How Lisa Baker Rewrote the Rules of Executive Coaching
By: Lisa Baker
She held senior roles at Citigroup, Microsoft, and Synchrony. Then Lisa L. Baker left corporate leadership to build a coaching firm of her own.
There is a certain kind of recognition that does not show up on a red carpet. It does not trend on social media. It does not come with a publicist or a personal brand manager. It shows up in boardrooms, in breakthrough moments, in the quiet work of people who lead at the highest levels of American business.
That is the kind of recognition that belongs to Lisa L. Baker.
Baker spent more than two decades building a career that many people aspire to. Senior roles at Citigroup. Leadership positions at Microsoft. High-stakes responsibilities at Synchrony. She was, by every conventional measure, a success story.
Then she made a move that many executives consider, but few make.
She left. On purpose. With a plan. And she built a firm of her own.
Today, Baker is the founder of Ascentim, an award-winning leadership development firm in the executive coaching space. This fall, she is opening a 12-week group coaching cohort for senior leaders, and we sat down with her to understand the thinking behind it.
Why Baker Left Corporate Leadership
We asked Baker what it felt like to walk away from one of the most coveted career trajectories in corporate America. Her answer was direct.
“Many leaders have built successful careers, but they’re operating under constant pressure,” she told us. “Over time, that pressure shapes how they think, what they believe they should do, and how they lead.”
She wasn’t only describing the leaders she would go on to coach. She was describing herself, and the moment she decided that the pressure was no longer pointing her toward what mattered most.
What followed was Ascentim, a firm built on a straightforward idea. Leaders perform best, and live best, when they operate in alignment with who they actually are. Not who the organization needs them to be. Not who the market rewards. Who they are.
What the Fall Coaching Cohort Offers
Baker’s fall cohort has drawn interest in leadership circles. It is a 12-week virtual group coaching experience, designed for a select group of senior leaders, and built around a framework she has spent years refining in one-on-one sessions with experienced executives.
The framework is called G.R.O.W.
Gain insight into the patterns, the assumptions, and the invisible expectations that have shaped a leader’s decisions, often without their full awareness.
Realize new possibilities beyond the pressure and beyond the “shoulds,” moving into the territory of what a leader actually wants to create.
Overcome obstacles, the real ones, such as internal narratives, limiting beliefs, and circumstances that feel fixed but aren’t.
Win at life and leadership, not just professionally but more completely.
At the center of the experience is Baker’s signature concept, the Area of Greatness. It is the place where a leader’s strengths, passions, and purpose converge, and where, she says, the most considered leadership decisions tend to be made.
The Leadership Gap Behind the Cohort
Baker’s work is arriving at a notable moment for the profession.
DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025 found that 80 percent of organizations lack confidence in their own leadership pipelines, and only 20 percent have successors ready for critical roles. The gap between where leaders are and where organizations need them to be is wide.
Baker’s cohort is designed to help close that gap, one leader at a time.
Recognition and Awards
Baker’s track record includes recognition from established business awards.
Ascentim earned the Inc. Best in Business award in both 2022 and 2023 for coaching and career development, back-to-back. Baker has also been recognized in the Globée® Women World Awards in the Woman-Owned Startup of the Year category. Her client work spans industries, and the new cohort builds on that experience.
Baker’s Message to Senior Leaders
Before we wrapped our conversation, we asked Baker what she would say to a senior leader reading this right now, someone who has built a career, earned the title, and still feels like something is slightly off.
She didn’t hesitate.
“What you’re feeling is information. It’s telling you something about the distance between where you are and where you’re meant to be. The question isn’t whether to close that distance. The question is whether you’re ready to.”
Lisa L. Baker is the Founder of Ascentim and is based in Baltimore, MD. Her fall 2026 cohort is open to a select group of senior leaders. Learn more at ascentim.com.
