Talent and leadership development

Chris Rice is the Managing Director, Global Talent Development.

Rice is responsible for the expansion of the company’s award-winning Talent Development business, including leadership and employee development programs, executive coaching, and assessments that help companies transform their leaders and workforce by motivating and inspiring their employees and building high performance cultures.

Through innovations in digital learning methodologies, analytics, and built-in coaching, LHH is developing solutions that engage participants, shorten learning-cycle time, and improve sustainability of behavior change.

Rice has more than 30 years’ experience in the Human Capital consulting business. He held executive positions with Gallup and Drake Beam Morin before becoming President and CEO of BlessingWhite from 1999 through 2015. He is the co-author of The Engagement Equation: Leadership Strategies for an Inspired Workforce (John Wiley & Sons). He has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

With over 20 years of experience in the leadership development, management consulting and training sectors, Andrew Graham has established an international track record of leading and managing global professional services firms. 

Andrew has proven business transformation capability driven through a natural people orientation, coupled with strong business acumen. Andrew served as President and CEO of Kepner-Tregoe Inc. (KT), a Princeton based consulting and training firm, which specializes in business transformation programs through the use of rational process thinking ideas that enable companies to resolve complex strategic and operational issues through the applied use of systematic process.

Joining the business in Australia, he initially focused on his client’s operational improvement projects; to support international operations, Andrew took on a turn-around leadership challenge with KT’s Tokyo operation.  Over two years, he successfully guided the business towards profitability, while gaining experience with the major consumer products companies in the region. Following Japan, Andrew relocated to Europe to take a leadership role guiding the firm’s complex European operation whilst evolving it toward an integrated, pan-European, business model. 

In conjunction with driving the business towards improved profitability and increased team engagement, Andrew was active amongst the company’s strategic clients delivering strategy formulation and operation improvement projects.  In late 2005, Andrew was appointed COO and relocated to North America to become CEO in 2006.  Under Andrew’s stewardship, the executive team designed and implemented a forward-thinking strategy, which enabled the business to weather the 2008 global financial crisis and position it for future market growth. During this period, Andrew developed a keen interest in the field of effective leadership behavior.

In 2010, he left the business to pursue this passion, relocating to Italy to serve as an adjunct professor at CIMBA University, near Venice, while studying the evolving field of neuroscience as applied to leadership behavior. Bridging to a new challenge, Andrew was appointed as President and CEO of Forum Corporation, a Boston based training company specializing in Leadership Development, Sales Effectiveness and Customer Experience management, where he led a multi- disciplinary, global team of professionals, committed to adding value to their clients through proven strategies, ideas, and innovative delivery solutions.  

Andrew holds a B.Eng. in Mechanical & Production Engineering from Sir John Moors University, in Liverpool, UK. He resides in Princeton, NJ and is an active member of the New York chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.  In recent years he has served on the Board of Blyth Inc., a NYSE public listed company in the home expressions sector.

Andrew is a passionate aviator, in his spare time; you will find him at the controls of helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and paragliders.  When not in the air, Andrew scuba dives, rides two-wheel transport, is an enthusiastic photographer and an avid, early adopter, of new technology.

Kristen is an experienced strategic sales and business leader with 20+ years in the talent and leadership development industry. She is the Managing Director of Lee Hecht Harrison’s US Talent Development business.In her role she has overall responsibility for growing the business, including meeting annual sales and profitability goals across the US zone. Kristen is also responsible for all US Talent Development operations and client service delivery. She works with C-suite and senior business leaders to provide talent and leadership development solutions proven to improve organizational and individual performance by leveraging her deep and broad content knowledge in organizational leadership and development, specializing in enterprise-wide solutions. Kristen has a passion for cultivating talent and is known for her collaborative approach and strategic mindset.

Vicki provides inspiring leadership on multiple dimensions – senior client leadership, thought leadership, and collaborative leadership within the leadership development practice, the industry verticals, and throughout the organization.

She is passionate about providing Lee Hecht Harrison clients with winning strategies to develop their talent and transform their organizations. As the firm-wide expert, Vicki has designed and delivered leadership development and executive coaching solutions at the enterprise level for a wide range of industries. Vicki lives in Paris, France, and has a truly global perspective on organizational business challenges in today’s complex market.

Leader with deep change management and talent development experience with large, complex, global companies. Leads change management initiatives globally. Extensive experience building organizational and leadership capability during restructurings, IT transformations, Shared Services implementations, mergers and acquisitions. 10+ years’ experience in training, learning and development. HR Generalist and line management experience. Directs and oversees the response to proposal requests. A mindset of continuous improvement with a drive-for-results orientation. Ability to translate complex, strategic topics into specific, understandable goals, tactics, action plans and deliverables. Superior presentation and facilitation skills. Proven strategic planning, leadership, proposal writing and project management skills. Demonstrated ability to collaborate with executives and establish credibility as a trusted business advisor. Strong business acumen in the financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals industries. Subject matter expertise in resilience.

Melanie Stave is Senior Vice President, Talent Development Practice Leader for Lee Hecht Harrison. With over 20 years in the Financial Services industry, Melanie brings a unique blend of experience to the organization. She has been the global head of learning and development for specific business lines at multiple organization as well as held positions in Corporate Banking treasury sales and client management. Melanie is a highly accomplished leader with excellent relationship management and communication skills. The strong partnerships and advisory relationships she creates across internal teams, client groups and external vendors result in successful, high-impact engagements.