VISUALIZING

Engage the visual side of your brain to create clarity out of chaos and map the way forward.

Graphic Mind Mapping

Most high-level leaders rarely have the time, space, or freedom to tap into their innate creativity and explore ideas without judgment.

Yet, even the most analytical thinkers benefit from adding a visual element to their innovation process.

Here’s the reality: many leaders struggle with:

Finding the mental space to play with possibilities.
Accessing and leveraging their creative instincts.
Sitting comfortably in the “not knowing” phase without pressure to get it right immediately.
Staying curious instead of jumping straight to how, where early ideas often falter.

And while CEOs aren’t exactly paid to say, “I don’t know,” creativity and innovation are essential leadership skills—especially in today’s fast-changing world. Developing these skills means embracing the unknown, and that’s where I come in.

I help leaders build their creative muscle, often overlooked in traditional MBA training and corporate roles. Through visual thinking, we create an open, judgment-free space to explore ideas and clarify concepts before they’re shared. This process allows leaders to loosen up, explore bold possibilities, and experience breakthroughs that uncover hidden opportunities.

Our work together doesn’t just stop at idea generation. I also help leaders refine their thinking and prepare to communicate their vision confidently with peers and teams. Along the way, my coaching supports them in identifying and overcoming limiting beliefs, unlocking their full potential.

The most rewarding part? Seeing leaders leave our sessions energized, inspired by their own ideas, and ready to move forward with clarity and confidence.

Graphic mind mapping brings clarity and structure to your ideas, helping you uncover new possibilities and tap into the full potential of your creativity.

Here’s how working visually with me can empower your leadership and drive innovation in your workplace.

[Click on the images to see the slideshows. Details have been obscured in some graphics to protect client confidentiality.]

Brainstorming

Brainstorming

This process is like working with an endless roll of tracing paper—laying out ideas, keeping the brilliant ones, and discarding what doesn’t work. For both linear thinkers and visually-oriented leaders, it unfolds in phases.

In this example, we explored an architect's workplace values, starting with a “brain dump” onto a giant digital canvas. There’s no need for hierarchy or organization at this stage—it’s all about getting everything out in the open, even if it looks messy.

The beauty of this digital approach is its flexibility: ideas can be resized, detailed, grouped, or rearranged. This sets the stage for evaluating, prioritizing, and decision-making. Plus, having a visual record of the process becomes an invaluable tool for future reflection and alignment.

Brainstorming (Part 2)

After the initial brainstorming session (with time to let ideas settle), we visually organize the elements, uncovering new connections and eliminating what doesn’t fit. This process sharpens your focus on what truly matters. Whether you're clarifying values, priorities, or relationships, this exercise is especially powerful for leaders navigating complex challenges. As one client put it, “It’s like Marie Kondo-ing your brain”—bringing clarity and order to your thoughts.

Brain Dump

My visualization process helps you untangle and organize buried thoughts into clear, manageable pieces. Paired with my coaching expertise, we uncover the core issues behind blocks or barriers by identifying hidden themes.

The emphasis is process over product. (It doesn't matter what the resulting graphic looks like...) The clarity gained empowers you to make confident decisions—what to tackle now, what to set aside, and what to let go of entirely.

Ideation + Innovation

A CEO Reconfigures Company Divisions

This busy CEO was tasked with reconfiguring the organizational structure of her company. She had the ideas in her head but needed help seeing the pros and cons of different options.

We drew a "before" and "after" along with a few iterations, and she landed in a solid space, ready to discuss the options with her leadership team.

Professor Busts Through Creative Blocks

Under deadline to finalize the outline of her third book, this tenured Berkeley professor needed help discerning between the academic book she felt she "should" write and the narrative story she longed to write.

In the first of two sessions, our coached graphic mind mapping uncovered the root of the issue, which was not content-related. Understanding the forces at play allowed her to align her head (professional side) and heart (creative side) and commit to an action plan to write two books instead of one.

Capturing Meaning During A Coaching Session

Entrepreneur Develops New Products

Through the graphic coaching process, this creative entrepreneur remembered her core values and identity and gained clarity on the next products to offer her clientele.

Like many graphic mind mapping sessions, the conversation started with a question of what to DO, but as the coaching conversation unfolded, the answers revealed themselves to be much more about "who to BE".

Because once you know who you are and why you're doing something, the "what" and "how" figures itself out.

A Psychologist Uplevels In New Arenas

During this mind mapping session, my psychologist client wanted to the mental noise in her head and gain clarity to forge a path towards a new professional identity.

What was getting in the way were the many competing ideas that had no formal shape yet (too many options!), so we did a visual brain dump, allowing her to see all of the pieces in one place.

Getting it all out "on paper" cleaned up the mental clutter and allowed her, after our session, to evaluate each one and prioritize what to pursue and what to let go of.

Graphic Mind Mapping can be experienced through single sessions or multiple sessions during longer-term projects. Contact Julia for a complimentary consultation.