PHONE: 403-710-2286
We Help Clients Achieve Better Business Results
We are passionate about inspiring leadership & team excellence
Overview of Our Services
Organizational Alignment & Culture
High-performing organizations have every level, from the front-line to the C-suite, moving in the same direction. Cortical Consulting & Coaching specializes in aligning your organizations through:
- Organizational assessment, diagnosis and visioning
- Strategic execution and goal alignment workshops
- Organizational structure optimization and accountability reviews
- Culture alignment and transformation
This results in more effective organizations where people are aligned, engaged, and productive.
Value to Organizations:
- Better clarity and alignment to strategy and goals
- Reduced inefficiencies and costs
- Improved attraction and retention
Value to People:
- A work environment that feels supportive and motivating
- Clearer communication, making it easier to understand and meet expectations
Team Dynamics & Performance
In any organization, high-performing teams are the cornerstone to success. Even the most successful teams can struggle with communication, misaligned goals and conflict. We excel at enhancing team dynamics and boosting performance through:
- Team alignment workshops to help teams perform better
- New team standup for success out of the gate
- Techniques to enhance collaboration and resiliency
- Clarify roles and accountabilities to improve productivity
- Understand and leverage conflict to build trust and psychological safety
Teams function best when trust and collaboration are high. Neuroscience shows us how to build these essential elements by understanding the social and emotional drivers of behaviour.
Value to Organizations:
- More productive teams that collaborate well under pressure
- Fewer conflicts and misunderstandings
- Teams that adapt quickly to challenges and change
Value to People:
- A stronger sense of belonging and purpose
- Greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence, which improves teamwork
Change Management
Change is a constant in today's business environment. Our approach combine traditional change methodologies with neuroscience-backed insights to ensure your change is adopted and sustained. We do this through:
- Strategic change readiness and risk assessments
- Stakeholder engagement and change implementation support
- Understanding and leveraging change resistance
Change is difficult because our brains are wired for stability. Applied neuroscience helps us understand the brain's response to change and equips us with strategies to reduce resistance, boost engagement, and make transitions smoother.
Value to Organizations:
- Smoother transitions and reduced resistance and disengagement
- Align messages with how people process information for higher engagement
- Sustainable change by reinforcing new behaviours or ways of working
Value to People:
- Reduced stress as employees feel more supported during periods of change
- By addressing natural emotional responses, employees are more open to change
Leadership Effectiveness and Coaching
Effective leadership is key to organizational success, and the pressures and expectations for leaders are increasing. We work with you to:
- Improve overall leader and team effectiveness in the context of your business
- Develop skills, mindset and behaviours critical to succeed in leading and adapting
- Enhance accountability by setting clear expectations & empowering your team
- One-on-one coaching and team coaching
- Assess leadership development programs for effectiveness
Effective leaders not only drive results but also inspire and support their teams. Integrating how we think, make decisions and communicate can help leaders build trust, motivate their teams, and manage stress effectively.
Value to Organizations:
- Stronger, more capable leaders who drive better results
- Leadership that is adaptable and resilient in the face of challenges
Value to People:
- Leaders who communicate clearly and listen
- A work environment where people feel valued, heard, and supported
Resilience & Adaptability Solutions
In a world of constant change and complexity, learning to be resilient and adaptable is a key factor to success. Cortical Consulting & Coaching can help with:
- Personal resilience and emotional intelligence skill building
- Develop organizational agility by assessing culture, bureaucracy, capabilities
- Lead through uncertainty
- De-escalation, conflict resolution and how to have difficult conversations
Neuroscience shows that resilience is more than just enduring stress; it’s about training the brain to respond better to adversity. Through techniques like emotional regulation and stress management, we help individuals and teams stay calm under pressure and adapt to change more effectively.
Value to Organizations:
- Resilient employees perform better under stress, leading to improved productivity and morale.
- Better customer service: De-escalation and conflict resolution skills can prevent issues from escalating, improving customer relationships.
Value to People:
- Emotional balance: Neuroscience-based emotional intelligence training can help individuals manage stress, stay focused, and perform better.
- Improved job satisfaction: With the skills to handle change and pressure, employees feel more empowered and less overwhelmed.
- Confidence in conflict resolution: Understanding emotional triggers and responses helps employees navigate difficult conversations and situations calmly and effectively.
