v10-about

my values

⛰ Adventure: Embrace ups and downs, twists and turns, surprises and setbacks. Uncertainty is a beautiful part of it.

💮 Service: Use the gifts, talents, and skills I’ve been given to improve the lives of others. Live a life of responsibility, impact, and compassion.

🪂 Courage: Be bold, vulnerable. Take the leap. Show up without knowing what the outcome is going to be.

💛 Connection: Love, create meaningful interactions, deeply see & hear others, listen for what’s beneath the surface, tune into spirit, be as present as I can with each person.

🌱 Growth: Lead with a beginner’s mindset, be curious not judgmental, seek wisdom, learn from experience, pursue evolution toward my highest self, play the infinite game of self-development.

Leland is a remarkable human being. I have the privilege of being a mentor to him during his Journey of life. Leland has not only successfully navigated several major career changes, but has done so in the pursuit of his own truth and higher purpose. He has a capacity of energetic sensitivity and awareness that belies his "youth", in other words, he is an Old Soul in a young body. Anyone who works with him in any capacity would be very lucky and dare I say even privileged, to benefit from his intuitive and loving guidance.

Dan Spinner
Former CEO, Deepak Chopra Foundation

how I got here

My friends call me a recovering overachiever.

I spent 12 years in hyper-growth tech companies building products and teams, chasing external validation, and convincing myself that true happiness would accompany the next accomplishment.

The harder I pushed, the more I began to feel less "me", pretending to be someone I wasn't. Outside, I looked successful, but inside, I was deeply dissatisfied and knew I didn't belong. The ladder I was climbing was leaning against the wrong wall. It was a scary moment to realize the things I had been chasing my whole career were running my life on autopilot.

I began questioning the scaffolding of my identity that had defined most of my adult life. With guidance and coaching, I gradually began seeing and understanding my beliefs, and their effects, more clearly. Every moment of insight brought more connection with a more authentic me.

More accepting of myself.
More loving in my relationships.
More effective and engaged with my work.
More intentional with where I contribute my energy.

Less self-critical when taking risks.
Less worried about what ifs.
Less reactive in heated moments.
Less afraid of not being enough.

Better at making decisions.
Better at owning my mistakes.
Better at embracing uncertainty.
Better at not taking myself too seriously.

These shifts continue to open new perspectives for me. They've offered gifts that I cannot put into words.

I've learned that the true journey is the inner journey - and it's good for business, too.

When leaders operate from an inner place of clarity and wisdom, they become more effective, creative, and alive - and give others permission to do the same.

I'm fascinated by human potential and development

What most people know about me

Born and raised in Hong Kong before moving to the US at age 16
12+ years as a product, program, and people leader at innovative tech companies including cloud tech consulting, next-gen product development, and education technology
Built & developed teams of project managers, engineers, and consultants who have gone on to work for Apple and Google
Have coached and trained over 1,450 people managers; 2500+ hours of coaching high-performing leaders (and counting!)
Won multiple awards for exceptional customer service & high performance in the face of adversity
Voted best project lead in my consulting org for my dedication to mentoring and developing others
Always reading on leadership, culture, behavioral psychology, neuroscience, mindfulness, and personal development

What I don't want you to know about me

The root of my greatest fear is letting down the people I love
In chasing what I thought meant success, I've pretended to be someone I wasn't
I've been put on a performance improvement plan
I've burned out multiple times, fainting in the middle of a friend's dinner party and (separately) getting pneumonia
Had bad acne as a teenager and a mild stutter my whole life - I know what it's like to crave acceptance
Lost loved ones to suicide, eating disorders, and cancer

But what I'm really proud of is

Calling my mom every week
Rebuilding my relationship with my brother
With my partner, nurturing a family that is healthy, loving, and mutually supportive
Cultivating genuinely meaningful relationships with people I call friends, colleagues, mentors, and clients
The incredible work my clients are up to in the world and how I get to contribute to their success and wellbeing
I LOVE what I do and I'm learning to build a sustainable life centered around family, service, adventure, and fun
Deep down, I'm happy with who I am, warts and all, and excited for how I'm growing

engineer -> program manager -> people manager -> coach

(professional bio)

Leland has been involved with leadership development, innovative technology, and social impact since 2006.

