Leslie Gaines-Ross

 

Leslie Gaines-Ross
Chief Reputation Strategist

lgaines-ross@webershandwick.com

Leslie leads Weber Shandwick’s global reputation consulting services and thought leadership development. She is the architect of groundbreaking, award-winning research into CEO and corporate reputation, leadership transitions, corporate rankings, online reputation, and reputation sustainability and recovery. Leslie is a member of the firm’s global senior management team.

Leslie is one of the world’s most widely recognized experts on reputation--how reputations are built, enhanced and protected. She spearheaded the first comprehensive research on CEO reputation and its impact on company reputation and business performance. She developed Weber Shandwick’s global corporate reputation studies--Safeguarding Reputation™ and Risky Business: Reputations Online™. Leslie is the author of two books, CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success (2003, Wiley) and Corporate Reputation: 12 Steps to Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation (2008, www.corporatereputation12steps.com, Wiley). Her newest book was chosen as one of the 30 Best Business Books of 2008 by Soundview Executive Book Summaries.

Before joining Weber Shandwick, Leslie was Chief Knowledge & Research Officer Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller and Marketing & Communications Director at Fortune. Leslie’s work has been featured in the Financial Times, The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Wired, Advertising Age, PRWeek, Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Chief Executive, Business 2.0, Across the Board and in many other global publications. She has also appeared on Bloomberg, CNN, BBC, Good Morning America, CNBC and NPR.

Leslie is a frequent public speaker on CEO and corporate reputation management. She ranks as one of IABC’s “all-star speakers” and lectures at major business schools. Leslie has also spoken at the World Economic Forum Governor's Meeting. She is a member of Ethical Corporation's Advisory Board, serves on the Executive Advisory Panel of Corporate Reputation Review and was inducted into New York City’s YWCA Academy of Women Achievers. Leslie has also been named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics” in 2007 and 2008 by Ethisphere Magazine.

Leslie created www.reputationRx.com, the Web site devoted exclusively to reputation news and information, and her blog can be found at www.reputationXchange.com.