culture shaping
Assessments, including:
360 Appreciative Inquiry Interviews
Enneagram Personality Typing Interview
Vertical Mindset Stage Interview
Strategic Facilitation
Assessment Certifications:
Leadership Circle Profile 360 Assessment
Growth Edge Vertical Mindset Stage Interview
Shift+ 360 Appreciative Inquiry
Enneagram Typing Interviews
Education & Certifications:
MBA in Marketing, University of Minnesota
Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching, University of St. Thomas
BA in Marketing, University of St. Thomas
Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation (ICF)
CP Enneagram Academy Professional Mastery (certification pending)
Growth Edge Coaching Certification
Voice Dialogue Practitioner Training
Vertical Development studies
Destra Change Leadership Practitioner
LeaderTalk Executive Presence & Communication Facilitator Certification
The best athletes and musicians know the unquestionable power of coaching. The best leaders know this too. I see light, power and potential in every person I meet, and I wonder what would happen if just a few more companies, teams and individuals were ready and willing to see their patterns and challenge the way they saw themselves and the world today in order to open up to a world of unimaginable possibility tomorrow.
- Nikki Shultz
Client Testimonials
“Nikki has an extremely thorough grounding in and stays up to date on recent developments in personal and team development, but is able to apply this knowledge flexibly and practically and is not beholden to any particular school of thought or approach. Her ability to focus and be fully present with a client is incredible - she has an uncanny ability to sense what a client needs and adjust her approach real-time based on subtle cues that even the client might not be consciously aware of.”
Tier 1 Law Firm Partner
“Today's session was mind blowing...honestly, I am blown away by how a short session like that can give me so many valuable insights and opportunities for growth and improvement.”
Sr. Manager Software Company
Nikki was instrumental in helping me through a career pivot. She expertly guided me through the myriad of decisions I needed to make. More importantly she was incredibly effective in helping me understand my strengths and weaknesses, which was critical in helping me make career decisions.
Consulting Partner
Nikki in Real Life
Living in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and four young sons, Nikki is passionate about new experiences, new challenges and new ideas. She welcomes dialogue and debate on just about any topic. She is a bike N+1 believer, nature-lover, silence seeker, idea-generator, organizational psychology and spirituality book junkie, coaching advocate, sparkling water enthusiast, and life student.
And, just for fun, here are Nikki’s 2 Truths and a Lie:
I finished a 70.3 Ironman
I used to speak proficient Japanese
I am a twin, have twins and my mom’s a twin