Where neuroscience meets business
Bridging Business and Science: The Practical Approach
Think of it Like This
Neuroscience is like a blueprint for how people work that helps simplify and optimize human behaviours from the C-suite to the shop floor, revealing what motivates action and decision making. In the same way that engineers study the mechanics of a machine to make it run better, neuroscience helps us study how people think and act, so we can make teams, leaders, and organizations more efficient and effective.
It’s Already Here
Practices like mindfulness for stress reduction, emotional intelligence for leadership, and even understanding behavioural triggers in marketing—all come from neuroscience. And they’re delivering measurable results. Neuroscience isn’t replacing proven business practices—it’s enhancing them.
Why it's Important
Today's businesses face constant change, increasing stress levels, and a need to stay relevant and competitive. Neuroscience gives you a new lens to view these challenges—it’s about using science to make smarter decisions and create environments where people can thrive.
The Competitive Advantage You Didn't Know You Needed
Neuroscience is still evolving, but it’s clear that businesses that embrace these insights can gain additional advantages. By understanding how people work best, companies can create environments that boost productivity, innovation, and employee satisfaction. As we move forward, neuroscience will play a critical role in shaping the future of work, helping organizations become more agile, adaptable, and human-centered.
Our team
Tammy Arseneau, MBA Founder & CEO, Senior Consultant & Coach
Tammy Arseneau, MBA Founder & CEO, Senior Consultant & Coach
Tammy Arseneau, MBA Founder & CEO, Senior Consultant & Coach
Tammy is a highly experienced Human Resources Executive and Organizational Effectiveness Consultant & Coach, based in Calgary, Alberta, with over 25 years of experience in the energy and consulting sectors.
Throughout her career, she has led both large and small teams, focusing on culture transformation, organizational effectiveness, leadership coaching, talent management, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and change management.
With international experience in Canada, the US, and New Zealand, Tammy brings a global perspective to her work. Her strengths lie in her business acumen and ability to work alongside leaders to assess the biggest priorities to drive value. Her natural empathetic style, enables her to build trust quickly and get to the heart of what truly matters.
Mark Zipprick, MBA, MA, Senior Consultant & Coach
Tammy Arseneau, MBA Founder & CEO, Senior Consultant & Coach
Tammy Arseneau, MBA Founder & CEO, Senior Consultant & Coach
Mark is a decisive, versatile, and detail-oriented Business Leader offering 20+ years of experience defining strategic roadmaps, driving transformative projects, and informing organizational direction for industry-leading corporations. He is recognized as an influential change leader who gains consensus amongst – and partners with – key decision-makers to launch new models, programs, and initiatives.
Mark has a passion for front-line employees, including those with challenging customer facing roles. He is skilled at working at all levels of the organization. Mark specializes in leadership and team building, strategic planning and consultation, change and team management, workshop and roadmap design, process analysis and optimization, among many others.
Nancy Penner, M.S., Senior Consultant
Tammy Arseneau, MBA Founder & CEO, Senior Consultant & Coach
Anton Baser, P.Eng., PCC, Senior Consultant
Nancy brings over 25 years of global client service and leadership experience to her consulting practice. She has worked in Canada, the US, Russia, Australia, the Czech Republic and the UK. She holds a M.S. in Organization Development from American University in Washington, DC and a Certificate in Organizational Consultation and Executive Coaching from the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in New York City.
Nancy has applied her strategic organization analysis, work design, leadership and team effectiveness skills in a broad spectrum of business contexts including transformational change, design and implementation of new operating models and organizational structures, executive team alignment, talent, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Nancy’s strength lies in her ability to translate a deep and systemic understanding of complex issues into practical solutions. Her process leverages strong collaboration with leaders and broad employee engagement to set the foundation for lasting change.
Anton Baser, P.Eng., PCC, Senior Consultant
Richard Douglas Burcham, Executive & Board Coach
Anton Baser, P.Eng., PCC, Senior Consultant
Anton brings a record of delivering business value over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience. He has led teams to execute technical projects and transformational programs in the energy, manufacturing, and technology industries. Anton leverages his professional skillsets in engineering, projects, and coaching to help STEM leaders transform their organizations and create more effective and innovative work environments. His collaborative consulting approach focuses on aligning the business strategy with an effective operating model, culture, and team dynamics.
Cheryl Fernandes, ABC, Communications Executive
Richard Douglas Burcham, Executive & Board Coach
Richard Douglas Burcham, Executive & Board Coach
With a passion for storytelling and a proven track record in public relations, Cheryl is a seasoned communications and PR executive based in Toronto. She brings more than two decades of experience in internal and external communications, media relations, crisis management and social media spanning consumer products, banking and financial services and retail industries, in Canada, the United States and Pakistan.
