About Me

Biography for LauraLee Symes, LPC

LauraLee Symes is a leadership coach and organizational consultant that specializes in
assessment, development planning and performance improvement for leaders and
teams. The focus of her work is helping executives and teams assess and develop
strategies to strengthen performance in the workplace. She has more than 20 years
experience in corporate sales, management, organizational consulting and performance coaching.

Ms. Symes earned her certification in the administration and interpretation of the Hogan Assessment
Systems in 2003. Since then, she has regularly employed the Hogan and other assessment tools for executive
development planning and goal setting. She holds a license (Licensed Professional Counselor) from the state
of Oregon.LauraLee earned her BS in Psychology from Portland State University and an MA in Counseling
Psychology and Organizational Behavior from Pacific University.

She is the author of Rainbows In My Soup (1995), a contributor to the publication Quality of Life Definition and
Terminology (1998) and a member of the International Association for Quality of Life,-an academic
organization that focuses its research on quality of life studies. Ms. Symes is an adjunct professor for
Portland State University where she teaches “Human Motivation” and “Personality” for the psychology
department.

Approach
Direct and Honest. Symes utilizes a direct and no-nonsense approach to helping leaders establish clear,
measurable goals. She works with her clients to help them get to the specific steps that will be required to
make change and accomplish results. Once the plan is written, Symes continues to coach the client through
implementation.

Strengths-Based Coaching. With the use of assessments, Symes is able to help the individual develop
insights around their personal strengths. Together, coach and client learn how to capitalize on those
strengths and to gain insights on minimizing the effects of derailing behaviors. Regular meetings are used to
track progress and practice behavior change.

Goal Alignment Focus. LauraLee works with leaders and work groups to help them establish goals that are
in alignment with organizational metrics. This approach not only helps with overall business results but also
improves moral and motivation as the leader or team members see the effects of their own contributions.

Examples of coaching impact
Ms. Symes worked with a CFO that was nearing termination due to poor performance and communication
problems with his team. With the help of intensive coaching on behavioral changes, he is still employed
with the organization and has received two “exceeds expectations” performance reviews.

Symes coached a manager though her transition into a director role. Moving through the corporate pipeline
from team member to team leader can be a challenging endeavor. Symes worked with this executive to
identify and target strategies for success. After one year in the new role, a 360 degree feedback determined
that she and her team had outperformed all other departments in productivity and customer satisfaction.

Symes was called in to coach a work group that had failed to meet deadlines and had created a hostile work
environment with their communication deficiencies. With the use of a Hogan Team Assessment, LauraLee
and this team were able to identify the strengths and challenges that the group faced. New goals were
established for the team and for each individual contributor. After just 90 days, the team had met project
deadlines and they were having pizza together on Fridays.