About
Kristiina Hiukka is a professional leadership coach, consultant, trainer and author, whose leadership philosophy is grounded in the ancient call to action, “Know Thyself” and her principle “live and lead fascinated”.
Leadership is a complex undertaking in an increasingly complex world. She is on a mission to help leaders gain clarity within themselves so that they can simplify the complexities of business and life for themselves and others. Clarity alone is not enough, though – it must be wrapped in compassion. She defines compassion as “Empathy with Action”. Solving the challenges of the complex world needs every brain and heart to bring their clear heads and compassionate hearts to work.
Kristiina coaches her clients to embrace what she calls the “C-Force”. This formidable force consists of their personal Curiosity and Courage, their team’s Communication and Collaboration skills, and their organization’s ability to contribute to innovativeness-Culture. Talk to Kristiina to learn more.
She founded her coaching practice in 2000 and has been helping managers grow into leaders ever since. She finds it especially rewarding to support newly promoted managers, team leaders and executives at Director and VP levels. Professionals in a variety of industries turn to Kristiina at the points of transition to help them gain new perspectives, clarity and focus. She reminds them what really matters to them, guides them to powerful insights and helps them see things afresh even amidst chaos and overwhelm.
She has coached and trained executives in Europe, the U.S., and Canada. Nonprofits and small to midsize tech and gaming companies and larger well-known organizations like American Red Cross, Vulcan Inc., Microsoft, Nokia, and Kodak have called on her to coach their leaders and develop their teams.
Her leadership coaching and team facilitation career combined with teaching at the University of Washington Bothell School of Business has allowed her to bear witness to the creative and resilient human spirit. Her life-design course “Playbook for Life” has been supporting students’ success since 2020.
Kristiina was certified at the Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California (CPCC) and became a credentialed member (PCC) of the International Coach Federation and an Authorized Facilitator of the Team Diagnostic™ methodology in the early 2000’s. She has authored a self-help book, “The Write Life Diary – Write Your Life From Good” to Great (downloadable on this website), and a Finnish college-level textbook, “Tiedon Kauppiaat” (Merchants of Knowledge published by WSOY) for professional service providers about how coaching can serve as an integral tool for their and their teams’ professional growth and for sustained success in business.
She has board leadership experience from the Rainier Club, National Nordic Museum, UW Scandinavian Studies Department and the Finnish School of Seattle.
Kristiina founded and led two international innovation summits (Women in Innovation Summit and Converge@Seattle Pacific Northwest Innovation Summit) that convened business leaders, legislators, innovators, entrepreneurs and experts to explore opportunities to transform the ways we live and work. She has also participated in the leadership of the annual Nordic Innovation Summits at the National Nordic Museum. In addition, her curiosity led her to travel the world interviewing women at midlife a few years ago. She was curious to explore the theme of “Women of Fifty” to make sense of how women in different cultures deal with aging.
Born in Finland, Kristiina earned her B.A. and dual M.A. in applied linguistics & speech communication research at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Kristiina lived in Sweden and Ireland before settling in Seattle in 1994.
Since 2009 she has served as the Honorary Vice Consul of Finland for Washington State. In this capacity she recently assisted in the production of a documentary about Finland, “Happiest Country in the World” to explore the reasons why Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for seven consecutive years. The documentary has been presented on PBS channels in the US and on Finnair’s international flights.
Kristiina loves movies and classical music. This combo led her to write a screenplay about a Conductor. (It is still looking for a producer – let her know if you ‘re interested!)
Connect with Kristiina in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiinahiukka/
In case you’re interested in seeing how Kristiina was knighted for her service to Finland in the Order of the White Rose, check out this video: