Blake Leath

Dr. Blake Leath is the founder of Leath Group, LLC—a consulting, coaching and curriculum development greenhouse committed to growing leaders, nurturing cultures and delivering dramatic breakthroughs in strategy and performance. Blake and his colleagues typically research, write, design, facilitate and teach their way through long-term client partnerships with transitional or transformative aims. To date, Leath Group has authored more than 90 such copyrighted organizational science solutions implemented for clients around the world. 83 of those solutions are catalogued here. 

In 33 years as an organizational sociologist and strategist, Blake has worked with practitioners in more than 300 companies and numerous federal, state and local agencies/departments/bureaus, as well as with individual researchers from leading universities to understand and maximize employee involvement, success, longevity and passion1. Blake’s recurring personal interests include strategy, culture, leadership, change, communication, systems thinking, M&A integration, trust & influence, and the processes of assimilation and acculturation.

Since 1992, Blake has instructed in excess of 15,000 participants (in intimate groups rarely exceeding 12-20 at a time) across 41 states, and his content has been used by leaders in 27 countries. Leath Group at large has worked with more than 200,000 individuals, and well over 2,000,000 imprints have been made of the Group’s combined intellectual properties.

In 2007, Blake published his first mainstream book, Cultivating the Strategic Mind: Growing From Leader to Visionary, Creator, and Architect of Strategy. The modest and very personal text consistently receives high praise from professional strategists embracing its approach to reinforce more systemic strategic thinking, and is increasingly regarded as a classic within its domain. A commemorative 10th anniversary Second Edition paperback featuring nearly 800 updates was released for Christmas 2017.

Blake's latest book, FIRESIDE: Seasoned Leaders' Reflections on Work, Life, and Life After Work is available now in either black-and-white or full-color paperback editions, both of which serve as perfect gifts for graduates, parents, grandparents, the recently promoted or retired, or leaders of any age or stage in life intending to live on-purpose for however many more tomorrows remain to their names.

Gleanings from the Group’s contributions to knowledge and best practices (plus hobbyhorses Blake’s Blog, Language Hound, Movie Reviews, and Book Bytes) can be found at www.leathgroup.com. Lifelong learners are encouraged to visit the site to experience Leath Group’s work, download freebies, and to participate in and contribute to an organic community of dialogue. Follow Leath Group, LLC on Facebook and LinkedIn and YouTube, @leathgroup and @blakeleath on Twitter, @leathgroup and @blakeleath on Bluesky, leathgroup on Instagram, and leath.group on TikTok to engage in periodic comings and goings and lighthearted musings, riffs, personal photos, and puff-piece observations.

Existing somewhat skittishly at the 97th percentile of introverts (and therefore endlessly fascinated by what he describes as “one of the hardest yet most rewarding and essential puzzles of all time: the people puzzle”), Blake admits to being a persistent yet plodding learner since kindergarten, having now been a student in nine states (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont) and an itinerant college lecturer in four (Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Texas). A Baylor University graduate and Brown University Leadership & Performance Coach (with educational stints at Dartmouth, MIT, and Yale in intervening years), Blake earned his bachelor’s in Management & Marketing, his master’s in Organizational Management, and his doctorate in Organizational Sociology (the latter being i/o psychology at sociological scale that employs generously elastic sensemaking tools for contemporary work). Postdoctoral studies exploring the integration of strategy, leadership, and corporate communication in postmodern management are proving to be the inspiration behind 2025's intended Cultivating the Managerial Mind, the second in a burgeoning series. And though an Adjunct Faculty member at TCU’s Neeley School of Business in Fort Worth since 2004, Blake will forever be a Bear at heart.  

Blake, Dawn, their daughter (Lauren), and their microscopic Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (Kit) make their home just north of Dallas, Texas. For play, the Leaths enjoy traveling, exploring, reading, moviegoing, attending concerts, plays, and musicals—and embarking on fun design projects of virtually any nature that get their creative juices flowing.

 

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1 Clients have included Abbott Laboratories, Adidas, AEP, Alcatel, Alcon, Alliance Data, Altec Lansing, American Chemical Society, Americo, Anchor Hocking, Anritsu, Anthology, Apple, Aramco, Ardagh, Ashland, AT&T, Atlas Copco, Avnet, BAE Systems, Baker Hughes, Bank of America, Bausch + Lomb (Ray-Ban), BBN Technologies, Beckett Media, Bell Textron, Ben E. Keith Co., Berkshire Hathaway, BFGoodrich, BHP, BlackRock, Blackstone, BNSF Railway, Boeing, Brinker International, Burlington Resources, Capital One, Cardinal Health, Catapult Mineral Partners, Celanese, Centex, Citigroup, City of Albuquerque, City of Plano, City of Shreveport, Claffey Pools, Clemson University, Coeur Mining, Comfort Systems USA, Corelle Brands, CornerStone Staffing, Countrywide Financial, CVS Caremark, Daimler, Ericsson, EssilorLuxottica, Fidelity Investments, Fiserv, Footstar, Freeport-McMoRan, FSI Defense, Fujifilm, GCC, GE, Genencor, General Mills, Gentiva, Giant Industries, GoPro, GuideStone, Haggar Clothing, Halliburton, Hallmark, H-E-B Grocery Co., Hecla Mining, HF Sinclair, Honeywell, IGT, Instant Brands, Intel, JCPenney, Junior Achievement, Keurig Dr Pepper, Kodak, Konica Minolta, KPS Global, L3Harris Technologies, Lennox, LexisNexis, Libbey, LightPath Technologies, L.L.Bean, Lockheed Martin, Lockton Companies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, LSG Sky Chefs, M3 Engineering, McAfee, McDonald's Corporation, McElroy Metal, McEwen Mining, Meeting Professionals International, MetLife, Microsoft, Mohawk Industries, Momentous Institute, Multi-Chem Group, NASA, Naval Air Warfare Center, NEORIS, Nestlé, New Moly, New York Life Insurance Company, Newmont, NMED, Northwest Airlines, Northwestern Mutual, Peabody Energy, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Phelps Dodge, Pier 1 Imports, PNM, Premier Distributing Co., PrimeSource, Procter & Gamble, Public Werks Inc., Raytheon, Ready Seal, Rosewood, Royal Leerdam, Sabre, Sally Beauty Supply, Sandia National Laboratories, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Service Corporation International, Software Spectrum, SourceHOV, Southern Methodist University, Southwest Airlines, Stillwater Mining Company, Sysco, Takata, TEGNA, Tesoro, Tetra Pak, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Instruments, The Coca-Cola Company, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, The Rosewood Corporation, Thornburg Mortgage, Toledo Zoo, Trinity Industries Inc., Ultralife Corporation, United States Coast Guard, UnitedHealth Group, Universal Instruments, University of Texas, USAA, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture/Defense/Energy/Interior, Vitro, WESCO International, WSDOT, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Yahoo! Inc., and Yum! Brands Inc.