12-week virtual coaching program set to launch in Fall 2026
Lisa L. Baker, founder of Ascentim, has announced the launch of a 12-week virtual group coaching program for senior leaders designed to address the pressure many experience at the highest levels of leadership.
Baker, a former Fortune 500 executive with more than two decades of experience leading teams at organizations including Citigroup, Microsoft, and Synchrony, launched Ascentim after stepping away from her corporate career to build a leadership development firm focused on helping leaders operate in greater alignment with how they want to lead and live. Her work has since expanded from individual coaching into leadership development for teams and organizations across industries.
The fall cohort marks an evolution of that work, introducing a group coaching experience for a select group of senior leaders managing high expectations, complex decisions, and sustained performance demands.
Why Leadership Development Demand Is Growing
Over the past five years, Baker has worked closely with leaders in one-on-one settings. The fall cohort brings that experience into a more focused, group-based environment designed to deepen insight, reflection, and application.
According to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025, 80% of organizations lack confidence in their leadership pipelines, and only 20% of HR leaders report having successors ready for critical roles. The gap highlights not only a need for leadership development, but how leaders are operating under pressure and the decisions they are making as a result.
“Many leaders have built successful careers, but they’re operating under constant pressure,” Baker said. “Over time, that pressure shapes how they think, what they believe they should do, and how they lead.”
How the Cohort Helps Leaders Reconnect to Purpose
The program is designed to help leaders identify and move beyond those “shoulds” and reconnect to what they actually want, how they want to lead, what they want to create, and what matters most to them.
At the center of the experience is Baker’s concept of the Area of Greatness, the place where a leader’s strengths, passions, and purpose align. From that place, leaders are able to make more intentional decisions and lead in a way that is both effective and personally meaningful.
Inside the G.R.O.W. Framework
The program is built on Baker’s G.R.O.W. framework (Gain insight, Realize new possibilities, Overcome obstacles, and Win at life and leadership). Over the course of the 12-week experience, participants examine the patterns and expectations shaping how they lead, identify their Area of Greatness, and translate those insights into clear, intentional decisions about how they operate and what they want going forward.
Ascentim’s broader leadership development work has been recognized with awards including Inc. Best in Business and Globee® Woman-Owned Startup of the Year. The firm works with organizations to strengthen leadership, alignment, and culture by changing how leaders think, connect, lead, and act.
The launch reflects a growing demand for leadership development that goes beyond performance and addresses how leaders sustain success over time.
About Lisa L. Baker
Lisa L. Baker is the Founder of Ascentim, an award-winning leadership development firm that works with leaders and their teams to strengthen how they lead, make decisions, and operate in high-pressure environments.
A former Fortune 500 executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience at organizations including Citigroup, Microsoft, and Synchrony, she now works with senior leaders across industries.
Her work focuses on helping leaders move beyond external expectations and operate in greater alignment with their strengths, values, and purpose.
