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About TakingPoint Leadership

We design and deliver leadership and team development solutions for organizations that want to build high-performance teams, lead lasting change, and achieve winning results. From enhancing the leadership and management capabilities of your talent, to culture transformation, employee engagement strategies, and the execution of tactical projects, our team of experts is your partner in driving organizational excellence. Our founder, Brent Gleeson, former Navy SEAL, award-winning entrepreneur, world renowned speaker and 2x bestselling author has taken principles learned in SEAL training, combat, and experience building and leading high-growth companies and created a culture-driven approach to leadership development and building high-performance teams that deliver better business outcomes.

Our Mission

We equip committed teams with the leadership tools and development necessary for navigating change and growth with military-like precision.

Our Vision

Develop a reputation of excellence for building high-performance leaders.

Our Solutions

Leadership Team

Former Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson turned his discipline and battlefield lessons to the world of business and has become an award-winning entrepreneur, 2x bestselling author, and acclaimed speaker on topics ranging from leadership and building high-performance teams to culture and organizational transformation. Brent holds degrees in finance and economics from SMU, a graduate business degree from the University of San Diego, and certificates in English and History from Oxford University.

Nicole Gleeson - Co-Founder

Nicole is an integral part of the TakingPoint Leadership team, providing strategic vision for long-term growth. Having spent years as a sales and marketing executive for a global organization, her insight and experience fuels TPL’s approach to talent development. Her passion for giving back landed her Chairwomen and Ambassador Family for March of Dimes, Southern California.

Dyan Crace Sr Dir of Client Services

Dyan’s experience and passions are centered around communication, individual development, and team alignment. She is a certified facilitator in 360 feedback deployment, debriefs, and action planning toward improvement. She oversees all client service activities and will make sure TPL’s level of service matches expectations. 

Misti Cain_Headshot for Website

Misti Cain helps leaders and create step-by-step ‘Profit’, ‘Process’, ‘People’, and ‘Productivity’ business operations plans. She is also the host of business reality show Werrrk! by Mailchimp Presents, an all-star mentor for Techstars, and an Executive in Residence for Cal State University San Marcos. Her passion is helping the workforce love Mondays.

Wes Pingree - Dir of Business Development

Wes Pingree joins TakingPoint Leadership as Director of Business Development, bringing his positive energy and over 15 years of sales and event experience. Wes believes that connecting through the “human element” is the best way to build trust and accountability. He takes time to educate, nurture, and understand our clients goals, vision, and challenges to provide the best resources and solutions.

Aaron Tucker - Dir of Organizational Development

Aaron Tucker has experience leading SEAL operations in Central America and his senior role within a big four firm has given him opportunities to lead and coach executives in breaking down cultures, silos, and increase their ability to communicate and achieve highly effective teams using both practice-based and behavioral science.

Tom Huckabee - CFO

Tom Huckabee joined our leadership team with over 30 years of experience in assisting organizations with financial decisions that promote growth, profitability, and longevity. He brings strategic planning, finance, and accounting expertise that aids in the development of new services and capabilities. 

Senior Consultants

Sacha Lindekens, Ph.D

Sacha Lindekens, Ph.D

Specializes in executive coaching and leadership development

Sacha Lindekens is a Partner with Avion Consulting. He specializes in executive coaching and designing and delivering leadership development programs for organizations ranging from large multinational organizations to small to mid-sized family owned entities. His client base is a principally, but not exclusively, in the professional services, financial services, technology/media, and health-care industries. Sacha is a published author on the topic of executive coaching and leadership development and he aspires to fill the role of trusted advisor with his coachees on their learning journey.

Darryl Albertson, PH.D

Darryl Albertson, PH.D

Specializes in organizational development, human resources, and change management

Darryl is a Partner with Avion Consulting, a formal strategic partner of TPL, and an advisor to prominent leaders and organizations in the areas of leadership, organizational development, and change management. Darryl specializes in the healthcare, financial services, and defense industries. He has extensive Human Resources and international experience with a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Southern California. His areas of expertise include executive coaching and assessments, leadership and high potential programs, team development, talent management/succession planning, and change management.

Scott Leonard

Scott Leonard

Specializes in strategy and change management

Scott is a leadership and organizational development expert that believes in developing a culture of excellence. For 20+ years he has leveraged tools and techniques to build and develop elite, high-performing individuals, teams, and organizations.

Delivering innovative and entrepreneurial solutions to organizational, strategic and operational challenges regardless of the industry or business function, Scott enjoys working with and leading clients and teams to deliver results at scale while simultaneously augmenting technical and leadership core competencies.

David “Finch” Guenthner

David “Finch” Guenthner

Specializes in process improvement and organizational development

David “Finch” Guenthner is a former United States Air Force F-16 pilot, entrepreneur, and consultant in the areas of leadership fundamentals and team dynamics. He helps organizations develop an operational rhythm and cadence to ensure company-wide communication and processes align with an organization’s goals and objectives.

Finch provides organizations the operational framework and strategic business planning needed to execute business objectives while maintaining flexibility and course correction as needed.

Patrick Houlahan

Patrick Houlahan

Specializes in strategic leadership and organizational development

Patrick is a former Marine Colonel and fighter pilot with 12 years of active duty and 15 years in the reserves. He brings extensive experience driving organizational improvements, leadership excellence, and culture-driven practices.

Founder of Strategic Leadership Consultants, Patrick recognized a profound difference between people, viewpoints and feelings when it came to leadership and organizational culture. He understands the importance of finding a balance between focusing on mission-driven leadership and culture, and a focus on organizational processes. Both are extremely important. Patrick believes in building leaders that demonstrate compassion for their people and drive tactical actions to achieve company objectives.