Most recently she was the Director of Communications at Loblaw, the largest grocery and pharmacy retailer in Canada, where she helped grow their financial business by driving compelling executive communications, employee engagement and creating innovative PR campaigns to bring the best value of financial products and services to Canadians.
Cheryl is a passionate advocate for Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace and cares deeply about building connections and culture and sharing her experience as an immigrant to help others. Outside of work, she is a proud hockey mom who believes in the power of team spirit and a gym junkie who loves to crush personal bests!
Richard Douglas Burcham, Executive & Board Coach
Richard Douglas Burcham, Executive & Board Coach
Richard Douglas Burcham, Executive & Board Coach
Doug has spent his 36+-year career leading teams in both the Professional Services and Architecture/Construction Industries across North America. Serving in various Service Line, Industry and Corporate Diversity Leadership roles, he has worked with Executives, Boards, and teams to reach professional goals and balance those with their personal goals. His experience includes building and growing consulting practices for two Big 4 Consulting Firms and leading large construction project teams for a global Architecture and Engineering firm, achieving Associate Partner/Partner titles at each firm. Personally, Doug has served on Boards for a non-profit LGBT+, healthcare service provider in the USA and a National Sports Organization in Canada. Doug defines his coaching target market as high potential individuals and teams in professional services and private industry, who want to realize their full potential. He focuses on coaching clients on becoming stronger, transparent and impactful leaders. Doug's diverse experience provides insight into the components of successful career transitions, collaborative teaming, and transparent leadership, and helps in partnering with those he works with in a coaching relationship.
Alisha O'Neill, MBA, CPHR Senior Consultant & Coach
Kathleen McMillan, Organizational Change & Communications Consultant
Kathleen McMillan, Organizational Change & Communications Consultant
Alisha brings over 20 years of diverse experience across sales management, human resources,
project management, focusing on transformation and integration programs. With her resourceful and
inclusive approach, Alisha collaborates with project teams and senior leadership to drive strategic
outcomes, culture change, and program effectiveness. As a Certified Coach in Learning Agility, Alisha
specializes in helping individuals and organizations learn and adapt to change, fostering a continuous
learning and resilient culture to increase performance and potential. Her expertise includes guiding
senior leadership teams through transformational change, facilitating team effectiveness, development, and coaching individuals to realize their full potential. Known for her exceptional professionalism, integrity, and dedication, Alisha is highly regarded for her ability to bring clarity to multifaceted initiatives. Her thoughtful, insightful approach to challenges and
her commitment to building strong, inclusive cultures leave a lasting impact on the teams she works
with. A servant leader at heart, Alisha excels at developing and empowering others to create meaningful change in themselves and their organizations.
Kathleen McMillan, Organizational Change & Communications Consultant
Kathleen McMillan, Organizational Change & Communications Consultant
Kathleen McMillan, Organizational Change & Communications Consultant
Kathleen is a Prosci certified change practioner and works with people to reimagine human-centered change that is activated through vision and purpose, to make magic happen. With expertise developed over the last five years as an organizational change management (OCM) lead and more than a decade as a communicator, learning coach, business advisor, and systems thinker, she helps leaders elevate technology and human resources change to realize transformational goals. Along with certifications in Prosci Change Management and Business Process Management from Mount Royal University, her Deloitte and independent consulting and industry exposure to large-scale, enterprise-wide projects includes Workday, SAP, ServiceNow, and Canvas. Her ability to identify organizational effectiveness maturity gaps and opportunities has been developed through more than a dozen change management projects spanning global and Canadian private sector industries from energy, software, agriculture, and insurance, to public sector clients in higher education as well as engineering infrastructure. With a motto that “everything is figure-outable”, she provides thought-partnership to executive sponsors as well as leaders and their teams, by building authentic relationships defined by trust, empathy, and proven outcomes
Client Testimonials
Hear from one of our clients!
"I truly can’t say enough how beneficial that workshop was to our team members. Many said they felt it was some of the best personal development work they had done and felt you truly saw each participant for who they were, challenged their thinking in a beneficial way, and fostered connections within the team.
I don’t think we have had a workshop in my 6 years at Kal Tire where I have received so much positive feedback, so THANK YOU on behalf of each of us for your time and support."
Kaytee, Executive Assistant / Women in Operations (Team Member Resource Group)
