Envision. Evolve. Execute.
CFIL's consultants and coaches bring over 25 years of experience in developing intentional leaders, intentional teams, and intentional cultures. We partner with you fully realize the talent, passion, and performance of your people.
Meet the Team
Mike Whitehead
Mike Whitehead is a leading consultant, coach and advisor to champions of change. He approaches leadership, human relatedness, and global impact through the lens of direct experience with curiosity, keen insight and action. The founder of the Center for Intentional Leadership, he has worked intensively for twenty-five years with executives responsible for leading major industries and key platforms in our community infrastructures to create change. His practical yet challenging method of expanding perspective, increasing awareness, and building meaningful relationships has created change in thousands of lives, both personally and professionally.
Founder, Center for Intentional Leadership
Scott Cornwell
Scott Cornwell has been certified as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) awarded through the International Coaching Federation as well as a Board-Certified Coach (BCC) certification and received his formal Coach training and certification through the Masters in Executive Coaching program at Queens University. In addition, Scott holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. His under graduate business degree is from The Citadel in Charleston, SC. He is certified in a number of executive assessment tools in support of his coaching practice. Scott is also the author of two books and a member of the Forbes Coaches Council.
President, Managing Partner, Executive Coach
Susanne Deitzel
Susanne, a communication expert with a writing and editing background, joined the firm in 2006. She shapes the firm's internal platform and messaging, ensuring clear communication for clients. Appreciating the power of language, Susanne co-designs programs and advises executives on clear communication for strong teams. Her intellectual curiosity fuels her exploration of communication, design, and business strategy.
This passion extends beyond the firm. Susanne raised her children as independent thinkers and enjoys spending time in nature, seeking inspiration for her work. In her free time, she walks her black lab or explores the pastures of her home in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Like her colleagues, Susanne is driven by a desire to make a positive impact and dedicates herself to bringing her ideas to life.
Managing Partner, CAO, Senior Consultant
Robert Schleusner
Leveraging 24 years at Bank of America, Robert brings a wealth of experience to his new role as executive coach. Previously leading a 3500-person credit organization with billions in revenue, Robert understands the complexities of corporate leadership. He transitioned after witnessing the positive impact coaching had on himself and his team.
Now, Robert uses his MBA and coaching certification to help clients unlock their potential and achieve authenticity in both their professional and personal lives. His holistic approach and commitment to being a guiding light extend beyond the boardroom. Robert is active in the Charlotte community, serving on numerous boards and mentoring within various organizations. This dedication to leadership development is evident in his role as President of the F3 Foundation, an organization focused on building strong male communities.
Partner, Executive Coach, Senior Consultant
Bill Meeker
Bill, a seasoned leader with 28 years across industries, joins as Senior Consultant and Executive Coach. He excels in global change management, honed as a CHRO and leading talent strategies for Fortune 500 companies. Bill's coaching leverages his experience developing executives at all levels, fostering high-performance leadership.
Beyond his corporate expertise, Bill's a champion for diversity and inclusion, bringing a global perspective from working in over 30 countries. This passion extends to his personal life, where he prioritizes family and an active lifestyle. Bill's boundless energy and collaborative approach ensure he tailors solutions to each organization's unique culture.
Partner, Senior Consultant, Executive Coach
Jenna Mosteller
A former educator, Jenna is the newest associate on the CFIL team and serves as a client experience manager. In her role, she aids in the delivery and execution of coaching and consulting for firm partners, as well as managing the considerable daily management of client services. Jenna brings a full heart and kindness to CFIL clients. She graduated from the University of at Charlotte, enjoys spending time with friends and family and the seasonal attendance at local Renaissance fairs.
Client Experience Coordinator
Lauren Haynes
Lauren has a combination of grace, purpose and an impeccable commitment to excellence to her role as practice manager. Prior to joining our team, Lauren worked in Atlanta non-profits where she was responsible for program development, project management and educational outreach. She also spent two years in South Korea teaching students English as their second language. During her time abroad, she traveled extensively across East and Southeast Asia contributing to her deep curiosity and fulfillment in diverse cultural experiences.
Lauren has a degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, exploring new cuisines and spending time with family and friends.
Practice Manager
Benjamin Endsley Klein
Ben brings an astute sense of creativity, aesthetic, and organization to the workings of Whitehead Manor Conference Center, the home of the Center for Intentional Leadership.
A broadway director, Ben, his wife, Stephanie (a talented former actress and now talented executive chef), and their young son, Oscar, breathe life, purpose and playfulness into the workings of space and place. Ben has harnessed and leveraged his unique insight and skill set into becoming a modern-day major-domo to Whitehead Manor as well as impeccably choreographing the design, logistics, hospitality and services of his workplace.
