Leslie S. Pratch

CEO and President of Pratch & Company, Leslie Pratch, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and MBA who specializes in helping public and privately held firms identify whether executives being considered to lead companies possess the competencies and psychological resources they need to be effective in a specific role. Over the past 18 years she has evaluated 570 prospective business leaders for 85 organizations. The predictive validity of her assessments exceeds 98%.

Her evaluations are derived from research she led at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. These studies and her subsequent research focused on what makes successful business leaders effective: Do a firm’s most capable managers possess personality attributes that can be identified years before those managers are ready to assume top leadership roles? In Looks Good on Paper? (Columbia University Press, July 2014) she describes this approach and its applications to assessing and developing high-performing business leaders.

Since 1998, Leslie’s advisory work has emphasized the assessment and development of executives and succession planning by officers and directors. Her client base includes corporations and professional service firms. She also advises executives on ways to maximize their professional success. For the past 18 years, Leslie has focused on helping private equity investors reduce the risk associated with investing in uncertain management capability. She is also experienced as an expert witness in matters relating to leadership capability and performance.

Leslie received her B.A. in Religion cum laude from Williams College; an M.A. in Human Development from the University of Chicago, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University Medical School, and an M.B.A. specializing in Corporate Strategy and Finance from the University of Chicago.

Select clients include Encore Consumer Capital, LCatterton, Adams Street Partners, Emaar Properties, and Employee Stock Option Fund.