ABOUT US
Karl Pister is the founder and president of The Coaching Group, Inc. Karl has an extensive coaching, training and counseling background, having worked in the field of executive coaching, training, and individual and marital counseling for over 34 years.
His background in conflict management, mediation, executive development, employee relations, and leadership allow the coaching and training to have a current and timely application to the business world.
He has focused the majority of his coaching, since 2008 on the healthcare arena, specializing in work with physicians, nurses, and healthcare executives in a wide variety of settings in multiple states. He is certified by the International Coach Federation, and the John Maxwell Team.
In addition to thousands of hours of executive coaching experience, his hands-on business career of account management, national network development, and managed mental health care program implementation provides a background of actual business world experience and expertise that many coaching situations lack.
This combination of real-life experience allows coaching clients to mix the day-to-day reality of business needs with the skills needed to rise to the top of their professions.
EDUCATIONAL AND CERTIFICATION
BA Spanish – Brigham Young University
MSW Social Work – Brigham Young University
MS Marriage and Family Therapy – Brigham Young University
Certified Executive coach – Center for Executive Coaching
Accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF) as a Professional Certified Coach
Harvard Project On Negotiation - Mediation Intensive course
THE SOURCE OF EXPERIENCE
President and Founder of The Coaching Group, Inc. – (1995-present) Providing executive coaching and organizational consulting to healthcare firms, executives, physicians, and nurses in multiple different hospital and clinic settings throughout the nation.
Director of Oregon Operations, Human Affairs International, Inc. (1990-1994) – Oversaw clinical and account management functions in offices generating $2.5 million in annual business and serving 12,000 employees. Trained and supervised full-time staff of seven and over 20 subcontractor counselors.
Account Executive, Human Affairs International, Inc. (1988-1994) – Managed national EAP of Aetna Life and Casualty, Fred Meyer, and PacifiCorp with more than 25,000 enrollees. Developed national provider networks for managed health care departments: researched/selected/ credentialed providers; finalized contracts; handled strategic planning and growth mapping.
Network Counselor Coordinator, Human Affairs International, Inc. (1986-1988) – An employee assistance/managed mental health care firm. Coordinated national network of 250 counselors.
These positions, combined with the human and organizational behavior courses of graduate school provided the foundation for the coaching expertise. These skills have been honed over the twenty-nine years of private practice with thousands of hours of face-time with executives and employees facing worksite challenges and difficulties.
2025: A Year of Growth
What a year 2025 has been! Another year of being with amazing people at all levels. This year we expanded our reach beyond coaching to make organizational mediation and meeting facilitation more a part of our core offerings.
Sitting at the table with the highest of levels of thinking of an organization and experiencing the synergy of great minds coming together, whether with resolved conflict or improved common goals, is a privilege to experience every single time.
As organizational leadership realizes that true value is best created with the thinking of their people, regardless of where they may be on the org chart, then groundbreaking change can start to happen.
All three of our specialties work in conjunction. Top leaders who grow with coaching. They then see the value of bringing people together in highly focused meetings that push the organizational imperatives in the right direction. These growing teams then realize the toxicity of unaddressed conflict and actively work to resolve and grow from those conflicts.
It is a superb framework. When great people lean into this process, it is only a matter of time before the magic of transformation begins to take root.
We invite you to join with us in 2026 to make this happen for you and your organization.
