About Me

Welcome! I am Lindsay Read, founder of Lindsay Read Coaching. I created this leadership development company in 2022 after moving to Minneapolis from Chicago. In Chicago, I worked in Leadership Development at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and created one of its enduring programs, Leadership Accelerator.

My husband, son, daughter, and I are now happily rooted in Minneapolis and I’m thrilled to continue working with the University of Chicago and extend my reach to other local and international clients.

My career has focused on improving the life experiences of people far and wide, both through systems design and holistic individual support. I bring a multidisciplinary and experiential approach to leadership development. I became a Certified Professional Coach in 2019, hold a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a liberal arts bachelor’s degree in Spanish and history.

As a German Chancellor Leadership Fellow, I designed and led behavior change research at the Freie University in Berlin, Germany. I received training in nutrition and integrative health from the University of Maryland, and advanced culinary skills training from Kendall College, Chicago. I also evaluated social and environmental programs for the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C. and managed a large effort to understand how school-age children develop social and emotional skills.

I take a holistic approach to help emerging and seasoned leaders experience transformational change and find balance and connection with their values, at work and at home. I design and deliver experiential learning programs: learning from everyday experiences. My signature program is an innovative approach that uses self-observation to deepen self-knowledge and enable desired change. The program includes self-observation in the kitchen, a place that generates profound connection, insight, and meaningful change.

I have many hobbies and interests and I bring them into my coaching through analogies and even specific hands-on demonstrations. If you work with me, you may hear me connect leadership development to cooking, sports, music, and poetry.

My clients represent many cultures and countries and my approach celebrates their unique stories.

At the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, I designed the popular Leadership Accelerator program. I have coached hundreds of MBA students to achieve their leadership development goals.

Through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, I coach a cohort of alumni of Harvard University graduate schools, including the Kennedy School, the Graduate School of Design, the Business School, and the Graduate School of Education. These alumni work in city halls across the U.S. helping build local government capacity.

I am certified to provide and interpret the Hogan suite of personality assessments and the Energy Leadership Index. I have advanced training in using the Enneagram for deep personal transformation. I also use the VIA Character Strengths to help clients activate their inner resources and gain momentum.