Professional Development

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

The Philly technologist and consultant began collecting research and images to illustrate the navigation of leadership styles. And last year, she turned that work into a beautiful pocket deck.

The Leadership Tarot deck. (Courtesy photo)
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.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQL4Ti8D9tJ/

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.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbFxDGDuTlC/

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

How one-click job listings overtook the process — and slowed down tech hiring

Every startup community wants ‘storytelling.’ Too few are doing anything about it.

A Philly advocate takes over AnitaB.org’s community branch ahead of Grace Hopper Celebration

The AI will see you now: How artificial intelligence is changing healthcare — and might become your best advocate

Technically Media