ABOUT DAWN FRAIL
EXPERIENCE MATTERS WHEN YOU’RE WORKING WITH THE TEAM AT THE TOP
Leadership teams are made up of accomplished people. Helping them work better together requires more than a good assessment, a well-designed workshop, or knowledge of a particular model.
It requires understanding people, leadership, and organizations, and turning insight into practical changes in how a team works. It also requires knowing when to use a tool or framework, and when the team needs something different.
DEPTH AND BREADTH
A CAREER BUILT AROUND LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS
Dawn Frail has spent more than two decades working with leaders and teams across industries and organizations. As founder of Athena Executive Education, she helps senior leadership teams understand what is getting in the way of greater effectiveness and determine what will make the greatest difference.
Dawn’s work sits at the intersection of leadership, personality and team effectiveness.
Her background combines formal education in leadership and adult education with decades of practical experience helping leaders understand themselves, work more effectively with others, and navigate the demands of leadership.
She has worked with leaders and teams using approaches including Myers-Briggs, Working Genius, the Five Dysfunctions of a Team model, Situational Leadership, influence, transition management and other established leadership and team-development frameworks.
Rather than beginning with a favourite tool or predetermined program, Dawn draws on that breadth of experience to determine what is most useful for the people and situation in front of her.
PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS
A STRONG FOUNDATION BEHIND THE WORK
Education
- Master of Arts in Leadership
- Diploma in Adult Education
- Diploma in Computer Programming & Systems
Selected Professional Qualifications
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Master Practitioner
- Working Genius
- Situational Leadership
- EQ-i 2.0 and EQ 360
- Bridges Transition Management
- Balanced Scorecard
HOW DAWN WORKS
PRACTICAL, DIRECT AND BUILT AROUND THE TEAM
Dawn’s approach begins with understanding what is actually happening rather than assuming the solution.
Before working with a leadership team, she talks with the team leader or sponsor to understand the people, the organizational context and what they hope will be different. Assessments and models are used when they add value, but they are a means to an end rather than the end itself.
The objective is practical change. What should the team understand differently? What conversations need to happen? What needs to change in meetings, decisions or working relationships? And what will help those changes continue after the engagement ends?
That is why Athena’s work is designed around the leadership team rather than delivered as off-the-shelf training.
LEADERSHIP BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE FROM THE INSIDE
Dawn’s perspective on leadership has also been shaped by her own experience leading within a complex international organization.
Through Toastmasters International, she progressed from someone who was uncomfortable speaking publicly to serving for two years on the organization’s international board of directors, helping govern an organization with members around the world.
That experience gave her a perspective that cannot come entirely from studying leadership: what it feels like to lead alongside other accomplished people, work across different perspectives and cultures, make decisions collectively and be accountable for an organization larger than any one individual.
START THE CONVERSATION
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
If your leadership team could be working better together, you don’t need to know which assessment, model or intervention you need.
Start by telling Dawn what’s happening. From there, you can determine what would make the greatest difference.