About Danessa Knaupp

Passionate about coaching, leading and super-charging strategy and process, Danessa Knaupp consistently enables clients to deliver high-impact change with grounded authenticity. By empowering people to bring life and energy to the constant change swirling in today’s corporate environments, Danessa supports executives and teams as they create value and operate with purpose.

Your Differences Are Actually Your Greatest Professional Strengths

You’re a night owl, a mother, a daydreamer. Or maybe you grew up economically disadvantaged or deep in rural isolation. Whatever your personal difference is, you’ve likely been conditioned to believe it’s a weakness—a flaw. Something to be hidden at work.  I’m here to MORE

Struggling with a New Task? Good. Productive Discomfort Will Help You Master It.

Sometimes, things are hard simply because they’re hard, even if we are doing them right.  But here’s the secret: when something is hard and causing you a low level of stress, it can be a worthwhile path to personal improvement. It’s a state I MORE

Stop Letting Shame Stifle Your Career

“I don’t deserve to be the CEO.” “If they knew about my background, they’d judge me.” “I can’t believe I botched that presentation.”  Most people feel shame—and prefer to avoid it—and business leaders are no exception. Prominent researcher Dr. Brené Brown defines it this MORE

Stalling in Your Career? Stop Confusing These Two Things.

What is the difference between “that pitch was accepted by the client” and “that pitch went well”? or “we didn’t win that one” and “my choices cost us that pitch”? In each case, one is an objective fact and the other is a subjective MORE

Lead Authentically Without Crossing the Line

The best executives in the world lead authentically, and yet the authentic leaders who get the most attention tend to be the worst examples.  Take Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for example. Musk is unapologetically his authentic self, and his tweets are no exception. His MORE

It’s Time for Leaders to “Get Naked” at Work

If you’re leading a team, it’s time to get naked.  Before we go any further, let me be clear: being naked at work is a metaphor. Please keep your clothes on. Getting naked at work means dropping anything and everything you’re doing for the MORE

Even the World’s Most Successful Business Leaders Struggle With Self-Doubt—but You Don’t Have To

My mother once called me a spectacular failure. She uttered the words on a particularly dark professional day. I’d built a business I loved from the ground up and invested everything I had in it. I’d mortgaged the house and spent days and weeks MORE

SWOT Analysis: Empower Yourself to Crush Challenges

Imagine that you, an executive, are facing a changing, difficult market. Instead of softening to allow for this market, your sales goals have nearly doubled. Your product is strong, but adoption is slow. Your team functions are siloed, and communication is tricky. As usual, MORE

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