Hi, my name is Les. I am Leadership Coach at Columbia University and serve as an Almaworks Entrepreneurship Coach and Mentor. I have a background in consulting and creativity. I have served executives and leaders in Fortune 100 organizations including General Motors, 3M, GE, Du Pont, Dow, Bayer, HSBC, McKinsey and the US Diplomatic Service.

Today, mentoring and coaching are considered essential tools for success. I work Columbia MBAs on ideating strategies building flourishing careers in Entrepreneurship, Management Consulting, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Healthcare, Technology, Diplomacy, Government, Education, Consumer Marketing, Law and the Creative Industries. In each one-to-one session I engage clients with creative strategies in using the coaching session goal setting and reaching objectives.

I have been coaching since 2005 and received my professional coach training at New York University and am a GoldAward Mentor at University of London. As a coach, I am credentialed by the International Coaching Federation. I received my M.Sc. in Management from Boston University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and during my MBA at California State University, I studied under Organizational Behavior thought-leader A. Rami Shani PhD with whom I co-published on parallel learning models used in cross-border technology transfer. Also trained in creativity, I completed my MA at University of London and was Japan Ministry of Education and Culture Scholar in Tokyo and was awarded my PhD from Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and Post-Doctorate from the University of São Paulo, Brazil examining models for team collaboration across borders. I am recipient of the Fulbright Academic and Professional Excellence Award for India (2022) and have initiated coaching at Yale, University of Melbourne and California State University. I lecture at Peking University, Renmin University, University of the Arts London and recently lead Fulbright workshops at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, Visva-Bharati University in India, University of Visual and Performing Arts Colombo and University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka.

A member of the Columbia community since 2009, I began collaborating with Columbia MBAs in 2011 with the Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship and am a research scholar on leadership and coaching in multinational organizations at Teachers College. I joined as a CBS Leadership Lab Coach in 2019 I have coached over 100 MBAs from the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific and serve at the Thought Leadership Institute.

When not coaching serve as a board member for a children’s charity in New York and I am a member of Columbia Toastmasters. As ever, it is an honor to work with Almaworks each of whom are leaders shaping the futures of business.

“Dr. Joynes is a phenomenal coach who influences how I think, plan, and act, to achieve my ambitions and maximize my potential. His methods combine creative and strategic problem solving techniques that ensure that the paths I define and choose simplify complexities and focus on the most important outcomes. Our work has helped me grow as a more impactful partner to my clients and influential leader and member on my teams” Peter Sun, Consultant, McKinsey & Company (MBA, CBS 2021)

Coaching is recognized today as a value-add resource for international organizations, diplomatic communities and government working in multi-cultural environments. It is my pleasure to recommend Dr. Les Joynes as an experienced and thoughtful leadership coach. Experienced across thirty-five countries, Les works alongside leaders and teams to build strategic goals, team effectiveness, mission focus, and maintain work-life balance. - Anthony Diaz, Chief, Political and Economic Affairs, U.S. Embassy (MBA, CBS 2021)

As a venture capital professional, it's easy to get caught up in a daily routine and relegate career development decisions to our "someday" to-do list. A leadership coach, Dr. Joynes engaged unique approaches to align my professional and personal goals and work-life balance. I highly recommend him. - Hugues Dongmo, Vice President, XBTO Humla Ventures, New York (MBA, CBS 2021)

Les’s unique coaching style blends his diverse training and deep experience in both creativity and management enabling him to work effectively with leaders as they build their pathways towards their professional and work-life balance goals. - Paulette Rao MCC, BCC