About Jaleh Zandieh.
Global Leadership Expert and Founder of the Leadership Design Training Program.
Her story: From an introverted Physical Therapist in Pennsylvania to Global Leadership Expert.
Jaleh Zandieh is the Founder of the Leadership Design training program. Over the last 19 years, she is continuously inspired by her clients who are successful service-oriented, purpose-driven leaders who use their talents, resources, and organizations for the betterment of humanity.
Over the last four decades, Jaleh has lived in North America, Asia and Europe. She now works with global leaders and their organizations, presenting to exclusive audiences, offering keynotes and interactive workshops to businesses, conferences, forums, summits, and universities.
Once extremely shy and preferring to blend into the background and out of the spotlight, she found fulfillment in accompanying people to recover from chronic injuries by rediscovering their strength and confidence in themselves to lead their lives.
Early in her career, Jaleh received the unexpected good fortune of having a number of mentors, professors, and even clients who encouraged her to develop her confidence and imagine expanding her work beyond the walls of the healthcare institutions she’s proud to have been part of.
Each of these people represents different cultures, countries, titles, and professions – yet giving encouragement and seeing possibilities within her that she didn’t yet acknowledge or feel. Each of them sharing their vantage point and experience to help Jaleh see that there were many ways people could benefit from her work and that it’s important for her to share her capacities and knowledge. Even if this required her to shift outside her comfort zone, many people would resonate with her Leadership Style and her training process. She’s grateful for the influential encouragement that has helped her at every stage of her life.
You’re invited to read about three of these extraordinary leaders below.
[Photo credit: Photograph taken by Dez The Great of the House of GreenWood. Styling by Jennifer Gabiola.]
Jaleh’s heroes and influences.
The first of these influences came from a genius in both math and music from New York City who shared his love for logic and creativity in all he did. Whether he was naturally commanding the stage while performing his music or igniting an audience hearing his graduation speech, he embodied the power of empowerment and inclusivity. This Leadership Style enriches the people in his sphere of influence, encouraging them to believe in themselves. Becoming friends early in their lives, he decided that Jaleh’s voice was quiet but could bring people together to make big things happen. He believed that there’s a lot of power in the way she shows up for people and challenged her to never stop caring or lose hope in what’s possible when people work together. Even when painful challenges happen, his encouragement helps her when the voices of doubt or criticism flow.
Jaleh’s second mentor was a powerful orator, scholar, and consultant from Ethiopia who embodied the power of expression and courageous exploration to understand the many facets of the human experience. Her influence and wise counsel created warm retreats that helped Jaleh train her talents and heal from PTSD after she survived a school shooting during her freshmen year at university. This wise counsel and Leadership Style encouraged Jaleh to trust herself to find a professional path that brings her heart “nothing but joy”. This led to her first major step outside the United States after completing graduate school and accepting a job opportunity to live in China.
While working in China, Jaleh was introduced to her third mentor who was a truly wise, strong, brilliant 92-year old physician whose leadership created an uplifting medical and treatment environment that was unlike anything Jaleh had experienced before. The entire experience he and his team offered was infused with so much brightness, nourishment, and tranquility. He reflected the powerful Leadership Style of compassionate confidence and clear discernment, modeling the value of trust and self-mastery. He completely changed Jaleh’s life by helping her recover from a heart condition and showed her how to foster self-care while caring for others – and even granted her a special invitation to study in Tibet with the team of doctors he trained so she could return to the U.S. feeling more healthy, clear, and capable of helping others through her work.
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After a series of interesting “coincidences” or synchronicities, new opportunities were presented to Jaleh to share her quiet but deeply caring Leadership and Communication Style with groups of students, healthcare professionals, educators, non-profit teams, diplomats, and military officers who were experiencing profound layers of stress which were affecting their ability to contribute their best work.
These were opportunities for her to continue learning and discovering common patterns of what happens to a variety of leaders across a spectrum of professions and industries. This lead to an organic process of Jaleh being introduced and connecting with purpose-driven, service-oriented leaders to understand more about how to set them up for more success — while also safeguarding their health.
More clients continue to personally refer to Jaleh to experience the leadership framework that she’s developed over years of clinical research and client care.
Jaleh is dedicated to nurturing an empowered, capable generation of leaders who elevate their environments and industries while modeling a culture of excellence and inclusion — where everyone’s talents are recognized, valued and nourished…
contributing to the reality of unity rooted in honoring the expansion of diversity.
As Jaleh's work continues to expand throughout the globe and span across industries, generations, and cultures...hope is ignited for a brighter, more united world.
She was raised to believe that ethical businesses can be champions for justice, opening doors of opportunities that ultimately benefit everyone, and cultivating capacities of people to contribute their unique "gems of inestimable value" for the betterment of humanity…one leader, one team, one organization at a time.
Jaleh’s inspiration,
values & mission.
Regard each human “as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”
― Bahá’u’lláh
Jaleh was raised with a Faith that nourishes beliefs that each person has worth, value, and capacities. Her personal exploration and professional path in the world continue to fuel her flame of hope in what’s possible when purpose-driven people share a common goal. She focuses on supporting ethical businesses and organizations because they can be champions for justice, open more doors of opportunities, and elevate the quality of life for all the stakeholders they impact: their teams, clients, communities, environment, and society as a whole.
To ‘Lead By Design’ means shifting away from overwhelm and exhaustion in the pursuit making a difference…so people can expand their capacity and impact without burning out from the work that lights them up.
This cultivates a multi-layered, practical approach to excellence and self-mastery as the driving force of their success, instead of the common patterns of pain and chronic stress.
Jaleh is dedicated to nurturing a capable generation of leaders who elevate their environments and industries while modeling a culture of excellence and inclusion. This creates a culture where everyone’s talents are recognized, valued and nourished…contributing to the reality of unity rooted in honoring the expansion of diversity.
Her vision and impact.
As a way of paying homage to the magnificent mentors and true friends who have helped Jaleh at every crossroad and challenge in life, a pillar of her organization is honoring and valuing the next generation of leaders who are People of Color.
For every new contract or client who invests in the Leadership Design training experience, Jaleh provides pro bono mentoring experiences to emerging service-driven students and young professionals who represent communities who are Black, Indigenous, or a Person Of Color (BIPOC).
Dedication.
Jaleh’s work is dedicated to her A-Team, the souls who generously shared their brilliance with the world: Dr. Shifu, Rebequa Murphy, and Avery Waddell Jr. They continue to be a never-ending supply of love, support and inspiration for Jaleh, and she’s eternally grateful for the profound impact they’ve had on her life.
[Photograph of Jaleh taken by Dez The Great of the House of GreenWood. Styling by Jennifer Gabiola.]