Lesley has over 25 years experience as a professional trainer with particular expertise, and first-hand experience, in developing leadership skills. She originally trained as a teacher then moved into further & higher education as a senior lecturer at one of the largest Colleges in UK. Her career further developed during eight years in the public sector as an officer in Durham County Council’s education department, where she held a range of responsibilities including support for the provision of management development training for senior leaders in schools.
In 1994, Lesley left full-time employment to set up the first of her own businesses. Within 18 months, this business had a multi-million turnover and 120+ associates. Through her company, Lesley worked extensively with senior leaders in the educational field in the UK, including providing nationally accredited training to the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) alongside fulfilling the role of lead inspector of schools. She expanded this work by training Government Officials in Gibraltar on inspection methodology and has also worked extensively in Spain providing leadership and management conferences and a programme of development workshops for the National Association of British Schools in Spain (NABSS).
Since then, Lesley has been involved in the set up and operational development of several business ventures, including sports-related social enterprises, travel agencies, business to business networking groups and strategic business consultancies. She has amassed a wide range of practical business skills and has experienced mergers, acquisitions, franchising and even voluntary liquidation. She has therefore learnt about business management, development and growth from personal experience, including making some mistakes!
In 2005, Lesley sold her range of business interests and focused her attention on helping people understand how behaviour lies at the heart of effective leadership, communication and performance. She now works internationally in the field of leadership development. She is a regular public speaker and her first book, Who Put You in Charge? was published in January 2010 and will be available as a development programme later this year.
