Barbara Bengtson '13
CEO and Owner
PhD ’13 (College of Education and Human Development)
Alumni Association Member
About Perception Coaching LLC
Perception Coaching LLC is performance oriented, providing organizations with custom systems of continuous improvement, executive coaching, as well as team development. We support clients to create their place in the world, make space for others, and develop a culture where all can do what they do best to thrive
Address
931 E 9th St Duluth
MN 55805 United States
About Barbara
Perception Coaching LLC provides expert delivery of quality content which meets the unique development needs of diverse clients. It has a mission of talent development and takes this to heart, putting it into practice with staff!
This family business supports clients to do more of what they do best by leveraging the diverse talents of the staff. The founder, Dr. Barbara Bengtson, acts as Consulting Psychologist, Executive Coach, and creates Perception Coaching® content; Haley Bengtson (UMD class of 2019) works as Lead Facilitator and Performance Coach for teams. Their efforts are supported by William Bengtson (UMD class of 2024) who works as bookkeeper
Barb’s love of research and innovation results in strategies and frameworks to cultivate shared language and clear expectations within organizations. Shared language has been especially beneficial to clients as they focus on desirable leadership strategies such as building intentional culture, perceptive delegation, and succession planning, creating organizations that support everyone to do what they do best.
Haley focuses on the individual and is attuned to learner needs, effectively supporting participant engagement in a variety of training and workshop environments. Clients benefit from her close listening skills and ability to recognize intensity and bring out themes in coaching conversations. She especially enjoys helping clients who are seeking to create order among competing priorities.
How It Started:
Barb achieved her PhD in Educational Psychology in 2013, as an educator seeking cognitive-based solutions to support her gifted and talented students' performance. While completing her dissertation, she was selected by her peers for the role of academic coach. As a TOSA (teacher on special assignment), Barb's work focused on supporting teachers and their teams to implement Common Core, Professional Learning Communities, and standards-based grading. The impact Dr. Bengtson’s coaching had on team and individual performance was empowering. As the role evolved, coaching duties diminished and data and assessment priorities increased; Barb missed the satisfaction of supporting the efforts of hard-working, often overburdened teachers as they strived to meet their team and individual development goals.
To fulfill her coaching mission and bring personalized development to a greater audience of high achievers, Dr. Bengtson retired to her hometown of Duluth and founded Perception Coaching LLC. There Barb supports entrepreneurs and executives to explore individual preferences, competencies, and capacity and creates awareness around alternatives and perspectives. This process helps clients’ gifts and talents become more visible by focusing on improved performance.
Perception Coaching LLC became a family business in 2020 when it opened its current location and had to pivot from in-person workshops and coaching to online delivery due to the pandemic. Haley Bengtson was brought in as producer, managing online access, participation, and responding to participant needs as Barb developed and delivered workshops.
Much like the work they do with organizations, internal conversations about culture and expectations supported their growth and the evolution of their roles to those they enjoy today.
