Today, coaching is one of the most powerful, informative tools for success. Coaching is collaborative whereby coach and the client work together to identify and discuss goals, their current realities, their options and ways forward. I have worked with hundreds of leaders around the world including more than a hundred Columbia MBAs on ideating strategies ranging from starting a new business to internship selection, building their leaders’ voice to shortlisting potential employers and onboarding for success. My clients are now building flourishing careers in Management Consulting, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Healthcare, Technology, Diplomacy, Government, Education, Consumer Marketing, Law and the Creative Industries.

•                Executive Decision-Making within Diverse Teams

•                Finding your unique voice: Tools for successful Communication and Assertiveness

•                Working effectively during Organizational Change

•                Making the most of the MBA Internship Process

•                Strategies for working internationally

•                Effective communications in the hybrid workplace and on multi-cultural teams

•                Successful Onboarding and network-building for your future

•                Maintaining Motivation and Energy: Work/Life Balance in the MBA.

•                Building your Entrepreneur mindset

I am an ICF-certified coach trained on the New York University Coaching Program and a certified group coach. Educated in the US, Europe and Asia, I received my M.Sc. in Management from Boston University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and MBA at California State Polytechnic University, where I specialized in technology transfer and venture capital. I completed my MA at University of London and was Japan Ministry of Education and Culture Scholar in Japan. I was awarded my PhD at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and Post-Doctorate at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

As a professor, I have lectured 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. As a Fulbright Senior Scholar, I am recipient of the Fulbright Academic and Professional Excellence Award for India and I have initiated coaching at Yale, University of Melbourne and at the Highland Institute in India.

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. 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 Columbia MBAs, 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