Take a look at Kara Lindstrom’s soon to-be-released Leadership Tarot deck

Technologist and management consultant Kara Lindstrom found herself reaching for inspiration.

Lindstrom launched her consulting business at the very beginning of 2020, and based her client work on leadership-focused neuroscience practice. She’d begun collecting metaphors and research aids to work with instead of giving folks a blank canvas to start — “I’ve always been a collector,” she told Technical.ly while sitting in front of a bright gallery wall in her South Philly home — and that collection eventually became a set of cards she’d jokingly refer to as her “leadership tarot” deck.

A client heard the term and convinced her to make the deck something official.

So over the last year, Lindstrom has created a prototype that she’s trialed with clients. Before a physical deck existed, she’d been using a virtual edition. The cards aim to help clients define their leadership style in a few ways. One is the more traditional three-card pull in tarot, to help a client interpret and define their leadership context, style and vibe. Clients can also pull one card if they need inspiration, or use them as reminders of their aspirational leadership style.

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Following rules or guidelines associated with tarot isn’t necessary, Lindstrom said. It’s more about helping you through your management journey.

“All these different things are really just tools, and these types of tools are helpful because they are reflection-based,” she said. “I didn’t specifically consult on how does one tarot, saw a lot of practices to draw from, paired with the cognitive neuroscience information that I was reading.”

To bring the card deck to life, Lindstrom connected with artist Trisha Srivastava through the Freelancing Females network, and after about a year of work, the Leadership Tarot deck will begin shipping the second week of May. The 2022 edition costs $45, or $200 for a five-deck pack.

You might pull cards like the fern, which represents how fractal, small solutions might make a big impact, or the gardener, which shows that patience might be the key to a situation.

“The images and themes in the deck follow the overall theme around positivity. You won’t find a card that says, like, ‘dumpster fire,'” Lindstrom said. “We’re using it to activate future thinking, and to put one in a positive mindset.”

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