My Leadership Story
Paula Goudsmit
"Transformational coaching is continuous improvement for your talent"
My Life-Learned Experience
The High Impact Coach
Since I was a little girl, human analytics has been my passion. Adults always called me an “old soul” because my insights and big-picture connections were often astounding for my age. But little did I know, this love of observing and drawing patterns between humans was building my most sought-after skills.
After college, it took me almost fifteen years to match those skills to a profession built for them. It wasn’t until I attended my first coach training course at IBM that I knew I had found the sweet spot of my strengths, competencies, and passion.
Finding your dream job and realizing it are two different things. So, with a secure job at IBM, two small children to provide for, and a whole lot of chutzpah, I jumped off the precipice of security to face my fear of not living my potential and founded High Impact in 2006. I have never looked back.
Why High Impact? The name was born from the most game-changing and life-altering moment in my life. At age six, my parents were divorced, which was a mostly positive experience since it afforded me more quality time with the guy I loved most – my dad. He worked at General Motors (which cemented my lifelong love of cars) and would swing by on his way home to visit. One evening when I was thirteen, he asked if I wanted to sleepover at his apartment. But I was just at that age where friends were beginning to trump time with parents and declined after a sweet conversation, a big, “I love you,” and hug goodbye. It was the last time I saw him. He died in an automobile accident the next day.
High Impact is about showing up big, authentically, and thoroughly. It’s not about coasting and settling with the illusion there might be a second chance. It’s about being all in and saying what you need to say—being the leader you want to be. Looking in the mirror of your choices and being at peace with what you chose, knowing you did your best. When you work with me, this is the energy and conviction that underpins our work together.
Since High Impact’s inception, I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of individuals and hundreds of teams, delivering customized leadership development training to dozens of cohorts of emerging leaders. Together, we’ve achieved unprecedented results - countless promotions, increased quality of life, altered and cascaded positive leadership to change organizational culture, and dramatically increased personal and professional accountability and confidence.
“I am proud to be a woman in business who helps advance others in leadership.”
My Credentialed Experience
In college, I wanted to be a psychologist. I majored in psychology with a minor in English to earn my bachelor’s degree from Assumption College.
While working full-time in my early 30’s, I earned my master’s degree in organizational development from Boston University. It took me 4-years to complete. But I loved every minute of it.
I worked at IBM as a WW Channel Program manager for 10 years which was one of the most formative experiences of my life. I learned many of the skills I help others with to be successful in leading, managing, communicating, teaming, and building business acumen in a complex, global organization which earned me the credibility to coach in the business.
I obtained my Coach Certification from The Coaches Training Institute and, as a zealot of continuous improvement, have completed Team Coaching Certificates, accreditation through the International Coaches Federation, a Harvard-led Certificate in Positive Psychology, and taken numerous seminars and certification programs on tools and concepts to ensure the highest integrity in the work I deliver.
High Impact utilizes several assessment options depending on client needs. Certifications include DISC and Motivators, Performance Style and Ambitions, Emotional Intelligence, 360° feedback and discovery reports, and individual and team innovation markers and exercises for growth.
I served several years on the President's Council for Women's Leadership at Nichol’s College and currently serve as a guide for CHIEF, a private network built to drive more women into positions of power and keep them there.
High Impact is a proud partner of some of the finest organizations across industries and around the globe. Our longevity within many of these notable brands is a testament to our results-driven model to support our client’s organizational success.
