LWCA's Culture of Leadership Blog

Lee Eisenstaedt brings more than 35 years of diverse leadership, finance and operations experience to the clients of the Leading With Courage® Academy.  The CFO of SC Johnson has described Lee as a well-rounded businessman because he’s “…worked for more than two companies, in more than two functions, in more than two countries.” 

Lee focuses on transforming organizations by helping their leaders and managers more clearly understand themselves and how others see them.  This is accomplished with the workshops, practical processes and proven tools, assessments, and executive coaching offered through the Leading with Courage® Academy which are based on his Amazon best-seller Being A Leader With Courage:  How To Succeed In Your C-Level Position In 18 Months Or Less (May 2016).

Prior to founding Leading With Courage® Academy, Lee was a founding partner of L. Harris Partners, LLC, during which time he surveyed/interviewed several thousand clients of professional services firms.  He has been a Chief Operating Officer of a Top 5 and a Top 50 CPA firm.  Lee spent the majority of his career, 22 years, with the SC Johnson family of companies – including the consumer products company, the SC Johnson family office, and Johnson Outdoors, Inc. – in the U.S. and Western Europe, frequently as the “right hand” to the leader of the division, subsidiary or country to which he was assigned.

During his two European assignments with SC Johnson, Lee lived and worked in Paris, France for five years and had responsibility for finance, accounting, logistics, IT and customer service in five countries within the European Union.  Lee also spent six years with Baxter International, Inc. in various finance and accounting positions.

Speaking and Writing

Lee’s second book Being A Leader With Courage was published in May 2016 and became an Amazon best seller in July 2016.  He is also the co-author of the book Wallet Share: Grow Your Practice Without Adding Clients, and is a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences of practitioners of professional services.  Lee is currently updating and expanding Being A Leader With Courage and expects the second edition to be published in mid-2019.

Education and Certifications

Lee received his MBA from Northwestern University and his BA from Franklin & Marshall College. He has attended executive programs on marketing at Harvard, Wharton, and Northwestern Universities, and executive development programs at INSEAD and the Center for Creative Leadership.  Lee is also a Certified Everything DiSC Trainer, Net Promoter® Certified Associate, and a member of Private Directors Association (PDA), ProVisors, and Association for Talent Development (ATD).