Hi.  I’m Leslie.

I am a facilitator, trainer, speaker, author, and guide.

I believe in people, in our basic goodness, and in our human capacity to care for one another.

I believe that being connected – to our own purpose, to each other, and to our highest aspirations – is our natural and desired state of being.  

I believe that the path toward real change emerges as people come together and grapple with the difficult issues that usually impede our progress.

In a world that so rarely honors or supports connectivity, standing for human connection is a radical act, and one that empowers us to achieve a new vision for the future.

This is Big Work… it’s heart work, not head work.

Big Work is about the perspectives, tools, insights, and courage we need to create and facilitate connection – with ourselves and others – so we can all play our parts in moving the world toward a better future.

Tenets of Big Work 

We are hungry for meaningful connection.

Self-awareness + skillful action produces meaningful connection.

We are courageous when we’re connected.

Meaningful connection generates the trust and courage required to lean into uncertainty. 

We move more boldly when we move together.

Courage + thoughtful engagement makes bold, creative action possible.

About Me

My deepest purpose and highest aspiration are to offer and inspire the connections we crave so that we can do the Big Work we’re here to do. 

I’m here to spark people’s desire for connection and expand their capacity to build the connections that enable us to do things differently and produce different results.  That looks like training, individual and organizational coaching, speaking, writing, facilitating – all in service to providing tools, perspectives, insights, and experiences that inspire people to connect and do Big Work together.

Growing up in Nebraska, engaging with friends and colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis, and decades of doing Big Work with a wide variety of partners - from starting schools for children who are deaf and hard of hearing to training leaders and building culture in a growing subsidiary of a national bank –I have learned that there are simple tools, approaches, and perspectives that create connection.  I have seen how connection generates the courage that enables us to navigate the in-between times to produce new and often unexpected and powerful outcomes.


Author of Amazon best-selling book, Finding Time to Lead.

"Finding Time to Lead compels us to explore the intersection of what it means to be a leader and to be human.  Leslie brings a no bull-shit, straight-talk perspective to the unique responsibility of leadership - with compelling real-life stories and a clear pathway to guide the very human leader inside us all."

- Dean Carter, Head of Finance, HR and Legal at Patagonia

"Finding Time to Lead is accessible and still profoundly connected to the deeper concepts in leadership theory.  This book is a practical guide that will be very helpful to all managers, not just CEOs, who wish to practice the art of leadership."

- Paul Eichen, Founder and CEO of Rockenbok Education