Johnine Byrnes
Graphic Facilitator
seeyourwords.com
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Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Leslie many times. No matter the client or their particular goals, Leslie has the ability to inspire. She is engaging, a natural storyteller. Her passion for what she does and for people is evident to anyone who has the opportunity to interact with her. I feel lucky to call her a colleague and a friend.
Craig Dorn
President and CEO
Youth Opportunities Unlimited
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When I became CEO, I recognized that my senior team was very talented, and at the same time, I sensed that we were not working seamlessly together to maximize these talents. For about a year, I tried to address this matter on my own but soon realized I needed help. Enter Leslie Yerkes. After vetting possible partners to help me with this work, I chose Leslie because of our alignment on values, especially the overarching ideal to build on strengths and to approach the work through a very positive lens. For a year, Leslie worked with me and the senior team to unpack the many, many layers of issues that were underlying our team’s less-than-functional dynamic. We talked about trust, emotional intelligence, learning and leadership styles, decision-making, and organizational culture, just to name a few. Early on in the process, one of our senior leaders died suddenly. Leslie was extremely helpful in showing us how to navigate this sad and sensitive scenario. Leslie’s contribution to Y.O.U. made us much better. Concepts she introduced have helped make Y.O.U. a better place to work. My favorite example is introducing us to the book “It’s the Manager”
Delane Sloan
F and P America
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In 2013, as I looked at our organization, we had done an excellent job expanding our technical skills and successfully managing our production. However, we realized that in order to become a world-class company, we needed to develop our soft side competencies as well. This meant developing our leadership skills. I began some research on leadership development programs, which ultimately led me to Leslie Yerkes and Catalyst Consulting. She introduced us to the Managerial Assessment of Proficiency (MAP) and Managing to Excel Program. To date, we have had 67 of our team members go through the year-long program. Our participants consistently give positive feedback on the program and have gained a much deeper understanding of the work it takes to be a leader and the tools required. Leslie has been key in helping us understand that relationships and leadership are just as important as making quality automotive parts.
Charlotte Rerko
President and CEO
The Achievement Center of Erie
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I met Leslie Yerkes in early 2000, In her progressive role as consultant she was charged with leading the Senior Team at Recovery Resources in building trust and agency integration following a merger. Today, decades later Leslie is working with me as a consultant at the Achievement Center of Erie, PA. Working with Leslie over the past years, I would be remiss not to say Leslie Yerkes is my teacher, my mentor, my confidant, and my friend. She is a fearless advocate for change and growth, both personal and professional.
I remember Leslie saying when we first met, that once she works with an organization, that organization stays with her — always. Yes, Leslie demonstrates exceptional quality in her work; she always goes above and beyond; her follow-through is impeccable; and her drive is exceptional. Leslie is a loyalist in every sense of the word; she is engaging and passionate, bringing trust to the relationship and treating everyone as equals. In her loyal way, Leslie brings a democratic approach to others and will fight for the powerless and disenfranchised. I have witnessed her unlock the most silent of voices in her kind and gentle way.
Leslie is an innovative systems thinker. She has a keen ability to take on complex organizations, synthesize large amounts of information into manageable action items, establish outcomes, and oversee the finer details. During the critical work at the Achievement Center, she successfully combined strategic thinking with organizational culture and has been the catalyst for reinventing the agency’s values. She not only facilitated building trust, accountability, and culture among senior staff, but these changes were taken to all staff and to the core of the organization.
Leslie guided the Achievement Center in the culture change by introducing the organization to Appreciative Inquiry and this statement, which became our philosophy: “Change your questions, change your life.” She challenged us to truly trust each other. The Achievement Center Leadership dared to go down the path of building trust, understanding how building trust is a process and that breaking trust can happen in a second. Leslie dared us to come to each other vulnerable and called us to our personal growth as well as the professional growth of the team.
My journey with Leslie Yerkes, though decades old and through multiple organizations, has only just begun. I welcome all that is yet to come.
Todd Silverman
President
Plantscaping, Inc.
