LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT AND COACH
Lee Ellis is President and founder of Leadership Freedom, a leadership and team development consulting and coaching company. His prior experience was as a founding partner and senior vice president of RightPath Resources Inc., a leadership assessment and human capital management consulting company headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more than twelve years he has served as an executive coach and a corporate consultant in the areas of hiring, teambuilding, leadership development, and succession planning. His clients include Fortune 500 senior executives and C-Level leaders in telecommunications healthcare, insurance, energy, IT, automotive, military, and not-for-profit sectors.
AUTHOR/SPEAKER
Lee’s latest book, Leading Talents, Leading Teams, was released in March 2003. He has authored or co-authored a total of four books on leadership and career development. He is currently writing a new book based on his experiences as a Vietnam POW, highlighting leadership lessons learned in the camps. He is a conference and motivational speaker on the subjects of leadership, team building, mentoring, and career planning. Lee uses stories from his POW experience to inspire audiences facing times of change and challenge. In addition, he has been interviewed as a subject matter expert on several nationally syndicated radio programs.
Lee authored, Leading Talents, Leading Teams, and co-authored three books on career planning. He is currently writing a new book based on his experiences as a Vietnam POW, highlighting leadership lessons learned in the camps. In addition, he has been interviewed as a subject matter expert on several nationally syndicated radio programs.
RESEARCHER/DEVELOPER
As the Director of Career/Life Pathways from 1990 – 1998, Lee led the development team that researched, developed, and validated Career Direct a vocational assessment package and two personality assessments with software applications. From 1998 – 2008, he was responsible for product development of RightPATH 4 Profile™ and RightPATH 6 Profile™ and the Leadership360 assessment. At RightPath Resources, he managed the development and internet deployment of the RightPath Leadership Assessment System. In total, these assessments have been used by more that 200,000 individuals and are the instrument of choice in many organizations including Fortune 500 companies and nationally recognized not-for-profits.
EDUCATOR
Lee holds a BA degree in history from the University of Georgia and a MS degree in counseling and human development from Troy State University in Alabama. He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College and the Air War College. Lee supervised, educated, and trained officers for the last 17 years of his Air Force career. He served as the Vice Commandant of the Squadron Officer School, the Air Force’s leadership school for captains. He completed his Air Force career as Professor of Aerospace Studies and Commander of Air Force ROTC at the University of Georgia. More recently he has developed and presented leadership curricula in numerous organizations including two Fortune 500 companies.
AIR FORCE OFFICER and PILOT
A native of Commerce, Georgia, Lee graduated from the University of Georgia in 1965 and began a career in the Air Force. During the Vietnam War Lee’s aircraft was shot down over enemy territory and he became a prisoner of war. He was held in various prisons in the Hanoi area for over five years. After repatriation, he returned to flying duties with increasing positions of leadership. His assignments included duty as a pilot, flight instructor, staff officer, chief of flight standardization and evaluation, flying squadron commander, and supervisor in higher education. He was awarded two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Valor device, the Purple Heart, and POW Medal. In addition, he was awarded four Air Force Commendation Medals and four Meritorious Service Medals for performance excellence. He retired after 24 years of service with the rank of Colonel.
Personal: Lee and his wife Mary have four grown children and six grandchildren. They reside in the metro area of Atlanta, GA.
