Leslie Wilk Braksick is a nationally recognized entrepreneur, leadership coach, business consultant, author and speaker. She earned an undergraduate degree at St. Bonaventure University, before coming to WMU and earning graduate degrees in industrial/organizational psychology and applied behavior science.
In 1993, Braksick cofounded The Continuous Learning Group Inc., a global management consultancy that serves Fortune 500 companies with behavioral solutions for their most pressing business challenges. She led the firm during its first 10 years as it developed into the world’s largest behaviorally based management consultancy. Today, CLG is one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in Pittsburgh, Pa., and has been rated among the Top 50 Best Places to Work by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Braksick is regularly called upon by corporate boards and CEOs to consult on such issues as CEO transition and succession, and the challenges of cultural and performance transformation. She had her first book published in 2000 and, due to the demand, the 2nd updated edition was released in 2007. The book, "Unlock Behavior, Unleash Profits: Developing Leadership Behavior That Drives Profitability in Your Organization," was on the Wall Street Journal’s Business Best Seller list and ranked #6 among 2007's business books according to 800CEORead.
Her most recent book, "Preparing CEOs for Success: What I Wish I Knew," was released this spring and features interviews with more than two dozen sitting CEOs of global companies. Those companies include Johnson & Johnson, Pepsico, Chevron, Bank of America and H.J. Heinz, whose chairman and CEO, William R. Johnson, provided the underwriting for the book's research and development. The publication has been hailed as a “breakthrough book” for its unvarnished quotes and candor from the CEOs interviewed.
Named one of Pennsylvania’s top 50 Women Business Leaders in 2002, Braksick is a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis and the Organizational Behavior Management Network. She is also involved in many civic and community activities, including the board of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the United Way of Allegheny County (PA) campaign cabinet.
Braksick resides in Sewickley Heights, Pa., with her husband, Matthew Braksick, and their two children.