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For more than a decade, Leslie has helped me grow and develop both as a leader and as an individual. See Leslie works on both the head and the heart and pushes you to be the best version of yourself at work and at play. She does this with solid business strategy, empathy, and always a focus on creating a positive company culture. When you “hire” Leslie, you get her 24/7 as she is fully engaged in thoughtful and considerate ways to leverage your strengths. The two most distinguishing features of forming a partnership with Leslie are
1) she cares deeply and personally about you and your success,
2) She will never stop trying to help you; she’s relentless in this way!
My work with Leslie has given me the confidence and inspiration to lead a 41-year-old family business during these challenging times. She is a wonderful motivator, teacher, and public speaker, She is able to provide direct guidance and a shot in the arm to go forth and conquer! Her Organizational Behavior background helps her quickly read people within the various departments and identify the root of the problems. Leslie’s analysis is nearly always spot on, and her approach generates momentum toward concrete solutions!
Vicki Smigelski
Board Member
Lakewood Congregation Church
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I have worked with Leslie Yerkes for nearly ten years with two organizations working on several different projects. Leslie assisted the Lakewood Alumni Foundation as it pivoted its mission and changed its name to the Lakewood Rangers Education Foundation. Leslie also facilitated an in-depth visioning process for Lakewood Congregational Church as we began the process of searching for a new senior minister when our beloved, tenured senior pastor announced his retirement. She then provided guidance to the Search Committee as they called a new senior minister. Most recently, Leslie led a leadership retreat with the church’s Executive Team and staff as we continued to focus on our congregation’s vision and put that vision into a strategic plan. Leslie helped us to remain a healthy organization through a big transition in our congregation.
I am always amazed by Leslie’s ability to listen to her clients as they answer her well-posed questions when she begins to work with them. She takes her paper, folds it in half, and begins writing notes. She asks more questions. She writes more notes. And then, by what appears to be some miracle — but what I have come to learn is due to years of honing her discernment skills, she presents you with a plan for your process. And that plan gets you exactly where you need to go! Leslie understands organizational behavior and uses a myriad of tools to accomplish the task at hand, always making it interesting and easy to stay engaged. She is an excellent meeting facilitator, moving groups to the goals set at the beginning of a session while allowing open dialogue. She delivers what she promises when she promises it. She takes a genuine interest in the health of the organization, following its activities and accomplishments even after her contracted work is completed.
I would enthusiastically recommend Leslie to any organization.
Michael Readinger
President and CEO
The Council for Health & Human Services Ministry, UCC
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A little more than 30 years ago, I had a chance encounter where I met Leslie Yerkes as she arrived at a meeting of a non-profit group she was attending. It was a brief, pleasant, and memorable moment at the time. Fast forward to today, and that meeting has become a journey of Leslie’s unending support through the many phases of my career.
In short, Leslie has been present for me every time I needed her assistance with a project, an event, or a personal issue. In our shared history, we have engaged in board consultations, strategic planning initiatives, leadership assessments, World Cafes, Appreciative Inquiry sessions, personnel/ human resource issues, governance trainings, and executive coaching. For more than 30 years! And Leslie delivered on every commitment and promise — on time and every time.
If you are looking for a consultant, speaker, facilitator, mentor, coach, board member, author, book reviewer, educational resource, or seminar leader, then Leslie is the person you want to contact first. If she feels that she fits in with you and your organization, she will engage with you completely. If she does not see a perfect fit, she will lead you to some other resources. In addition to all of the skills and accomplishments Leslie brings to you and your organization, you will also be blessed by her lifelong commitment to your work and your team with her most prized gift — her friendship.
Ellen Burts-Cooper. PhD, MBA
President, Founder
Improve Consulting and Training Group
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Leslie Yerkes has and continues to be a wealth of valuable information and relevant data. She is also full of encouraging words, kind reminders, funny stories, and pre-social distancing warm hugs. She is known for sharing knowledge, passing along business, brainstorming to spark creativity, challenging the status quo, thinking of big ideas, and giving others permission to dream.
Last year, Leslie realized that she needed to make a change in her personal life. She has worked extremely hard to make that change and has worked even harder to sustain it. All in all, Leslie is a collection of mental toughness, organizational development expertise, and basic human compassion. I am very happy and grateful that I have had the chance to get to know her more over the last several years.
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We offer this guarantee because we don’t want you to worry about our work when you have real issues with which to contend.
