When you sit down to meet with Jo Leonard she will immediately draw a circle on a piece of blank paper. The circle will have your name inside it and everything you tell her about yourself creates spokes, leading from the circle. As the conversation deepens and you discuss your ideas, goals and dreams, barriers and frustrations, the spokes will intersect and elongate, and soon an image will appear. This is how Jo thinks and brainstorms and this is why she is now in her 21st year as the go-to coach for teens, 20-Somethings and mid-career professionals. When the picture emerges she begins to collaborate with you to map out some goals and strategies.

“I was educated in both the U.S. and the U.K. and I believe that I have benefitted tre­mendously from the dual cultural experience. My first job in the “real world”, at 10 years old, was serving tea to the customers in our family hotel. From there I followed the advice of mentors, family members and my own instinct and have had a fantastic career as a result. Now I find myself in the fantastic position of being able to help others find their own purpose and path. There is nothing more rewarding.”

When asked about her passion, Jo will tell you that she loves working with people in career transition. In the book “Drive” Daniel Pink discusses motivation, and how we, as humans, have a deep need to direct our own lives, learn, create new things, do better by ourselves and in the world.

If asked, my clients would say that I have a reassuring nature that helps to ease their anxiety with the college research and application process.

They would say that they feel differently now because I have helped to bring clarity to a somewhat overwhelming process for them.

Parents of my young adult clients would tell you that I am very detail oriented as well as thorough in helping their students focus on both short and long term goals with the college research and application process.

Chris Giangrasso has over 35 years as an HR professional in the corporate world. In his most recent role as the Chief HR Officer in a multinational organization, he knows how much time and energy can be spent by HR teams not only on hiring talented individuals, but in managing this precious asset, by ensuring they are in the right job for their unique skills and personalities. “To do this effectively we often asked our high-potential employees to look in the “Assessment Mirror” and work with a coach mentor to figure out what was working and what wasn’t.

“My goal working at Jo Leonard & Co. is to reinforce how vital it is to look in the personal and professional assessment “mirror” not only to uncover career direction, but also to uncover reasons why some jobs feel like a natural fit and others do not.”

Fun assessment tools can also provide tremendous insights into how you interact with others, how you approach problem solving, how you handle challenges and much more. The results of assessments are helpful to get a fuller picture of who you are, what you like and how you get things done.