As a Commander on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, I was given the task of instituting a new leadership program to the entire Department. This task seemed daunting as the program had to comply with specifics laid out in a court decree which included deadlines for compliance. This entirely new venture for the Department was like trying to turn an ocean liner around on a dime. We realized we needed an expert to work within our culture and guide us through the very important steps necessary to complete our project, implement training, follow through with documentation, track our results and qualify our successes for the court. We found Lisa Tesvich. What a perfect fit for the job! Lisa's strengths are her ability to see the problem with a fresh eye, identify in a methodical order what needs to be done, succinctly deliver the path and follow up to make sure we stay the course. This all sounds so simple but, when dealing with a Department the size of Los Angeles County simplicity was not in the equation. Lisa stood confident in her delivery to the Department's top executives when presenting her concept. She used common sense and humor to persuade the skeptics and proved herself a leader amongst them all. All this is packed in a 5 foot 2 inch frame full of professionalism. In one year Lisa successfully guided the Department to completion of the training, helped professionally deliver a very sensitive topic to the ranks and created a finish line for our obligation. What a task, what an expert, what a fit for our needs. Lisa delivered and the Department may never know how much she really saved them.

Retired Commander Cathy Taylor, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department



The Financial Services team was struggling when I took over, primarily evidenced by a siloed partner group and unacceptable levels of turnover. This instability was weakening our ability to achieve our objectives. Lisa brought an independent perspective as she uncovered root causes of our problems and courageously but tactfully delivered some tough messages to me and the other partners. Together we chartered a course of action that engaged all levels of our 120 member team in designing and executing a roadmap for improvement. Over the course of 15 months, she worked with me to structure my organization, establish team goals and objectives and execute our plan that brought us out of crisis management and into strategic management. Along the way she became an invaluable member of our team as we came to rely on her guidance to take us to the next level as a team. I am extremely grateful for Lisa's efforts, which resulted in a stronger, far more cohesive and functional team performing better and achieving our desired results.

Andrew Nolan, Partner and former SoCal Market Financial Services Team Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers



Our organizational strategy shifted from competing on cost to competing on service. Given our product had traditionally been in high demand, our employees were skilled in taking customer orders but not necessarily accustomed to what the future would require ( i.e., focusing on customer needs, educating them and selling product benefits). I was overwhelmed with the objective of re-skilling almost 100 store managers with our new direction. When I met Lisa, I was immediately comforted by her ability to quickly understand the complexity of the situation and present clarity in a path forward. For the next 18 months I depended upon her exceptional ability to transform our vision into action, her consistent high quality of work and her passion for getting things done right. She developed our competency framework, conducted a rigorous assessment process for each manager, then created and implemented a phased training program with follow-on developmental opportunities. As a direct result, we saw immediate improvement in the manager population as a whole and we knew exactly which players we could count on to position us for the future. What a significant insight! Lisa's ability to get results and her rare combination of talent, dedication and warmth make her a true treasure to work with! I wholeheartedly recommend her.

Stella S. Wolf, Vice President, HR, V & V Supremo Foods, Inc.
Former HR Director, Ameritech Cellular