Laura Downing, CEO

In her words:

"I have spent my career consulting to and coaching other leaders striving to lead their organizations to success. I have had the honor of working with dedicated business executives, military officers, non-profit visionaries and front-line employees all of whom are committed to achieving results. The fun is in finding the way leaders can best leverage their strengths, inspire their teams, and make strategy work in each unique setting to achieve lasting impact.

My entrepreneurial track has given me the opportunity to create and lead great firms such as Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, Palladium  and Ascendant.  Today, I head CLIR Coaching where we develop individuals and teams into high-impact leaders who can create lasting strategic value for their organizations.  Our research on leadership will soon be released in the 2023 book by Ed Barrows our President and myself called Twelve Skills: The guide to becoming a stronger leader and accelerating your career.

I am continually energized when I get to educate leaders in the classroom as well.  I am currently an instructor at Duke Corporate Education and Harvard Division of Continuing education.  I teach Influence and Power in Organizations, Strategic Management, Diversity and Leadership.

My formal education includes a finance degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  From Fielding Graduate University, I received a Certificate in Evidence-Based Coaching. I am ACC Certified by the International Coaching Federation.

I’m certified the Leadership Versatility Index (LVI), Center for Creative Leadership Benchmarks, Marshall Goldman Stakeholder Certified Coaching, and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

On the personal front, I live in Boston with my husband son and two cats.”  

Ed Barrows, President

In his words:

“In my opinion, every person who is responsible for leading others has an obligation to do so to the utmost of their ability. With that in mind, I help leaders become the best version of themselves. I’ve spent almost my entire life working as a leader or alongside leaders in virtually every setting—the large public companies, small private firms, start-ups, non-profit organizations, and the federal government.

Prior to joining CLIR Coaching, I worked as Managing Director at Duke Corporate Education where I was responsible for designing and delivering programs for a portfolio of global clients—AmerisourceBergen, Amgen, CVS Health, Kock Industries, Merck, Raytheon Technologies, Textron, and Union Pacific. Before Duke, I worked in several professional services positions with Deloitte, General Electric, PwC and the Palladium Group, where I was Vice President and leader of the executive education organization.

Academically, I am a Professor of the Practice of Leadership at Brown University where I design and teach leadership courses in Brown’s three executive masters degree programs and serve as lead faculty for Brown’s executive education business. I’m also currently an orchestrator for Duke Corporate Education and an adjunct professor at IE Business School. Prior to Brown, I was an instructor at Harvard where I designed and taught graduate courses ranging from strategy and organizational behavior to influence and power. My research interest is in the area of strategic leadership. I’ve written two books: Twelve Skills: the guide to becoming a strong leader and accelerating your career (Rethink, 2023) and Managing Performance in Turbulent Times: Insights and Analytics (2012, Wiley).

Prior to starting my private sector career, I served on active and reserve duty as a logistics officer in the Marine Corps. I commanded at the platoon, detachment and company level participating in operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. I retired from the Marine Corps as a Lieutenant Colonel.

I earned my BS from Boston University, MBA from Georgetown University, and DBA from Cranfield School of Management. I’m currently at the foot of my ‘Second Mountain’ pursuing a MA in Theology at Notre Dame. I earned a Certificate in Evidence-Based Coaching from Fielding Graduate University and I am a member of the International Coaching Federation.

I’m certified in the Leadership Versatility Index (LVI), Center for Creative Leadership’s Benchmarks, Marshall Goldman Stakeholder Certified Coaching, and Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI).

I live in Scituate, Massachusetts and enjoy hiking in Vermont, biking on Cape Cod and cooking at home.”