Kavitha Iyer

Kavitha Iyer is the founder of Cresca Consulting Pte Ltd, a firm specializing in the Leadership Development needs of senior executives and organisations in their leadership and talent agenda. She is an experienced Organisation Consultant and Development specialist who is based in Singapore and consults globally. Her focus and interests are primarily in the areas of working with individuals and small teams, towards strengthening intra and inter-personal understanding, individual and team consciousness, with a strategic focus on its impact to leadership. Kavitha holds a Master of Science in Positive Organization Development and Change (MPOD) from The Weatherhead School of Management at the Case Western Reserve University. She combines a Systems Psychodynamic and Strengths-based approach in working with senior executives and their teams. Kavitha also works with a number of organizations on designing and delivering on their Women in Leadership programs. She is also a Leadership Development Practice Director at INSEAD, since 2014, where she works with leaders in both open enrolment and company specific programs, in both individual and group settings. Kavitha is currently pursuing her Doctoral studies in Organizational Change at The Ashridge Business School in the UK. She works primarily in three areas - designing and delivering leadership programs, leadership teams and their effectiveness and executive coaching (both individuals and teams).

Kavitha's approach is very business focused as well as client centred, with a focus on integrated well being. Prior to her independent practice, she has a corporate career spanning over 20 years in organizations such as Unilever, Arthur Andersen, Merck, American Express and IMS Health. She held a variety of roles in Generalist HR and specialist Learning & Organisation Development functions in regional capacities, covering APAC, China & Japan.. This valuable experience allows her to align her style with the business challenges faced by her clients. She understands how to create business-relevant and practical, yet robust, development interventions leading to effective change. She stays very focused on her clients' emotional and personal dilemmas through driving client ownership for their development. Kavitha is focused on and passionate about designing and delivering experiences which seek to build reflective capacity in leaders and organizations, in a manner that is easily transferable to their immediate leadership context, towards sustained behavioral change. Kavitha is often described as someone who is supportive and compassionate and who is not afraid to push her client towards overcoming deep-rooted behavioural patterns. She combines a systems-psychodynamic and strengths-based approaches and is accredited in the use of several well-known profiling instruments including MBTI, ESCI, LSI and is a Master Practitioner of Appreciative Inquiry and other 360 assessments.

Kavitha has spent her childhood across Jakarta, India, Canada and Russia and has lived in Singapore for the past 17 years. Her sound international perspective, with Asian ethnicity, has given her the unique opportunity to coach across cultures (Asia, Europe & US). She lives with her husband, two teenage sons and her beloved dog, Spirit.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy - PhD Ashridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School (2015 — 2020)
• Master of Science Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University (2009 — 2011)
• Masters in Personnel Management Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) (1992 — 1994)

Companies

• Lead Coach INSEAD Executive Education (2014)
• Coaching Practice Director - INSEAD Global Leadership Centre INSEAD (2014)
• Founder & Director Cresca Consulting Pte Ltd (2013)
• Executive Coach INSEAD (2006)
• Director, Organization Development & Learning, APAC, China & Japan IMS Health (2010 — 2013)
• Director, Human Resources, JAPA American Express International (2007 — 2009)
• Independent OD Consultant Cresca Consulting (2006 — 2007)
• Director, Organisational Effectiveness, Asia HR Merck, Sharp & Dohme (2004 — 2005)
• Group HR Head FirstApex Group (2001 — 2004)

Skills

• Leadership Development
• Executive Coaching
• Organizational Development