Reviews

I reached out to Maria because I wanted to improve my leadership skills. We started off by assessing my strengths and weaknesses and analyzed how they relate to my leadership. Then we set goals and worked with specific tools. Maria is very results-oriented and kept me accountable. She pushed me to go outside of my comfort zone and the outcome was a striking improvement. Maria has a deep understanding of different leadership styles and how to be the most effective.

Pernilla Audibert

Co-Founder & Chief Technical Operations Officer, Bond

I’m very pleased to recommend Maria Brinck as an Executive Coach and Leadership Consultant. We hired Maria to work with our executive staff on strategic-thinking, executive presence and public appearance. Her work has brought maturity, poise and clarity to our organization and its impact has been noted by our board. Maria is a results-oriented, well rounded, performance coach who will bring out the best in your people and your organization.

Bill Griffiths

Chairman of the Board, Quanex Corporation

Maria and I formed the Climate Business Working Group, the first all-volunteer lead initiative within the Climate Reality Project organization.  As a founding member of the Climate Business Working Group, she assisted in the creation of a training program to help motivate small to mid-sized businesses to take immediate action to address the climate crisis.  Maria’s  expertise in leadership coaching and her in-depth understanding of the evolving workforce dynamics has been crucial in explaining how young professionals are passionate about who they will work for.  She has the unique ability to take a complex issue, like climate change, and is able to inspire both business leaders and employees to see the opportunities and leverage the solutions to be both profitable and sustainable.  Whether Maria is speaking to a group of 10 people in a classroom or to 500 in an auditorium, her message is always clear, her advice timely and her passion to inspire positive change remains strong. 

Dean Barone

CEO, Barone International

Maria made a truly enormous difference improving the inner workings of our organization, as she worked with me individually to explore and expand my leadership mindset to assure team optimization and success. She customized a workshop for our team, during which she helped to resolve tensions and conflicts around communication issues, setting up clear channels of expectations, decision making and accountability. Maria also helped us understand the unique strengths and energy of our team utilizing the Strengths Finder Team Grid to drive ultimate team performance to reach our goals. (We’re even expanding our team now!) She also recommended systems and processes measuring and tracking progress to assure continued success. In the Post Pandemic World, many organizations will need to do more with less, team optimization and productivity will become paramount, and I couldn’t recommend Maria’s warmth, positivity, intuitive insights, and expert guidance more emphatically.

Micah Parkin

Executive Director & CO-Founder, 350.org Colorado

Maria opened my mind to what continuous improvement as a leader really means. My expectations were completely and positively shattered when the coaching sessions leap-frogged conventional training I received in the past and dove into my strengths and weaknesses. Maria helped me develop perspective by defining my purpose as a leader and teammate. Our sessions facilitated deep thought on how I showed up as a leader to my team, my peers and the CEO. She built real trust which ultimately led to feedback I needed to hear to improve. The sessions quickly turned from meetings I had to make time for to meetings I just could not miss. Maria mixed her coaching with real time challenges I was facing. We never talked hypothetically or in theory. We spoke in present tense while dealing with actual opportunities that were near term and how they stimulated the strategic future of the business. Maria’s impact as a coach was simply extraordinary.

Kent Gardner

President, Beacon

I sought out Maria because I wanted to develop my self-awareness and my leadership skills. She took a holistic view of me as a leader and as an individual: work, personal life, corporate values, personal values, career development, personal development, together with my overall purpose and identified how they need to work in synergy, not against one another for optimal performance and fulfillment. Maria taught me through her coaching that it is less important as a leader to have the right answers, but more important to know your people and ask the right questions.  She taught me how to be more present with my team and my family and the value of Trust and Communication as the foundation to any relationship. Maria is part coach, part advisor, part confidant, part cheer leader, part strategist but more than anything, she is the objective listener and observer we all need!

Steve Fanning

Vice President, Brasseler

I used Maria to work with me on assessing my strengths and weakness as it related to leadership skills and executive presence. She was kind, attentive and very easy to communicate with and in a very short period of time she was able to paint a very realistic picture of my inner abilities without me even realizing the assessment had begun. During our meetings, Maria was able to be direct and identify areas in which I could improve upon still with a manner that was encouraging and supportive. I have found our time working together to be invaluable and look forward to continuing to work with her in the future as a sounding board, confidant and also a person who will tell me when I am wrong. Again, I would highly recommend Maria to anyone looking for and willing to improve themselves.

