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collaboration to help others be successful mentors and leaders.
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Lead Mentor Develop

We consult with businesses, non-profits, and higher education institutions in the areas of leadership development, mentorship training, faculty development, program development, and assessment.

Solutions

Workshop & Keynotes

Vibrant, interesting, and thought-provoking are what you will experience in our interactive workshops and keynote addresses. 

Academic Leadership Institutes

Our academic leadership institute is designed to develop skills for mid-career faculty members. 

 

Courses & Coaching

Build your confidence with us. Save time, money, and frustration by engaging us for coaching or classes on leadership development and mentorship.

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Books, Publications & Resources

Check out our books on leadership and mentoring. Explore our free resources and publications. Contact us if you can’t locate an article (if you don’t have access to an academic library).

 

Our Team

Laura Lunsford


Laura Lunsford is an expert in mentoring and leadership. A U.S. Fulbright Scholar (Germany), she has written over 50 peer-reviewed articles, case studies and chapters on leadership and mentoring. She wrote the definitive guide for mentoring programs The Mentor’s Guide: Five steps to build a successful mentor program , now in its second edition.

Vicki Baker

 

Recognized as a “Top 100 Visionary” in Education by the Global Forum for Education and Learning (2020-2021) and a “Top 10 Visionary in Education in 2023” by CioLook Magazine,  Vicki is at the forefront of innovation and strategy in faculty and leadership development. A faculty member and Fulbright Specialist Alumna (Utrecht, Netherlands).

IMA Expert Interview with Dr. Laura Lunsford

Dr. Lunsford shares her opinion on a few things to focus on when starting a mentoring journey as a mentor or mentee, the fundamentals that should be learned first, the importance of accessing available resources and the difference between offering information, advice and feedback. She talks about how to go about finding a mentor and the concept of an information interview.

A Discussion with Vicki Baker

Feb 11, 2021

How to Navigate Mid-Career Choices as a Faculty Member

NEW BOOKS NETWORK 2020

May 19, 2022

Mid-Career Faculty the Focus of Dr. Vicki Baker’s Latest Book

July 1, 2022

How Overwhelmed and Burned Out Faculty can Reframe Saying No Opinion

Looking Inside the Black Box of Mentoring

Mentoring: An Intro For HRM

Successful Working

The training sessions Dr. Lunsford provided equipped mentors to set expectations with their mentees, helped them understand the basics of human-centered relationship building and provided them a clear understanding of how to meet students where they were to move forward with a successful working relationship

Darylann Aragon

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Transformative

Working with Vicki was transformative for me. She allowed me to see my own work differently and strategically, saving me so much time and headache. With her careful feedback and guidance, I assembled a mammoth and compelling application and earned promotion from associate to full professor. I can’t recommend Vicki highly enough–she’s phenomenal.

Social Science, Woman Faculty; Montclair State University

Wonderful Coach

Vicki is a wonderful coach! She is very good at understanding the parameters faculty are working within at different institutions for promotion and helping them communicate in way that maximizes the impact of their work. My promotion to full professor package received compliments! I was told it was enjoyable and easy to read.

STEM, Woman Faculty; James Madison University

Presentation

Vicki’s presentation really helped me to clarify how to operationalize my passion/commitment.

Mid-Career Faculty Member, Western Kentucky University

Great Speaker

Vicki Baker was a great speaker and has developed an effective model for how to think about our work and align it with what we and our University values. We just started working through her process in the workshop, but I could already see how helpful it will be.  I could see more clearly what I needed to prioritize. I felt calmer and more energized about how to deal with things I need to improve and how to recognize the things that I am doing well.

Mid-Career Faculty Member, University of Richmond

Excellent Educator

Vicki Baker should be exceptionally pleased with what an excellent educator she is. What a pleasure it was to learn with her. I loved the pre-work. Her enthusiasm was excellent.

Academic Leadership Academy, Penn State University

Excellent Resources

Excellent and love the resources Dr. Baker provided.  Very thought provoking with real strategies we can take back to campus/take action.

Academic Leadership Academy, Penn State University

Management expert

Vicki is a highly skilled and experienced management expert, this may be the very best leadership program I’ve attended in all my years working at Michigan State as a senior international officer.

Vicki is knowledgeable and dynamic. Vicki encouraged us to think about specific actions we could take to create a motivating environment.

-Michigan State University

Wonderful

Vicki was on-campus for two days and met with members of our faculty individually, in pairs, and with the full group. It was an extremely useful experience for all of us. We enjoyed the “wonderful” discussions and felt like they left with a toolbox and useful tips to advance in their careers. One big picture comment was that your visit was “transformative” in rethinking individual career paths, priorities, etc.

Vicki is an amazing cheerleader – and we each felt that and it worked wonders! Everyone reported taking concrete action steps since her visit. After Vicki’s visit, we want to be part of building a campus culture that builds mentoring.

Angie Bos

Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean for Experiential Learning - College of Wooster

Socratic approach

Dr. Lunsford has been invaluable in helping us establish and shape our formal mentoring programs for our employees’ growth.  She has a personalized, Socratic approach that helps us clarify the outcomes we are aiming to achieve and overcome our unique challenges.  I genuinely appreciate her flexibility in how involved she needs to be given the type of project at hand.  She excels both at hands-on instructing or being in a more consultative role depending on what the project needs.  We couldn’t ask for a better partner in developing our mentorship programs.

Jessica Trichel, DVM

Learning & Instructional Design Specialist, Live Oak Bank

Contagiously optimistic

Dr. Baker’s work with Shape Corp. began as a key member of the Steering Committee from the Michigan College Alliance that worked directly with me and other executives in developing our first Global Leadership Development Program. Dr. Baker’s work with us, and influence at Shape Corp., is tremendous. She is contagiously optimistic, high energy, gifted facilitator, an expert in her field, the smartest person in the room, and now a full-fledged member of the Shape family.

Doug Peterson

VP of Human Resources

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