30 years.
One purpose.
"Great leadership starts with being a great human."
Founder and President, Wendy Finlason Consulting
Wendy Finlason Consulting is a leadership and team effectiveness practice that provides executive coaching, team coaching, group coaching, strategic planning facilitation, organizational culture consulting, leadership development, psychometric assessments, women in leadership programs, and leadership retreats. Founded and led by Wendy Finlason, a global leadership consultant, executive coach, and master facilitator with 30 years of experience, the practice helps senior leaders, leadership teams, and high-potential talent build the skills, culture, and strategy to perform at their best across Canada, the US, and internationally. She is the kind of advisor leaders call when the stakes are high and the truth matters.
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Her work and perspectives on leadership have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
30
years of experience
5,000
COACHING Hours
8,000
FACILITATION HOURS
4
GLOBAL HR AWARDS
HER STORY
Timing is everything
In business, and in lifeÂ
Wendy built her practice around the moment every leader eventually faces. The moment when what got them here is no longer enough to take them where they need to go.
Wendy comes from a family of serial entrepreneurs. Business was never just a topic of conversation. It was a way of life. That early immersion in how organizations are built, led and grown gave her a business acumen and strategic instinct that set her apart from the very beginning of her career.
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Over more than 20 years she built deep expertise across operations, human capital strategy, leadership development and team effectiveness, working with some of North America's most recognized organizations before ultimately moving into senior executive leadership. In 2018 she founded Wendy Finlason Consulting, bringing everything she had learned, lived and led directly into the service of the leaders and organizations who needed it most.
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It was not a pivot. It was a purpose.
Wendy has been engaged directly by leadership development firms and consulting organizations as a subject matter expert, facilitator and program builder. Trusted by the very companies that deploy consultants. She has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal and the Society for Human Resource Management, spoken at the Human Capital Institute Conference and the Fierce Summit in Seattle, and contributed to a multi-award-winning global coaching innovation that earned Gold Stevie Awards for HR and Employee Experience and Innovation of the Year.
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As a mother of three remarkable children, all now in post-secondary, Wendy knows firsthand what it means to show up fully every single day. Her children are her greatest inspiration and the reason she brings everything she has to every room she walks into.
THE PERSON BEHIND THE WORK
Passionate. Fierce.
Genuinely human.
Wendy is full of life. She leads with warmth, humour and a genuinely contagious energy that makes even the most difficult conversations feel possible. People notice her when she walks into a room and they remember her long after she leaves.
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She sees the world as the cup runneth over. Growing up with three brothers made her someone who is not easily intimidated and never backs down from a challenge worth taking on. People who work with Wendy get someone who is completely, wholeheartedly in their corner and who brings joy, courage and truth to every conversation.
Rooted in three worlds
Jamaican. Canadian. Global.Â
A proud born Jamaican and a proud Canadian citizen, Wendy has deep roots in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands where she also lived and worked. Having worked across the Caribbean and with global teams spanning North America, South America, Europe and APAC, she brings a genuinely international perspective to leadership that few consultants can match.
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Her personal history, global work experience and deep family ties across cultures have shaped a worldview that diversity is not just good ethics. It is good business. And for Wendy, inclusion goes beyond any single dimension. It is about embracing and celebrating every human being, fully.
"People are not your greatest asset.   Inspired, engaged and developed people are."
At the end of the day, Wendy's greatest aspiration is to be a catalyst for the kind of leadership that changes not just organizations but the people within them. Leaders who are more honest. More courageous. More human. Leaders who understand that the way they show up every day is the culture they create.
What sets Wendy apart
She has sat in your seat.
She came from the business first.
Wendy began her career in operations before moving into human capital and leadership. She speaks the language of the business because she has lived it.
She does not mince words.s.
Wendy is direct, honest and unafraid to say what others will not. She challenges leaders to their fullest potential. No fluff. No box-checking. No wasted time.
She has a rare gift for human connection.
Wendy asks the right questions, builds trust quickly and finds the key that unlocks every person in the room. She connects as a human first and a consultant second.
She is in your corner completely.
When Wendy commits to a client she is all in. She advocates fiercely for the leaders she works with and never gives up on their potential.
She makes it
stick.
Development built on 70-20-10 principles with sustainment at the core. Wendy measures what matters and works with clients to define ROI from the start.
She only says yes when she means it.
Wendy turns down work that does not align with her values or where she cannot make a genuine difference. When she says yes, you know it is real.
She is dynamic and deeply human.
Wendy uses humour, vulnerability and real-world storytelling to make complex leadership concepts land. Equally at home on a keynote stage as in a one-on-one coaching conversation.
She brings a genuinely global perspective.
With experience across North America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and APAC, Wendy understands that great leadership transcends borders.
What leaders say
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Wendy is one of a kind. She is able to diagnose needs within an organization, create strategy and execute on a well-crafted plan. She connects with people at a deep level, this is rare. I recommend that anyone reading this seizes the opportunity to collaborate and build with her.
Stacey Engle, president,fierce inc.Â
The methodology behind the work.
Wendy has built one of the deepest and most deliberately curated methodology stacks in leadership consulting. Each discipline was chosen to serve her clients better, not to impress. The detail lives in the discovery conversation.
Coaching & Team Coaching
Co-Active Coaching (CTI)
Organizational Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC)
Positive Intelligence (PQ)
Psychometric Individual & Team Assessment
Team Coaching International (TCI), Team Diagnostic
Korn Ferry 180 Leadership Styles and Climate Assessment
Birkman Method
Communication and Conversations
Fierce Conversations
TalentLens Think Now Critical Thinking
FranklinCovey
Leadership Development
3COze Team Effectiveness
Situational Leadership
Women in Leadership
Change and Learning Design
Prosci ADKAR Change Management
4MAT 4Business
Frits Goldschmeding Academy, Netherlands
Education
Bachelor of Commerce, Toronto Metropolitan University (Honour Roll)
People I respect and work alongside
Aligned in philosophy. Complementary in practice.
Chris Mader
Founder, MTA Consultancy · EOS Implementer · Author · Motivational Speaker
Wendy and Chris have known each other for over a decade, having worked together earlier in their careers in the staffing and talent industry. That shared history, combined with a deep alignment in leadership philosophy, has grown into a trusted professional relationship built on mutual respect.
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Chris is a recognized executive coach, EOS Implementer, motivational keynote speaker and author. His work in business scalability through EOS, sales leadership and motivational speaking complements with Wendy's work. A former professional baseball player, he brings a distinctive athletic and entrepreneurial perspective to organizational performance that Wendy deeply admires.
Make the Adjustment: Finding the Courage to Embark on Your Own Journey of Transformational Change (2024)