Author Q&A With R. Karl Hebenstreit, PhD, PCC, PHR

Karl is a certified Executive Coach, Leadership/Team/Organization Development Consultant, and international speaker with over 25 years of experience coaching leaders and their teams (from Individual Contributors to CEOs across myriad industries and sectors) to work better together and consistently exceed their organizations’ goals.  He holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology and has authored three books. Karl is an “International Enneagram Association (IEA) Accredited Professional with Distinction,” an “IEA Accredited Professional, Provider, Teacher,” and an Integrative9 Faculty member.  He is motivated by seeing his clients achieve their full potential, professionally and personally. Meet Karl:

You are an author, but is it your day job? If not, what fills your days? My books complement my “day job” of being a speaker, certified executive coach, and leadership, team, and organization development consultant.  I was an internal consultant for almost 30 years, and 4.5 years ago took the leap into solopreneurship, engaging in the diversity of work that keeps me energized and helping my clients realize positive changes and impacts.

Did you always want to be an author? Absolutely not!  After 27 years of going to school, reading countless books, and writing hundreds of papers and a thesis, I was exhausted and burned out!  I was done!  I didn’t want to pick up another book to read, let alone write one!  And it was never a goal of mine to write a book, especially after a 136-page dissertation!  Alas, life and the universe have a way of pushing you to do things that you may not want but are meant to do.  I was introduced to the Enneagram during the very beginning of my doctoral degree and ended up writing my dissertation on it. Fortuitously, my “day job” allowed me to dive deeper into applying the Enneagram system to solve myriad business challenges through various organizational development interventions.  

I started presenting these practical applications at Enneagram conferences around the world.  At one such conference in Canada, one of the session attendees came up to me at the end and asked me, “So when’s the book coming out?” I was taken aback. People were interested in my work and wanted me to share it with the world.  So, I took on the project, and in 2016, nine years after my dissertation, I self-published “The How and Why: Taking Care of Business with the Enneagram.”  It’s now in its third edition (in color!) and has won the PenCraft Award for Business in 2025, and is a consistent conference best-seller, wherever I speak!

Another recently published book is Explicit Expectations: The Essential Guide & Toolkit of Management Fundamentals. This book was inspired by a project I was hired to do for a start-up, where individual contributors were being promoted into their first people management role but had no formal training, support, a common language, or a playbook to reference.  I created a toolkit for them based on their needs, and then realized there were many others going through the same challenging situation. This book has been awarded the Axiom Award for business books and has been converted into an AI-delivered e-learning course.

How do you hope your book will uplift readers? The underlying message in all three of my books so far (and the fourth one on which I’m working!) is that we need to expand our mindsets and worldviews beyond our comfort zones and defaults to see that there are other ways of looking at any situation, that those perspectives are equally valid, and integrating them actually provides us with a more robust and accurate view of what is really going on and how to best handle any situation. These insights, in turn, help people adopt a more systemic, empathic approach, increasing emotional intelligence and relational effectiveness (and becoming better human beings!).

What are you most excited about with this book? With all my books, I strive to make the world a better place.  I’m excited to see people resonate with the concepts and apply them to become better leaders and human beings.

How did writing a book help your career take off? Being an author and having a published book brings with it a certain gravitas and credibility that some people seek out when hiring a consultant, coach, or speaker.  These books are also powerful ways to ensure that the lessons and insights are sustainable beyond the speaking event or workshop, when you’re not physically there (but your message is).

What advice would you give someone wanting to succeed in your professional industry? Build, nurture, and leverage your network.  They know you, your work, your work ethic, your strengths, your talents, and your value, and they want you to succeed. And they know a lot more people you don’t already know to whom they can sing your praises. They can serve as sounding boards, sources of support, references, and referrals for your business.  Stay relevant, certified, and cognizant of what’s going on and what’s new, and how you can add value in all those new situations.  Market yourself.

How do you handle setbacks and criticism? One of the concepts and success factors for change, coaching, and, basically, any interventions is readiness. I tend to reframe setbacks and criticism in terms of readiness. The person isn’t yet ready to receive this framework or see its value. The organization isn’t ready for this intervention.  I’m not ready to be the right solution for them.  The match isn’t right … at this moment in time (although it could be later, or maybe never). And that’s OK.  

It took me a long time to realize that you can’t always be all things to all people; trying to do so is futile, energy-wasting, frustrating, and disappointing. Focus on where the readiness and match exist – and there are plenty of places where they do.  Go be where you’re wholly embraced, not ignored and debased.  Caveat: when you hear the same message multiple times from different sources, it’s likely a theme highlighting a blind spot you need to consider and address. We shouldn’t be running off responding to every single one-off, outlier, and anomalous comment. But when it becomes a theme, there may be something more for us to learn and grow from. In my Enneagram work, we teach that we should first allow ourselves to feel the emotions surrounding a loss, disappointment, or failure in a healthy way.  Then, identify what is possible, and what else may have been made available now that the former option is closed off.  Finally, make a logical plan for a new direction/solution and execute on it.

Being an author today is like running a business.  How do you manage your publicity and social media and maintain engagement with readers? I hired a publicist for my children’s book and learned a lot from her.  Being a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and attending one of their conferences also taught me some tips and techniques for building visibility. As I mentioned previously, your network is your greatest asset for support and business development.  

I have tried many other routes (speaker’s bureaus, staffing vendor tables at conferences, taking out ads, LinkedIn Sales Navigator memberships, etc.) and can honestly and experientially say that the majority of my business comes through my network. This requires staying top of mind and relevant to your network.  I do this by regularly sharing industry and profession-relevant articles, research studies, and events (that support my brand), participating in and sharing podcasts, writing articles, speaking at conferences, and sharing my events and engagements on social media 

How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals you set forth? Going back to my theme about readiness, I am a firm believer in flowing with the universe and current needs.  My PhD took eight years to complete because I undertook it part-time, working during the day and taking courses at night.  I knew I was going to complete it, but I didn’t set a deadline that would create angst or put me into debt.  I wrote the children’s book in one evening, when inspiration hit, and had it illustrated, formatted, and published within nine weeks of that evening. I started my second book right after publishing my first, but never felt I had the right structure or flow for it. I’m still working on it and have published the children’s book (all six translations), two more editions of the first book, and the most recent business book in the meantime. I feel that the inspiration to get out what’s in me is far more important and will result in far better and more meaningful content than a deadline can produce. 

How do you structure your day to make time for writing? When I was writing my very rule-following, structure-dependent dissertation, I was very regimented and wrote every single day when I got home from work, up until I went to bed. The TV may or may not have been on in the background. The children’s book was written in one evening while I was sitting in bed, and inspiration struck; I didn’t even know what Nina’s difficult decision would be until the very end! My creative writing is very inspiration-based, and the structure follows: I don’t force readiness. And, upon reflection, my writing is priority-oriented – what’s most important to get out into the world at this moment?  What’s the appetite for this?  How can/will this create the most positive impact to change the world for the better? 

What do you find most fulfilling in the career you have chosen? I absolutely love what I do. It energizes and drives me to inspire people to see themselves and the world differently and more fully, to make positive change and impact the world, and to help them achieve the goals they’ve set for themselves while optimizing their potential.

What book uplifts you? Whichever book I’m currently reading, if I’m reading it, it’s serving an immediate purpose for uplifting me in what I need at that moment!

Anything else you would like to share with our readers? Everyone has a book or story within them to share.  The most difficult part is starting.  Just sit down and start writing. You can always change it, reorder it, and make it make more sense later, after you see what you’ve written!

Connect with Karl and learn more about his work and books on his website.