Sarah Kundla
Founder & Facilitator, Questing Insight | Emotional Intelligence & Leadership Development • Helping Teams Work Better Together • Speaker & Workshop Trainer
Columbus, Ohio, United States
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Sarah Kundla has always been curious about people: how we communicate, how we learn, and how our experiences and environments shape the way we see the world. That curiosity grew through years of teaching, facilitating, and living and working across cultures, where she saw firsthand how differently people can approach the same conversation, relationship, or challenge.
Today, Sarah is the founder of Questing Insight, where she turns that curiosity into practical learning experiences focused on emotional intelligence, communication, and leadership development. As a speaker, facilitator, and designer, she blends research with real-world experience and storytelling to help people better understand themselves and the people they work with.
Sarah has trained more than 1,900 professionals across the U.S. and internationally, is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, and has spoken at conferences including Learn & Lead, WITCON, and CodeMash. At the heart of her work is a simple goal: helping people become more thoughtful about how they communicate, more curious about perspectives beyond their own, and ultimately, better at working with other humans.
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Character Creation: Building Your Leadership Character Sheet
You wouldn't start a campaign without knowing your stats. At work, most of us do exactly that. This session is for anyone who wants more influence at work without becoming someone they're not. Alongside the leadership work, you'll also pick up general resume and LinkedIn tips to round out how you present that influence beyond the room. You'll build your own leadership character sheet, mapping your natural strengths, current gaps, and the specific behaviors that build trust and informal influence over time. You'll set your campaign goals, your main quest and the side quests that support it, and call out the boss battles already on your calendar so you can prepare for them, while an Equipment & Inventory exercise names the tools and traits you already carry that help you succeed. Using a hands-on radial chart exercise, you'll get a clear, personal read on where you're already strong and where a small shift could change how people see you. You leave this session with your own completed character sheet, and a first move already picked out for the stat you're ready to level up.
Equipped to Lead: Building Your Leadership Inventory
Every leader walks into the room carrying something: a skill, a habit, a trusted resource, sometimes without remembering why it's still in the pack. Not everything in there is pulling its weight. This session is for anyone leading, formally or informally, who's never stopped to take inventory of what they're actually carrying. In this interactive session, you'll run an inventory check on your own leadership equipment: the skills, experience, relationships, habits, and assumptions you bring into every challenge. Through guided reflection and group discussion, you'll sort what's actually working from what's just taking up space, then land on a simple framework for what to add, what to upgrade, and what to finally leave behind. You leave with a clear-eyed read on your own leadership inventory and a plan for what's worth upgrading before your next encounter. No D&D experience required, just a willingness to see what you're carrying.
Think Quickly, Speak Clearly: Techniques for Mastering Impromptu Speaking
"Do you have anything you'd like to share?" That moment of panic when you're unexpectedly put on the spot doesn't have to derail your credibility. This tactical session combines time-tested presentation techniques with modern coaching tools to help you think clearly and speak confidently when life demands impromptu brilliance. You'll explore structured frameworks like Japan's PechaKucha format for concise storytelling and the Minto Pyramid Principle used in European business settings for crystal-clear communication. Attendees will discover quick mental frameworks for organizing thoughts under pressure, discover emotion-regulation tactics that keep you grounded when stakes are high, and learn how to use conversation simulators to practice speaking frameworks in a low-risk environment. Walk away with the tools to turn impromptu speaking moments from a source of anxiety into opportunities to win others over with poise and clarity.
When Feedback Backfires: Strategies for Conversations That Actually Create Change
You had the best intentions, but somehow your feedback created defensiveness instead of growth; awkwardness instead of improvement. Delivering constructive feedback can spectacularly backfire when it lacks emotional intelligence, especially with defensive, disengaged, or high-performing colleagues who seem impossible to reach. This session reveals why traditional feedback approaches fail and introduces emotionally intelligent strategies enhanced by AI practice tools that help feedback actually land and create positive change. You'll discover how to craft messages that motivate rather than deflate, explore the psychological barriers that trigger defensive reactions, and learn to tailor your approach based on different personality types. Walk away with a complete feedback framework that transforms dreaded performance conversations into trust-building opportunities for growth, complete with coaching tools to build your confidence before high-stakes discussions.
Emotional Intelligence at Work: Choosing the Right Model for Leadership Success
Which emotional intelligence framework delivers the greatest impact for today's leaders—and does it even matter? While millions are spent on employee soft skills development training, many don't realize they're choosing between fundamentally different approaches that can lead to vastly different outcomes. In this session, we’ll demystify the three dominant emotional intelligence models reshaping workplace performance and discover which approach delivers the greatest impact for specific challenges. You'll explore Mayer-Salovey's Four-Branch Ability Model (focusing on emotional problem-solving skills), Bar-On's EQ-i 2.0 Mixed Model (emphasizing 15 competencies across five domains), and Goleman's Workplace Competency Model (targeting performance-based emotional skills). Recognizing the strengths and blind spots of each framework, you’ll learn when to apply ability-based versus competency-based approaches, and will walk away with a customizable EQ development roadmap and coaching tools to turn everyday workplace challenges into catalyst moments for emotional intelligence growth.
CodeMash Great Lakes 2027 Sessionize Event Upcoming
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