George Wilson

CEO, Quanex Corporation

Over the past year I have had the pleasure of working with Maria to re-shape my leadership mind-set with the goal of creating a purpose driven career. Maria helped me frame my goals through exploration of my values and unique talents. She worked with me to build upon my strengths, question my thinking and create a time-bound road-map. Maria brings sincere positivity and a matter-of-fact approach that helped me dig deep on the why, how and when. Her work benefited me personally and my company professionally. I look forward to our tune-up sessions to help keep me on track. Our partnership resulted in real time results as well as a long-term vision. Thanks so much Maria!

Julie Lockwood

Director GBS Technology Services, IBM

I highly recommend Maria Brinck for any type of coaching and leadership consulting need for your business.  Her work led to an immediate improved moral and performance on our team. She was easy to work with from the beginning to the end.  She had an organized system for the pre-work for the Strengths workshop that made it easy for my busy participants to complete.  Her follow up after the workshop with observations and findings was timely and succinct, and assured a sustainable, systemic change in our team’s mindset and behaviors. I found her style to be personable, engaging, very knowledgeable and empathetic.  She is a unique and wonderful coach, who understands the motivators behind top performers. Her work is one of great impact!

Tamara Howard

Lead HR, CONMED

As the CEO of a National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), I can tell you our staff has a stressful, yet vitally important role to play in advancing cancer treatments. Maintaining healthy relationships and a positive attitude at work are paramount. To help us with our team building, Maria Brinck, with her company Zynergy, provided a coaching experience that benefited all of us. Using Strength Finders tools, she helped us recognize our strengths and weaknesses as a team and formatted team exercises to help us commit to a healthy working atmosphere. Zynergy gets a five star rating from me. I highly recommend working with Maria to help strengthen your team and put your energy where it is most useful and productive!

Pat Peterson

CEO, NCORP

Maria did a fantastic job conducting a leadership workshop with my team. Maria asked for succinct upfront input and was able to integrate my requests into her work. The workshop itself was extremely valuable, engaging and well received. Participants felt energized, inspired and already the next day started to take action based on our workshop discussions. Overall, Maria was very easy and efficient to work with. I will strongly consider building upon this introductory workshop and the outstanding leadership material with my team and Maria.

Maria Wik

Associate Director MS&T, Astra Zeneca, MedImmune

Maria applies a truly holistic approach to her coaching and through our work together I gained insights about myself and my leadership style that have helped me be more influential. She is a true professional and a student of her craft. The opportunity to work with Maria is a gift.

Lara Latham

Vice President HCS, Stryker

Maria Brinck delivered a thought provoking and motivating presentation on a simple and effective response for industry to adapt to Climate Change. Her presentation raises awareness of real challenges and why business strategy must embrace that there can be no more business as usual, why companies need to assess their exposure to risk from climate change, and why they need to consider what she calls the 4 P’s of Business: Purpose, Profit, People and the Planet to achieve sustainable success and long-term profit. Her approach steers business leaders toward strategic policies that increase business security and profitability through a model for sustainable success. Embodied in her approach is the empowerment of human assets to attract top performers in both current workforce and upcoming generation of Millennials. Ms. Brinck’s enthusiastic, engaging and persuasive communication style is indeed compelling. She motivates leadership and delivers tools that can drive profitable and sustainable growth.

Michael DiGrazia

Principal, M.J.D. Associates

I was lucky to be able to interview four Executive-Coaches before choosing Maria Brinck at Zynergy. I chose Maria because she had an approach that resonated with me: “identify and focus on strengthening my strengths while working on ways to manage tasks that were not my strengths”. The concept of coaching was intimidating at first but Maria quickly helped me overcome the fear and look at our business with a new perspective and also look at my career and personal goals through a new looking glass. With Zynergy, I have been able to develop simple, effective tools, designed specifically for me. Using these tools has made a tremendous positive impact on both me and my company.

