About Chris Waugh
Experienced Leadership. Practical Results.
For more than 30 years, I’ve helped organizations regain momentum when important priorities stall. As a seasoned executive-for-hire, I don’t work from the sidelines. I step in as part of your leadership team, bringing experience and added leadership capacity when growth, change, transitions, or competing priorities stretch your team too thin.
Whether serving as a fractional, interim, or part-time executive, or leading a strategic initiative, my goal is the same: help you move important work forward.
A Different Kind of Leadership
You might need advice.
Or, you might need someone who can step in, earn trust quickly, and help lead the work.
That’s where I come in.
I become part of your team—bringing executive experience, structure, accountability, and a calm perspective to complex situations until you regain momentum.
What Clients Value
- A steady, experienced leadership presence
- A trusted and confidential sounding board
- Clarity when decisions get complex
- Practical solutions that create forward movement
- The ability to quickly become part of the team
Don't become the bottleneck
For a manufacturing company, Chris helped lead two major priorities: relocating the manufacturing operation and achieving an important quality certification — without disrupting customer orders. Rather than managing every detail herself, she built a team capable of owning the work and gave them the support and authority to succeed.
The result: The operation moved without missing a customer shipment, and the company passed its quality certification on the first round.
Experience That Translates Across Industries
Every organization is different, but the leadership challenges you face are remarkably familiar.
Throughout my career, I’ve partnered with businesses, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, educational institutions, financial organizations, public agencies, and community organizations across the Pacific Northwest.
Representative organizations include:
- Georgia-Pacific
- Chinook Winds Casino
- Weyerhaeuser
- Umpqua Bank
- Oregon Alliance of YMCAs
- Samaritan Pacific Community Hospital Foundation
- Vintage Underground
Leadership In Action
Leadership isn’t something I only talk about—it’s something I’ve lived.
Since joining Rotary in 1987, I’ve served in numerous leadership roles. Most recently, as District Governor for Rotary District 5110, I worked alongside leaders across Oregon and Northern California in an organization of nearly 2,700 members across 69 clubs.
That experience reinforced something I’ve learned throughout my career: leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about helping people stay aligned, navigate complexity, and keep moving forward—even when demands exceed available capacity.
Why the Aviation Connection?
Throughout much of my leadership career, I spent my weekends flying hang gliders.
One of the first lessons every pilot learns is that turbulence isn’t always something to avoid. Often, it’s where the lift is.
Organizations aren’t all that different.
Growth, change, uncertainty, and transition often create turbulence. They also create opportunity. Leaders who recognize the lift within that turbulence—and have the capacity to act on it—can regain momentum and move farther than they thought possible.
That’s why “Find the Lift” has become more than a flying lesson. It’s the philosophy behind how I work with organizations every day.
Because even in turbulence, there’s lift to be found.
Ready to Turn Priorities into Progress?
The best place to start is a conversation.
We’ll talk about your organization, the priorities that matter most, and whether bringing in a fractional executive makes sense. If there’s a good fit, I’ll recommend the kind of support that will help you regain momentum. If not, I’ll tell you that, too.