Skip Leonard

H. Skipton Leonard, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Trained as a social and organizational psychologist, Dr. Leonard has devoted his career to helping individuals, teams, and organizations achieve their goals and accomplish their missions by learning how to be more adaptive, creative, and innovative. A noted authority on leadership development, he has coached and trained thousands of executives, managers, and professionals.

Prior to helping found the World Institute for Action Learning (WIAL), Skip was a Vice President and Executive Consultant with Personnel Decisions International serving in the capacity of GM as well as head of the assessment and coaching practices in PDI’s Washington, DC office. Dr. Leonard has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies such as American Express, AstraZeneca, Boeing, Bechtel, Daimler Chrysler, Dell, Microsoft, NCS-Pearson, and SAIC. He also has experience with NGO's such as the IMF and World Bank as well as US government organizations such as NIH, the US Army, the United States Postal Service, GSA, USDA, and GAO.

In addition to his leadership responsibilities with WIAL, Dr. Leonard is also a Principal of Freedman, Leonard, and Marquardt Consultancy, a firm that provides Action Learning and Organization Development consultation and services to develop leadership skills and to strengthen organization capabilities.

Skip received his doctoral and undergraduate degrees in Psychology from New York University and Middlebury College respectively. Dr. Leonard is a licensed psychologist in the states of Virginia and served his country as an officer in the US Army.

Currently, he is on the faculty of the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University and is a Professorial Lecturer in the School of Human and Organizational Learning at the George Washington University. He has also been on the faculty of American University's Masters Program in Organizational Development and George Mason University's graduate psychology department.

A leader in his profession, Skip is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and Past-President of the Society of Consulting Psychology. He was also the founding editor of a peer-reviewed journal, Consulting Psychology Journal.

Over the years, Dr. Leonard has received many awards including the Chairman's Award for Innovation (PDI), The Founders Award by NYU, and a special commendation for leadership and commitment to the Society of Consulting Psychology.

Dr. Leonard has over 50 books, book chapters, articles, and professional presentations to his credit. Recent publications include:

  • Marquardt, M.J., Leonard, H.S., Freedman, M.A. & Hill, C. (early 2009 publication). Action Learning for developing leaders and organizations: principles, strategies, and cases. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Hill, C., Leonard, H.S. & Sokol, M. (2006). Action Learning Guide (2006 with C. Hill and M. Sokol). Minneapolis: Personnel Decisions Press.
  • Leonard, H.S. (2005). When leadership development fails managers: addressing the right gaps in leadership development. In Kaiser, R.B. & Craig, S.B. (eds.) Filling the pipe: studies and best practices in organization-wide management development. Greensboro, N.C.: Center for Creative Leadership Press.
  • Leonard, H.S. (2003). Leadership Development as an Intervention for Organizational Transformation. Consulting Psychology Journal, 55(1), 58-67. 
  • Leonard, H.S. (2003). Leadership Development in the Post-industrial, Postmodern, Information age. Consulting Psychology Journal, 55(1), 3-14.
  • Organizational consulting to teams and groups. (2002) In R. Lowman (Ed.), The Handbook of Consulting Psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. With Arthur Freedman.
  • Leonard, H.S. (2002). Merely a Pimple on the Derrière of an Elephant: On Becoming Players in the World of Organizational Consulting. Consulting Psychology Journal. 54(1),
  • Freedman, A.M & Leonard, H.S. (2002). Organizational Consulting to Teams and Groups. In R. Lowman (Ed.), The Handbook of Consulting Psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Leonard, H.S. & Freedman, A.M. (2000). From Scientific Management through Fun and Games to High Performance Teams: A Historical Perspective on Consulting to Team-based Organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal. 52 (1), 3-19.