As you continue your leadership journey, I offer you the following:

May you be the leader in your own leadership development. 

 

May you have courage to practice being a compassionate and empowering leader. 

 

May you always be learning and working towards your something with Imperfect Excellence. 

That’s why I created Imperfect Excellence. I work with managers and their teams along their leadership journey by helping apply learning and make the shifts they are longing for.

Together we create the bridge between the current state and aspirational leadership ideals and team values.

After the training, I felt internal pressure and conflict about how to approach my work. How do I apply my new mind blowing, earth shattering learnings? I wondered how - or if  - I could teach my team, to share what I’d learned at the training, without being self-righteous. How do I use these new tools from this mysterious leadership cult, er, cohort? How can I make changes if my boss isn’t, too? What’s my responsibility with this new knowledge and why wasn’t someone with more authority telling me what to do?! 

I felt stuck on the edge of the current state of myself and team, able to see these management/leadership/team ideals and values on the other side but struggling to bridge the gap between.

As I continue my own incomplete and imperfect leadership journey, I am living in constant courage, scared of every step, and seeking support along the way. You and your team are unfinished, too, and will never be complete, never perfect. There is always a next step, new circumstances, continuous improvement, repeating cycles, and spiraling creation. 

I remember my excitement for the first of several Friday leadership development training days at my former job. I was so grateful to be chosen. We learned about our personal styles and strengths, group dynamics, communication dysfunctions, how to run effective meetings... Yet, I wondered, after seven years, why was this the first time I was hearing about some of this stuff? Why weren’t MY managers and leaders in this program?!? I wanted my whole team to talk openly about these critical topics every day, but how?

I eventually left that job and took the opportunity to jump into the world of corporate training, leadership and organization development, management consulting, and coaching. I felt a calling to learn more so that I could teach what had been transformational for me. I wanted to help transform how people lead and manage. 

Unfortunately, I found that corporate learning and development programs can be compliance driven, and management training is often optional or offered intermittently and isolated from performance reviews. Like at my former job, I became frustrated again seeing minimal support for applying training to real work, but this time from the trainer’s side. 

I realized I don’t want to participate in check-the-box training. Just hearing, reading, and regurgitating platitudes is not leadership development. I want to do more than teach the theories and tools, hoping something might stick, but not knowing. 

Hi, I’m Vanessa Wyant. 

I envision a compassionate world emerging from oppressive systems and relationships, especially in the workplace. I am building a future where generative and inclusive leaders are supported and celebrated for creating brave spaces where people work better together because they are enlivened, empowered, and safe.

I am an organization development consultant and leadership and team coach focused on helping people work better together. I support the development of teams and their leaders by facilitating group processes and catalyzing systemic alignment. I use systems theory, group process facilitation, organization and leadership development, emotional intelligence, trauma awareness, and behavioral science to empower leaders and teams to create intentional, lasting change and develop adaptability.

Most of my career has been with nonprofits addressing environmental stewardship and social justice issues, either delivering programs or providing administrative support. Because of this, I love to coach and consult with other sensitive leaders and their teams who are on a mission to serve the greater good.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and I have a background in project management, environmental education, and nonprofit program leadership. I continue my leadership learning journey through courses and programs including:

• Coro Northern California Leadership Collaborative, 
• Business Coaching Certificate and Supervision & Leadership Skills Series from South Seattle College, 
• Co-Active Coaching Fundamentals Training from the Coaches Training Institute, 
• Spiral Leadership Program, 
• T-Groups (group dynamics and skills practice) with Crosby and Associates,
• Foundations in Neuroscience with Key Change Institute,
• And more!

I am currently located in Seattle, Washington, USA. I love exploring the city's various parks, a.k.a. hidden treasures, and other natural wonders just beyond the city limits. If I’m not hiking and taking bad selfies, you’ll find me wandering around my neighborhood, playing pretend with my niece, bingeing shows and movies with my sister and brother-in-law, or tending my houseplant jungle.

Connect and learn more about me on LinkedIn.