Dr. Melissa Fristrom
I am known for harnessing the “Power of the Hidden”.
When solutions are easy, my clients do not need me. But when they can’t find a solution on their own, I help them figure out the hidden factors that both help and hinder a leader’s, team’s, or organization’s success. For nearly two decades, I have assisted leaders from over eighty-three countries on six continents in uncovering the unconscious patterns that block growth and change in themselves and in their organizations.
I combine front-line business experience and deep psychoanalytic insight.
I am a senior executive turned professional coach, I combine significant organizational experience, ranging up to serving as CEO, with deep psychological study scrutinizing the unconscious ways leaders keep themselves from succeeding; my doctoral thesis is titled Self-Generated Limits to Success: A Case Study in Moving On. In 2001, I was invited to be an inaugural member of the Harvard Business School (HBS) coaching staff and have worked with over 2,000 HBS students, alums and executives. Known as “The Fixer” I am called upon when there is a need for sensitivity and nuance.
I personalize my methods for maximum impact.
I deliver programs and customized workshops to global audiences. Unlike other programs, which typically involve a speaker and an audience, my workshops include a high level of interactivity. Using proprietary tools and thought exercises, I guide participants to think deeper. Participants also benefit from the opportunity to be coached live, as well as hear about specific case examples where organizations, teams and individuals have uncovered hidden factors that catapult their leadership and careers forward.
I see, connect and uncover what others do not.
More About My Deep Expertise
Deep Global Experience
I have worked with clients across Canada and 50 states of the US, and in more than 83 countries & 6 of the 7 continents - I am working on getting to the penguins though!
Strong Academic Foundations
I earned my B.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and my Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. And after a decade of front-line business experience, I chose to earn my Doctor of Psychoanalysis degree (Psya.D) from the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. The research I conducted for my dissertation, “Self-Generated Limits to Success: A Case in Moving On” enables me to identify the often unconscious factors limiting clients’ success.
Frontline Business Experience
I draw on a depth and breadth of knowledge from my leadership experience in a wide range of situations, from Fortune 100 companies & not-for-profit endeavors to successful companies and cash-strapped firms. I’ve worked at General Mills, Hasbro, IBM, Answerthink & Polaroid. I’ve also been in a managerial role, strengthening brands such as Cheerios, Polaroid i-zone Camera, Tonka, Playskool & Cool Tools.
Decades of Coaching
I have been coaching since 2001 and have extensive experience including being an inaugural coach at HBS. I do not list the companies that I have worked with because I believe that it is up to my clients to reveal our work together. I work in the strictest confidentiality, which is the only way to provide space to be able to access the Power of the Hidden.
Photographer: Katherine Fristrom, USA, 2020.
These are 2 very different photos of the same person - me. I believe that we have a particular interaction and leadership style that we show up with most often - a facet of ourselves that we are comfortable showing and using. However, the really great leaders can choose from an array of facets depending on context and need - the ability to show up differently for greatest impact.
I see our ability to show up in different ways much like a precious gemstone. When light falls on the facets of a gemstone it reflects and refracts light many times producing explosions of color. The facets of a gemstone act like tiny prisms which show different colors and light patterns back to the viewer depending on angle and light. The viewers’ experience of the gemstone changes but the gemstone remains, at core, the same.
In much the same way, we can reflect ourselves to others in different ways so that they can better hear us or better interact with us - but at all times we can still remain authentically ourselves. Authenticity is not sharing every thought and emotion as it comes to us - it is the capacity to experience and gain information from these thoughts and emotions. Thereby we can make decisions in the moment about how best to approach a given situation in line with our authentic beliefs, ethics, goals and objectives.
I work with clients to help them carve out and gain access to all the unique facets of themselves and to increase their impact by intentionally choosing how they want to show up in different situations.
In both photos above I am the same person but I show up differently. I have worked hard to carve and to master all the facets of myself so that I can show up for clients in a way that is most helpful for them - always authentic to me, but choosing particular facets so that I don’t detract from our work and can hyper-focus on clients. I love working with clients to help them craft their ability to show up in the world in ways that allow them to lead with great impact and to become more intentional in their actions.
Do you wonder about how you show up, what leadership presence you convey and who is your authentic self?
United States, 1992.