ML325: Dr. Lisa DeFrank-Cole (Leadership Coach & Author)

Dr. Lisa DeFrank-Cole is Director and F. Duke Perry Endowed Professor of Leadership Studies at West Virginia University, widely known for her academic and practical expertise in women’s leadership. 

A leadership coach and author of the award-winning textbook Women and Leadership, Lisa overcame many stereotypes as a first-generation college graduate from Appalachia to reach where she is today. WV Living magazine named her a “Wonder Woman” in 2019, celebrating her for defying barriers and working towards uplifting West Virginia. 

She has 20+ years of experience working with academic and government institutions in West Virginia, including the Governor’s Office. As a Fulbright Specialist Scholar, she taught women in Bahrain about leadership and empowerment. Lisa has also conducted leadership workshops for women in Saudi Arabia.  

Lisa’s insights on leadership have appeared in outlets including Forbes, London School of Economics Blog, La Razon daily newspaper in Spain, and KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh.

More Info: Dr. Lisa DeFrank-Cole

Book: Women and Leadership: Journey Toward Equity

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ML324: Dr. Sylvia Rohde Liebenau (Founder of SMART Power Method)

Dr. Sylvia Rohde Liebenau is an EMCC-accredited senior executive coach with 30 years of experience, known for helping C-Suite leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers excel in today’s fast-paced and complex world. She founded the SMART Power Method, a revolutionary approach that empowers leaders to achieve greater impact with ease.

Sylvia’s clientele includes global heavyweights like UNHCR, the European Central Bank, Allianz Global Investors, the Red Cross, and Amazon. 

She’s also set to release her new book, “Who’s in Charge,” a practical guide for leaders looking to build resilience, harness their power, and blend success with fulfillment.

Sylvia’s coaching is uniquely enriched by her background as an artist, dancer, and singer, giving her a deep, embodied understanding of key leadership qualities like presence, authenticity, connection, and communication.

More about Sylvia:

● Holds a PhD in international relations.

● Worked with the European Commission in the ‘90s, driving impactful change through her leadership skills, and preventing a Russian hack on the IT systems. 

● Joined the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2003, introducing innovative HR and leadership development practices. 

● In 2021, began working as an executive coach and leadership expert.

More: SMART Power Method

Book: Who’s In Charge

 

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ML323: Richard Atherton (Co-Founder of FirstHuman)

Richard Atherton is the Co-Founder of FirstHuman (firsthuman.com), where he’s on a mission to help CEOs, leaders, and top executives hit leadership breakthroughs with a human-first approach that prioritizes happiness, empowerment, and communication. 

FirstHuman has worked with standout clients like Adidas, Volkswagen, Heineken, PwC, UNICEF, and the Olympics. 

Richard’s leadership journey is rooted in his own story of overcoming personal addictions and healing trauma. For nearly 10 years now, he’s been a transformative figure in leadership coaching, helping people make big shifts in their careers — whether they’re leveling up within their organization or breaking out on their own to start something new. 

One of his standout achievements is an award-winning business transformation at the BBC, wherein he led a 6-person team that built a new global operation for 70+ journalists in just 3 months. He also notably helped leaders at CEVA close a $400M profitability gap. 

More Information: First Human

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ML322: Melanie Bell (Founder of LeadersWhoFiction & Strategic Piece)

Melanie Bell is the Founder of Leaders Who Fiction, an online book club and community that offers a unique way for people to acquire and develop leadership qualities through reading and discussing novels.

On this fast-growing platform, leaders meet on the last Wednesday of each month for intellectual, business-oriented conversations centered around a selected novel.

Melanie is also the Co-Founder of Strategic Piece, where she works with C-suite executives at growth-stage companies to deliver exceptional revenue growth by bringing together their marketing, sales, and service teams around an information-driven customer experience built on the HubSpot platform.

She has been an entrepreneur for almost a decade and witnessed a great deal of what works and doesn’t work in leadership and how reading fiction equips leaders with the skills they need to achieve their professional goals.

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ML321: Dr. Gail Golden (Author & Leader)

Dr. Gail Golden provides strategic advice and coaching to reveal what’s really going on, so leaders can make rapid, accurate decisions to create breakthrough change. Drawing on her unique cross-background perspective, Gail helps senior executives and professionals, executive leadership teams, and organizations hit peak performance. 

As a licensed psychologist and an MBA-holding entrepreneur, Gail understands both the emotions and the economics successful C-suite executives and senior professionals must master. Her unique approach combines sports-influenced tactics of performance coaching with psychology-trained skills of empathy to bring the best out of businesses, leaders, and employees. One of her specialties is helping senior leaders identify and master key interpersonal skills so they can provide top value to their organizations.  

Gail’s book, Curating Your Life, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in April 2020. The book is based on more than two decades of helping leaders of all types maximize their achievements. Curating Your Life is full of advice on how to identify and accomplish your most important goals. Gail’s TEDx talk illustrated and elaborated on how to successfully curate your life.

More Info: Gail Golden Consulting

Book: Curating Your Life

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