About Us
East Valley Leader Lab is the manifestation of a conversation Timm and Amanda started in 2017. At the time, Timm was still a Partner at Ensemble Management Consulting which he had founded in 1999. About the time Timm joined Amanda’s Tai Chi classes, he was in the process of discovering the power of embodied leader development, and how he personally had been “blind” to the important role our bodies play in how we show up at work and in life.
The Leader Lab, as Timm and Amanda have designed it, is a safe space for examining what you embody today and if that is best serving the future you are working to create. It combines the respect and bodily practices of the martial arts dojo, with the science of embodied learning and the art of leading others. And it does so in a way that is affordable for small businesses and non-profits, though we also have many corporate participants.
Timm and Amanda bring a unique and diverse set of skills to the Leader Lab…
Timm J. Esque has spent the last 30 years working in and consulting with companies like Intel, Google, HP, etc. on team productivity, management and leadership. He is the author of 3 books on the subject including No Surprises Project Management (ACT Publishing, 1999). Many project managers have been certified by Timm in his Commitment-based Project Management framework. Timm is certified in the Institute for Generative Learning’s three year leadership coaching program.
Amanda Stradling discovered embodiment at an early age; she has studied and taught Tai Chi and related arts for 20 years and credits these practices with creating a full and healthy life. Amanda co-founded American Self Defense Academy which is still thriving today. When she is not coaching leaders, she is a devoted mother of two, working on her 3rd degree black belt and training for marathons.
Timm and Amanda are building on the legacies of the pathfinders of ontological and embodied leadership: Fernando Flores, Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Bob Dunham and Amanda’s long time (and now Timm’s) martial arts teacher – Master Peter Hill. We believe the Leader Lab is unique to the Valley of the Sun and we hope you will consider joining us for some guided experimentation to embody and become the best leader you can be!