About Lea McLeod, M.A.

It’s a pleasure to meet you!

I started my career wholly unprepared. I still remember that last day of college, the feeling that all the stuff was packed in the car, and time was moving on, but I didn’t feel like I was ready or knew how to move with it.

At the time the world was much bigger, and far more forgiving. I was lucky that the relatively unhurried pace of business accommodated my extended learning curve.

I had no specific career plan when I started out. As my journey continued I realized my path was more a matter of being prepared and reaching for the next “right” opportunity, rather than following a prescribed path.

Developing Patterns of Success

Through this first-hand knowledge, I developed Degrees of Transition which is based on harvesting my observations from the time I ventured out into the professional world to today. Namely:

  • That the move from college to career is a major life transition, rich and complex, and sometimes unnerving; and we need to spend a little more time talking about it and working through it.
  • That the path a career takes may be circuitous and often accidental in the long-term. But foundational skills constructed early in one’s career provide a strong platform on which to build future achievement – no matter where the path takes you.
  • That “fearless self leadership” is your life’s work. Only when we lead ourselves can we expand to manage, serve or lead others.
  • That throughout any career, change is constant, and there are myriad things over which we have no control. If we learn that early on, and understand how to transition through these changes, life and work will be an infinitely more rewarding journey.

Our curriculum is based on building the fundamental work skills to manage yourself as you begin this new phase of your life, and, to work effectively in relationships with others.

The “Find a Job Faster” System for recent grads

Once I began working with young adults on their professional personas, I was approached by many others who still needed help finding work.

The recent grad is a unique job search candidate. The self-marketing and promotion is very new, and often uncomfortable, to them. The ability to articulate their qualities and value proposition to employers is unfamiliar territory.

And they like to look for jobs online. Which is great, but it’s one of the least likely ways they will actually secure a job.

So I started my Find a Job Faster program to help them create a three pronged approach to the job search:

1. CREATE a comprehensive job search strategy.
2. CRAFT crystal clear, consistent and focused marketing messages.
3. CRUSH the interview.

For more information on Find a Job Faster, go here.

What do you want to know about me?

On the Great Wall of China, near Beijing.

I’ve spent my career working in organizations and leading global teams and people. I’ve been blessed to travel the world working with the amazing people who made me look like a rock star as a leader and manager.

As  importantly, I have the ability to see, and bring out, what others often cannot see in themselves. It is great, important work. I love helping people transform their lives, and begin to grasp their full potential.

At the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India. A magical place.

I take a strategic view, and I see what “could be” in people, processes and situations. I’ve only recently realized what a gift this is, and I’m grateful.

I am a proud mom!
I am the proud mom of Colin, an Oregon State University graduate who is now happily ensconced in a Big 4 accountancy firm. It’s been kind of like a living laboratory around here!

I have two odd names….
Lea is pronounced LEE, like the noun, and rhymes with the beverage, tea.
McLeod, is pronounced MCCLOUD. The pronunciation is confusing but the spelling is authentically Scottish!

Lea and son Colin at OSU graduation, June 2012.

You will likely pronounce both of them incorrectly at some point. You wouldn’t be the first. I get over it pretty quickly.  ; )

I make the best chocolate chip cookies, ever.
Soft and chewy, not hard and crispy, just so you know.

The fine print.
Here’s the real career stuff. Most recently, I led a global, virtual team as a Director level manager at Hewlett-Packard, delivering programs and services with $1.3 billion in spend to over 300,000 worldwide employees.

I’ve managed programs in procurement, facilities, travel and meeting services. I’ve worked in sales, account management and provided leadership and direction to associations at both the local and national level.

I’ve volunteered and helped fund-raise for non-profits;  from churches, to food banks, to hand-up organizations serving the local community.

Wilsonville Community Sharing  currently receives a portion of the proceeds from my business. Read more here.

I hold a master’s degree in Organization Development from Seattle University and a business degree in Marketing from St. Bonaventure University. I am a member of the Oregon Organization Development Network,  the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

For my complete resume with all the details, go here: http://linkedin.com/in/leamcleod

Thanks for stopping by. I hope we get to work together.