Leslie (Les) Kayanan
Principal Consultant

Les offers a unique blend of leadership education and skills honed through an expanse of experiences in the military and government sectors as well as in private industry. His engaging and energetic personality enables a positive working climate that enhances any strategic planning, leadership coaching and organizational effectiveness activities.

He comes with a diversity of experiences and perspectives. Les has conducted strategic planning workshops for a variety of organizations: from folk bands to national training centers; from small town dance studios to United Nations-led multinational support teams. His approaches to crisis reaction and strategic planning reveal a consistency of thoroughness and delivery that exceed expectations. Why? Because he asks the tough questions to solve the right problems.

His approach to leader development and coaching starts with his belief that effective leadership is an extension of the leaders most effective patterns of thinking and communicating. Les, a certified Masters Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, helps others understand the impact of the patterns and the use of the resources each of us develops from our own subjective experiences.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy, Les spent over twenty years in the Army in a variety of leadership and leadership coaching positions. Even after his retirement, Les continued to train commanders and staff leaders at all levels of the military leadership hierarchy.

Les' recent consultant work with the Department of Defense projects on transformation from current to future capabilities is representative of the projects in which he de-mystifies complex systems into patterns of excellence and leadership effectiveness. He continues to utilize his training and experience in Operations Research Systems Analysis along with the experience he has had as a financial planner, holding several NASD securities as well as health and life insurance licenses.

His Masters of Science in Management from Troy State University focused on the parallels of leadership in the military and private sectors. Combine this with his formal training as an organizational effectiveness specialist and his graduate level work in operations research systems analysis; Les integrates qualitative methodologies with quantitative analysis in providing chief executives and senior staff officers with a variety of leadership approach perspectives.

Les' unique contributions to the leadershipForward Team enriches his client's capabilities to transform leaders to their desired future state in a much more fulfilling and impassioned manner.