Fabi Howard, MA. LPC.

Fabi Howard, MA. LPC.

Specializes in executive coaching and organizational development

Fabi Howard, a Licensed Psychotherapist, Executive Coach, and Organization Development Consultant has combined her education in human behavior with her career experience in corporate America to help organizations and leaders achieve and exceed their goals. Fabi specializes in behavioral leadership development including emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and team building.

Helping people grow is her passion. Her strength lies in her intuitive nature and innate ability to establish rapport and build trust quickly with her clients. Because of this, she is able to target and implement simple, yet powerful strategies, leading to immediate results and positive growth.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

  • Excellence

    We achieve excellence for our client partners and ourselves through bold strategic planning, rapid execution, follow-through, debriefing and extreme attention to detail.

  • Alignment

    We foster an aligned collaborative environment through consistent communication on direction and goals, and engaging the entire team in the mission planning and execution process.

  • Leading Self

    We can’t effectively lead others until we can lead ourselves. We take total ownership over our personal and professional development and believe in a culture of complete accountability.

  • Safety

    We protect an environment of psychological safety by giving everyone a voice, having the ability to engage in respectful conflict and always challenging the status quo.

  • Results

    We drive ROI for client partners while building meaningful and lasting relationships. All actions and behaviors are designed to achieve results. We support each other in all aspects of goal achievement.

In the Media

Why You Hold Your Boss Accountable, According to a US Navy SEAL
Business Insider: July 10, 2018

Navy SEAL and author of “Taking Point: A Navy SEAL’s 10 Fail Safe Principles for Leading Through Change,” Brent Gleeson explains why accountability and trust are key to any company’s success.
WATCH VIDEO >

Business Commands From a Navy Seal
Cheddar: February 6, 2018

Brent Gleeson, former Navy Seal and author of “Taking Point: A Navy Seal’s 10 Fail Safe Principles for Leading Through Change,” discusses his time in the military and how it helped him become more business savvy.
WATCH INTERVIEW >

Navy Seal Brent Gleeson Reveals How to Overcome Adversity
Parade: March 6, 2018

It isn’t every day that we get to hear firsthand what it’s like to serve as a Navy SEAL. Such was the first career of Brent Gleeson, who, upon returning to civilian life, has built award-winning, multimillion dollar organizations that have been repeatedly named in the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies.
READ ARTICLE >

Rancho Santa Fe resident translates Navy SEAL and corporate experience into management, leadership book
Rancho Santa Fe Review: March 20, 2018

In the late 1990s, Brent Gleeson was cruising toward a successful career in the business world. Then, he joined the Navy’s SEAL program, with overseas duty that included “capture or kill” missions in Iraq.
READ ARTICLE >

Episode 328: Brent Gleeson discusses the transition from Navy SEAL to businessman
SOFREP Radio: February 20, 2018

Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson joins us in studio for the podcast, which we livestreamed.  He has a new book out next week, it’s called “TakingPoint: A Navy SEAL’s 10 Fail-Safe Principles for Leading Through Change.”  Be sure to pre-order it.  The book gets into some of the takeaways Brent was able to deliver to the business world, and we hear all about it.
LISTEN TO INTERVIEW >

The System This Navy SEAL Uses to Communicate Seamlessly
Inc.com: November 3, 2017

Every company needs communication to flow within their workplace. Here are two barriers that get in the way according to Brent Gleeson, author of ‘TakingPoint.’
WATCH INTERVIEW >

The 1 Question That Will Show If Someone Is Right for Your Company
Inc.com: November 13, 2017

Hiring the right person is important. Here’s the question that will make sure you do, according to Brent Gleeson, author of ‘TakingPoint.’
WATCH INTERVIEW >

The Barnes & Noble Podcast: Brent Gleeson
The Barnes & Noble Podcast: April 27, 2018

Every author has a story beyond the one that they put down on paper. The Barnes & Noble Podcast goes between the lines with today’s most interesting writers, exploring what inspires them, what confounds them, and what they were thinking when they wrote the books we’re talking about. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW >

The Unbeatable Mind Podcast: Brent Gleeson
Unbeatable Mind Podcast: August 30, 2018

Brent Gleeson is a former SEAL and a prominent entrepreneur. He’s also a well known speaker merging his leadership lessons from the SEALs and how to apply them to business. Most recently, he’s also the bestselling author of the book “Taking Point: A Navy SEAL’s 10 Fail-safe Principles for Leading Through Change.” Mark and Brent talk about his work and his principles of leadership. Listen to this episode to gain insight on how an Unbeatable Mind is necessary both in the military and the business world. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW >

How To Use TakingPoint Principles to Build Family Alignment
The Home & Family Show, May 2, 2018

A successful entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and bestselling author, Brent Gleeson explains how his principles for leading through change can be applied in a family setting. WATCH THE INTERVIEW >

Interview with Brent Gleeson, Founder & CEO at TakingPoint Leadership
USA Weekly: February 28, 2018

Starting a business is a big achievement for many entrepreneurs, but maintaining one is the larger challenge. There are many standard challenges that face every business whether they are large or small. It is not easy running a company, especially in a fast-paced, ever-changing business world. READ ARTICLE >

See Us in Action

Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

Let’s Talk!

[email protected]

619.738.1146

Our mission is to inspire organizations to achieve company-wide alignment, a shared vision, and winning results through a culture-driven approach to leadership, change management, and business transformation. We do this through our high-impact keynotes, workshops, and leadership development programs.

We would love to be your partner in delivering solutions that improve leadership, culture, and employee engagement. Fill out this form to learn more, check date availability, or book us for an upcoming event.

We look forward to talking with you soon!