Thomas Dea

PE and Sr. Project Manager, Lamp Rynearson Company

As a millennial, Maria’s speech hit home. Her speech was about driving professional engagement through making this world a better place. How do we do that? We don’t settle for the status quo, we ask questions and demand answers. If we want corporate responsibility and leadership around Climate Change ask questions, demand answers. She presented remarkable data about the millennials. The millennials want purpose and if companies cannot deliver purpose they will miss out on the next generation of talent. In conclusion, the business climate is changing and the millennials are the driving force behind it. Maria has a persuasive style and with well researched material she delivers a compelling message of the urgent need for companies to make this world a better place with an established purpose. I would recommend her to anyone interested in learning more about attracting, retaining and engaging professional talent.

Tobias Hermansson

Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce

I would like to recommend Maria Brinck as a speaker. She is captivating, inspirational, and persuasive. Maria has an authentic style and her stories come alive! Her message, “No More Business as Usual”, does a great job of combining research and logic with her inspirational style. She teaches us that there is opportunity even in the midst of disruption. This is an inspirational talk for any leader, but business leaders will really resonate with it. In the end, driving employee engagement is very much about asking the right questions and making our world better with purpose, vision, and action. I’m sure ready to take action!

Brian Fuller

Founder, Brian Fuller Communication

If you truly want to learn about yourself, your talents and how to maximize your strengths to drive personal and professional success Maria is your coach. Maria has a distinct ability to connect human behavior to business performance.
TC North PhD

Executive Coach, Speaker

I have worked with Maria to connect talent to strategy and overall effectiveness. Maria is everything you can ask for in a coach and consultant. Maria is smart and a keen listener. I have found Maria to be trustworthy, enthusiastic and thoughtfully engaging. Maria has been instrumental in developing my personal brand.

Mario E. Molina

Director, Climate Reality Project

Maria’s positive, inspiring and forward looking attitude has been the driving force behind my company’s success, every step of the way. Maria earned my trust with her willingness to listen and her open and direct communication style, building a coaching relationship based on connection, authenticity and respect. What separates Maria from other coaches is her genuine interest in transforming good to great. Maria has the unique ability to identify, develop and connect each person’s talent to professional and personal goals. She brought out the best in me. Maria will partner with you to stretch and challenge you to take necessary calculated risks and to hold you accountable to ensure optimal performance and well-being.

Lisa Darrah

President, Design It

Maria has a unique mental and physical presence as a coach. She balances her unique presence with her deep understanding of the world around her. She offers clear feedback with no judgment. She has helped me find the insight I need to better understand the direct and indirect impact I have on the people I lead, a must have for any successful leader.

Pia Lisle, MD.

Kaiser Permanente

Maria Brinck has been a valuable catalyst in my life. Before I began working with her, I was spinning my wheels. Maria helped me to discover what was possible, and then she helped me with putting together a plan, bit by bit, to begin moving forward toward my goals. The results are evident.

On a professional level, I have learned two things: that I am not ‘stuck’, either within the constraints of my current job, or in moving toward my goals for the future.

Maria has offered practical advice and helped me to pinpoint my strengths and to capitalize on them. She continually points me forward and reminds me of my potential, and then holds me accountable for my progress.

She is truly a wonderful coach.

Gene Dillon

Design and Programming Manager, Directory Solutions, Inc

Maria’s coaching taps into the wealth of her cross-cultural experiences and her personal commitment to justice and to making the world a better place. With compassion and care, she helped me gain clarity on my intentions and supported me in translating them into action.

Elitza Ranova

Coach, CTI

Together with Maria we have created a platform for innovation. A platform where we can take calculated risk today and even fail in order to grow and succeed tomorrow. By asking the right questions at the right time Maria has given us the tools to think and act outside the box. She has been and continues to be a great asset to our team.

Katarina Claesson

President, Peace of Mind Marketing, LLC

Sometimes you need somebody to invest in you, motivate you, and develop you to better align you with success. You need somebody that can translate your ideas into action. To me this person and coach is Maria. She brought clarity to my vision, inspired and motivated me to take the necessary steps ahead and invite adventure. We did so by exploring new territories, with new perspectives and opportunities. Maria is independent and provides frank, non-bias feedback that you will not find from friends, family or inside an organization. Most importantly, Maria is a great individual that will enrich your journey while maximizing performance.

Amy Walker

Founder, True North

Maria set the tone of the workshop through ice-breakers, introductions, and engaging each table, which displayed a genuine interest in each individual. This speaks volumes.

Chris Vasquez

Colorado Department of Transportation

Maria did a fantastic job leading the discussions and challenging us as a team.

Jane Martin

Colorado Federal Highway Administration