About Leanne
Leanne Mackenzie, M.Ed., is a motivational speaker, career coach and author who can appreciate the trials and tribulations that we all go through. In the last six years, she has been in all fifty states, eight provinces and Puerto Rico. With her own brand of humor, she'll freely admit that she's a "middle-aged broad" and sometimes gets tired. We get caught up in believing that we have to do it all to be successful, and Leanne's honest and provocative style makes her message of both personal and professional fulfillment unforgettable.
Leanne loves what she does and it shows. She started as an administrative assistant for a "big eight" (yes, that dates her) accounting firm and quickly moved into the burger business in McDonald's head office in Canada. Leanne firmly believes that we need to embrace change in order to thrive, but knows that it isn't always easy.
She has said in her presentations, "I don't know about you, but not only mentally do I have some trouble being flexible, how many of you are finding that when you are getting out bed in the morning that it is just not happening the way it used to? It's hard to remain flexible in the workplace when people are so demanding of us and a lot of us have other commitments." Leanne encourages employees to adapt to new technology, for example, and she walks her talk. Her presentations are tech savvy and her teenage son (who loves to claim that his mom can motivate anyone except for him) got her started on this new path. She now uses instant messaging, carries a 5GB USB Flash drive and a PDA/mobile phone combination.
Leanne enjoys helping others look for creative ways to make their work lives better. Yet she has first-hand experience with her creativity being stifled by stress and resistance to change. For many of us, change has become kind of an evil word. It usually means downsizing and assuming additional responsibilities for the same compensation. It can be challenging to adapt and pretend that you love it at the same time. Learning to communicate effectively with people under these circumstances is a critical aspect of setting the tone in the workplace.
For Leanne, professional development and mentoring are keys to success and this stems from her experience in education administration, earning her M.Ed. and serving as a Major Department Head of Business Studies. You may not relate to this if you live in a warm climate but ... her analogy for mentoring is "walking in someone's footprints – no matter how big they are – after the first big snowstorm when you haven't got a shovel and you need to get to the garage. A mentor provides those footsteps in the snow so you don't have to slog through it all."
In her desire to empower others to take accountability for solving their own challenges and dealing with difficult people, Leanne founded her speaking practice. She has authored Can Women in Educational Administration Have it All? and He Got Transferred–Now What do I Do? Leanne is also a contributor to Ordinary Women ... Extraordinary Success, now in its second edition.
Leanne resides in greater Chicago land with her husband of 20 years and her two teenage children.