Prior to launching his leadership development firm in 2019, Leland served as Head of Partner Engineering at Clever, a K-12 education technology platform providing digital learning resources to 20M students every month in 65% of U.S. K-12 schools. Before that, he was hired as the first software PM at GoPro and built out the Engineering Program Management team. In collaboration with talented teams, he designed, built, and launched next-generation action cameras as company headcount grew 5x and to $1.62B in revenue and IPO'd. Before that, he led consulting teams at Citrix, the industry leader in cloud-based digital workspaces, on strategic transformation projects for Fortune 100 customers in healthcare, renewable energy, education, and finance. Leland has over a decade of experience managing cross-functional projects involving up to 130 people on 4 continents with annual project budgets upwards of $11M.

Leland has founded several passion projects including a career mentoring network for students, a volunteer mental wellness coaching platform for frontline COVID healthcare workers, and a peer community for professional leadership coaches.

Leland earned a bachelor's degree in Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizational Behavior from Brown University and an Evening & Weekend MBA with Honors at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. He also holds a Professional Certificate in Strategy, Leadership, and Project Management from Stanford University and studied at the Yale School of Management.

Leland is certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI CPCC), widely regarded as the gold-standards in professional coach training and development.

Leland is a USPA licensed skydiver and certified skydiving coach with over 700 jumps and 2500 wind tunnel flights. He holds 3 world records recognized by the FAI international governing body and 8 national and state records in team formation skydiving.

Leland has been meditating since 2013 and is a Certified High Flow Meditation Guide through Wacuri, having been personally mentored by Dan Spinner, former CEO of the Deepak Chopra Foundation.

Leland lives with his partner, daughter, and aussie collie puppy in the Bay Area, California.

Certifications and credentials:

Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC)
Certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF PCC)
Certified High Flow Meditation Guide
Certified Stanford Advanced Project Manager (SAPM)
Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
Certified Agile Hardware Practitioner (CAHP)
Certified Skydiving Coach from the United States Parachute Association (USPA)
8 technical certs including Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and Citrix Certified Integration Architect (CCIA)

tidbits

I've been a magician since I was 7.
As a performing close-up magician, I find tremendous joy in helping people get momentarily reacquainted with their sense of childlike wonder and awe. I've performed for kid's birthday parties, university deans, veterans, Krispy Kreme chefs, and audiences of up to 300 people.

Check out that bowl cut.

I come from a family of educators.
My grandfather worked for a university until he was 93 years old. My father recently turned 70 and is still teaching grad students around the world. My mom has helped thousands of students find careers after school. It runs in my blood - here I am as a Rotary camp leadership facilitator for high school students.

I'm a lifelong student of martial arts.
After several years of Krav Maga, I dipped my toe into a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class and immediately connected with its principles of experimentation, adaptation, integration, and community. 9 years later and going strong, I'm currently a brown belt under Eduardo Fraga (formerly purple belt under Romulo Melo) and now train regularly at Ralph Gracie Berkeley BJJ. I am also an active supporter and former youth instructor at Guardian Gym in Oakland, where every adult membership supports one local youth to train for free.

I've leapt out of airplanes 700 times.
One of my greatest teachers, skydiving has opened up profound experiences and meaningful relationships beyond words. Contrary to most people's assumptions, dancing with gravity is one of the most peaceful and meditative activities in my life where I'm fully present and in flow. Where the mind quiets and time slows down. I earned my Accelerated Freefall (AFF) License in 2011, became a certified USPA skydiving coach a few years later, and went on to set 3 world records with the best group of humans one could ask for. (video)

I've participated in Burning Man 8 times.
You can usually find me handing out pour-over coffee at sunset as part of a theme camp we started in 2013. One of my big takeaways over the years has been embracing the beauty and freedom in imperfection. I am forever grateful to have met my now-wife out there dancing in the dust.

)'(

gratitude

I am who I am today because many people believed in me. I honor those people on this thank you page.

principles

I've outlined a set of principles that serve as a North Star for how I strive to live my life.

the big picture

I'm envisioning a future where an ecosystem of sustainable business, technology, authentic leadership, equitable education, diverse collaboration, and spiritual development are harmoniously integrated to cultivate the next generation of impact-driven leaders. A future where a deeper understanding of what it means to be human is supported and nourished by organizations.

At the end of this life, I want to look back on memories of all the wonderful people I've served, knowing that our time together created ripple effects in positively changing the lives of others in some way.

I'm tremendously honored to work with the clients I do - each is an inspiration and a gift.

~