Karen Baetzel

Leadership expert and retired Navy pilot Karen Baetzel has seen the word 'leadership' used in many contexts and has wondered what makes for a great leader. Are we born with leadership ability, do we attain leadership skills or is it thrust upon us and we hope for the best? She knows the answer and it has nothing to do with inheritance and “hope” is not a game plan. It’s not magic, it’s training.

Is this another self proclaimed leadership “expert” spouting the latest platitudes? Not hardly. Captain Baetzel retired after 30 years as one of the Navy’s most senior female Naval Aviators. She is also one of the few Naval Aviators of either gender to qualify as an Aircraft Commander in fly helicopters, propeller and jet aircraft, amassing over 2,000 military flight hours in six aircraft types and serving aboard seven ships.

After her Commanding Officer tour, she served as an instructor on the elite Navy Leadership Training Team for senior officers. This was followed by a very successful engagement in the corporate world before founding her own leadership development practice. Organizations such as NASA, Microsoft’s High Performers and the Departments of State and Defense, FDIC, National Corporation for National and Community Service and many others, the best and brightest partner with Karen when they want effective, sharp results.

She was honored in 2015 to be named one the nation’s top 101 Leadership Speakers by New York Times bestselling author Kevin Kruse. Additionally, Captain Baetzel is a plankowner member of the National Women Veterans Speakers Bureau.

Captain Baetzel is a fusion of a tough-minded senior military leader, a successful corporate executive and a gifted speaker and trainer with an ability to engage her audiences and offer immediate tools and practical takeaways. With a grateful heart and a salty dose of Navy humor, Karen dedicates her work to sharing the lessons of superior leadership and inspired living, both to pay it back and pay it forward.