Contributing to ICF Globally

Hi. My name is Les and I am an ICF credentialed coach. As an ICF-credentialed coach, my goal is to support ICF especially in building global community. With the support of ICF’s global leadership, I launched ICF Global Chapter Connect (GCC) in 2021. I engaged ICF chapters in Belgium and Chicago with a special presentation on coaching across cultures presented by ICF Philippe Rosinski, MCC. I have also had the honor to serve ICF New York as Membership Ambassador, Coaching Education Liaison and am an ICF DEI Mentor Coach.I also served on ICF’s Thought Leadership Institute’s Future of Education Team.

Trained in coaching at New York University, I am specialized in creativity, innovation and cross-cultural leadership. I have coached diverse executives, entrepreneurs, diplomats and leaders in multinational organizations. As a management consultant sharing my time between the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific, I have served Fortune 50 organizations including 3M, GE, Du Pont, Bayer, General Motors and Dow.

A research scholar at Columbia University since 2009, I explore the intersections of philosophy, ethics, and the future of work. In the Department of Leadership and Organization, I am exploring new creative coaching models to better serve multinational and multicultural organizations. Since joining ICF, I have initiated coaching to museum professionals at Yale, to doctoral researchers at University of Melbourne, to MBAs at California State University and while Fulbright Senior Scholar in India I launched India’s first coaching and mentoring to serve tribal communities.

Educated in the US, UK and Japan, I hold an M.Sc. in Management from Boston University; MBA from California State Polytechnic University: MA Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London; Masters in Fine Art from Musashino Art University, Tokyo, PhD from the Faculty of Art, Environment and Technology, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and Post-Doctorate at the School of Communications and Arts, University of São Paulo, Brazil. I am recipient of Fulbright US Public Diplomacy awards for multilateral projects in Mongolia (2014) and China (2017) and the 2022 Fulbright Nehru Professional and Academic Excellence Award for India.

When not coaching, I explore cultures. I am a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Explores Club. I conduct research on ways we can better collaborate across cultures. Another fun fact. I am an exhibiting artist and also train in Chinese. A few years ago while in Beijing, I was invited for an informal demonstration of calligraphy on local television. Just before we went live I asked the host: “How many people might be watching today?” and he responded: “about thirty million”. I gasped but it all worked out fine.