“Covid-19 pandemic has permanently changed higher education (Where Does Higher Education Go Next? Forbes, September 2020).

Academic staff and university leaders are throwing away last century’s rulebooks and inventing new ways forward. Blended learning is only one example of how we are paving the future of technology and classroom learning. “Covid-19 pandemic has permanently changed higher education (Forbes, 2020). It has expanded the ways we connect and communicate through new media - globally.

Trained in international management and creativity, I began my career in advising higher education in 1986 and today research new platforms for academic leadership and global excellence. I am building coaching in universities support not only academic leaders and teaching staff but also post-graduate students and scholars in their progressive journeys.

Creativity and imagination are essential ingredients for visionary leadership - especially now as we navigate new economic cycles, new forms of innovation and new ways to work together.

An International Coaching Federation (ICF) Membership Ambassador and member of the Institute of Coaching (affiliate at Harvard Medical School), I am trained in management and creativity and combine left-brain (analytical) and right-brain (creative) thinking to explore out of the box solutions supporting personal and professional fulfillment within teams, business, careers, cultures and personal life.”

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About: A Leadership Coach, Les is founder of VCA PhD Coaching at University of Melbourne, Australia and is a Gold Award Mentor at University of London. At Columbia Business School he has coached over 140 current and future leaders in global finance, venture capital, diplomacy, technology, healthcare, management consulting, and the creative industries.

Specialized in competitive intelligence and knowledge management, Les possesses ‍an MSc. in Managment from ‍Boston ‍University ‍and ‍the ‍Vrije ‍Universiteit ‍Brussels ‍Faculty ‍of ‍Economic ‍and ‍Social ‍Sciences, Belgium; MBA from California ‍State ‍University and has advanced training from Goldsmiths, University ‍of ‍London (MA); and ‍Musashino ‍Art ‍University, Japan (MA). He earned his PhD from the Faculty of Art, Environment and Technology, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and Post-Doctorate from the School of Communications and Arts (ECA), University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Sharing his time between Europe, Asia and the Americas since 1983, Les has been resident in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Japan and teaches in Beijing and has served Fortune 50 organizations.

He advises graduate students in entrepreneurship at Peking University Institute of Cultural Industries and rising entrepreneurs at Parsons School of Design in New York.

Les is ‍recipient ‍of ‍the ‍Fulbright-Nehru ‍Academic ‍and ‍Professional ‍Excellence ‍Award for India, Japan’s Monbusho Scholarship and Fulbright-Hays ‍US ‍Public ‍Diplomacy ‍Awards ‍for ‍China ‍and ‍Mongolia.