Lesley Roberts | Coaching Outdoors

Gerdi with Lesley Roberts on leadership lessons in the Highlands and on the waves

Lesley Roberts is a business coach and adventurer. During her Master of Science in Executive Coaching at Ashridge Business school, her research focused on how Nature can support both coach and client.

Her passion for people development in the outdoors began at university, whilst studying to be a PE teacher majoring in Outdoor Education.

After teaching, Lesley worked with youth-at-risk groups in the Highlands of Scotland, using the environment as a catalyst for personal development.

In 2000 she began a 16-year corporate career with Mars Inc spending 8 years in the commercial side of the business before moving into people development where she brought her insights from working outdoors to her coaching work with teams, and executives.

Whether it be a mountain walk, a stroll through the woods or along a river, she has found that nature has proven to be an excellent environment for supporting and enhancing both coach and client experience.

In 2011/12 Lesley had a chance to experience all Nature has to offer when she participated in the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, spending a year at sea competing to win.

It tested her limits and allowed her to learn about life, leadership, and teamwork in the most extreme environments.

Since 2016 Lesley has been the Managing Director of Brave Conversations and has supported many individuals and teams internationally across a range of sectors to unlock their potential.

She is also an Ashridge Business School coach, supporting individual clients and those attending programmes.

Lesley set up Coaching Outdoors because she firmly believes that being outdoors in nature brings powerful developmental and wellbeing benefits to coaches, clients and businesses.

Then there is the higher purpose; once we engage with nature and develop a relationship with the planet, it can catalyse a desire to protect it.

From this impressive bio, it is clear my client knows what she’s doing when it comes to coaching business leaders and their teams in and with Nature

But there is more to her ….

Though she lives in England, she has retained her lovely Scottish lilt and loves Ceilidh (pronounce: Kei-Lee) dancing.

On her walks along the Scottish and other shores, she’s collected driftwood and shells which now decorates much of her house.

She loves picnics with her family and is a hopeless surfer but loves it nonetheless and describes a perfect weekend as one spent in basic accommodation with a group of friends, hill walking all day, then having a meal together before an early night doing it all again the next day.

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