Coaching & Assessment Practice Leader
Craig Stanton, a Senior Consultant and Executive Coach with Innolect Inc., is a retired senior federal executive and executive coach with more than two decades of experience working at the intersection of leadership, governance and human development. He partners with leaders who carry significant responsibility and are navigating complexity, transition or inflection points in their work and lives.
Craig’s coaching focuses on helping leaders become more fully themselves by making visible the assumptions, habits and internal patterns that quietly shape how they lead. Rather than emphasizing techniques or performance fixes, his work centers on increasing awareness, choice, and integrity, so leaders can act with greater clarity, freedom and responsibility in moments that matter.
Before becoming a full-time coach, Craig served in multiple Senior Executive Service roles across the federal government, including leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. His work spanned policy, budgeting, administration and organizational leadership, often in complex environments where he led large-scale change initiatives with decisions carried real human consequence. This experience gives him a grounded understanding of the pressures leaders face—and the cost of leading without reflection.
As a coach and organizational development consultant, Craig has worked with leaders across government and corporate sectors including healthcare, law, construction, technology, and nonprofit organizations. His style is marked by deep listening, candor, and a steady, nonjudgmental presence. Clients often describe his coaching as clarifying and grounding—helping them see their situations more clearly and respond with intention rather than habit.
Craig is an MCC-level coach certified through the International Coach Federation. He has served as faculty in university-based coach training programs at Georgetown University, Rutgers University, and American University, and he brings a strong grounding in developmental theory, systems thinking and appreciative inquiry to his work.
Craig holds a Juris Doctor and an M.A. in English from the University of Virginia, with additional postgraduate study in leadership and well-being. He lives in Frederick, Maryland with his wife, Michelle, and their dogs. Outside of work, he enjoys restoring historic homes, reading widely, writing, and spending time outdoors—practices that reflect his belief that leadership, like life, requires both attention and care.