Creative Director
The Center for Intentional Leadership was founded over 25 years ago, and its coaches and consultants bring considerable industry experience to their work developing intentional leaders, intentional teams, and intentional cultures. We leverage the core approach along with business acumen as a partner to fully realize the talent, passion, and performance of your people.
Our Vision
Mike Whitehead
Mike Whitehead is a leading consultant, coach and advisor to champions of change. He approaches leadership, human relatedness, and global impact through the lens of direct experience with curiosity, keen insight and action. The founder of the Center for Intentional Leadership, he has worked intensively for twenty-five years with executives responsible for leading major industries and key platforms in our community infrastructures to create change. His practical yet challenging method of expanding perspective, increasing awareness, and building meaningful relationships has created change in thousands of lives, both personally and professionally.
As founder of the Center for Intentional Leadership®, Mike Whitehead advises senior leaders cultivate enterprise-wide conditions for success. He is deeply committed to helping all people realize their highest potential and fulfillment.
Mike developed the principles of Intentional Leadership to yield meaningful and significant results for leaders and their organizations. This approach is the product of twenty-five years of intensive study and application in executive development, coaching, team building, and corporate culture. His work with executives and their teams provides a rigorous, profound and satisfying exploration of purpose as a powerful source for exceptional results.
Clients of the firm include Fortune 100 corporations to small businesses, as well as non-profit and civic organizations. While living in Charlotte, Mike has participates in many boards and community organizations with the aim of providing opportunity and quality of life for all including disadvantaged children and education. Mike speaks publicly on the practice of Intentional Leadership as it applies to performance, change, innovation, collaboration and purpose - and intentionality as it applies to all facets of life.
After receiving a Master’s Degree. His favorite pursuits include spending time with his wife Beth and his adult children, riding motorcycles, and spending time tending to and designing his farm in Rock Hill, SC.
While leaders of influence arrive to his firm seeking ways to expand their leverage, impact and performance, they also leave with their lives radically transformed. His conversational craft stimulates new ways of seeing, enables new ways of thinking, and creates new possibilities to enrich the quality of human life. A self-proclaimed “ordinary guy, with an extraordinary calling,” and a “philosopher of direct experience,” he uses the power of inquiry and personal parable to engage, unify and leverage what he considers a common human desire - making a difference.
Scott Cornwell
Scott Cornwell serves as President and Managing Partner for the Center for Intentional Leadership. Scott has been certified as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) awarded through the International Coaching Federation as well as a Board-Certified Coach (BCC) certification and received his formal Coach training and certification through the Masters in Executive Coaching program at Queens University. In addition, Scott holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. His under graduate business degree is from The Citadel in Charleston, SC. He is certified in a number of executive assessment tools in support of his coaching practice. Scott is also the author of two books and a member of the Forbes Coaches Council.
Scott’s business experience, with over 25 years as a successful business leader and leadership development executive at start-ups, mid-size companies, and Fortune 500organizations brings a unique background to his coaching work with executive leaders in high growth organizations. Scott’s primary focus in executive coaching and leadership development is in working with c-suite leaders in their onboarding, in role development, and transition as executives in fast growing organizations. This work extends from the coaching of the individual to team development and ultimately partnering closely with clients to shape and impact the organizations culture.
In his past roles, Scott has served as a leadership development executive to high performing teams, led national sales organizations, built process design functions, and designed and delivered organizational development programs that created sustainable results. Scott draws on years of experience in coaching c-suite and executive leaders across multiple industries including healthcare, technology, manufacturing, financial services, and consulting. Clients have included Albemarle, AvidXchange, Barings, Bank of America, Domtar, Harris Teeter, Duke Energy, Sunbelt Rentals, and Atrium Healthcare. Specific roles have included Executive and Managing Directors, CIO, CSO, CEO, President, CLO, CAO and other various Vice President and Senior Director roles. Most importantly, Scott’s coaching focus is based on a deep commitment to helping executive clients around the globe lead remarkable organizations and live meaningful lives both inside and outside the organization. Scott is known for his intense focus on his client’s goals, understanding what values drive those goals, and helping his clients develop and succeed.
As Managing Partner and Practice Leader, Scott leads and manages the coaching and consulting capabilities of the firm including the design, development, and deployment of the proprietary Intentional Leadership Coaching process. This global coaching capability has been designed with years of experience working with executive leaders at multiple levels of the organization including the onboarding of new leaders, in-role leadership development, and the transition and succession of key executives into new roles and stages of their careers. Additionally, Intentional LeadershipCoaching provides senior Human Resource leaders visibility into the coaching process, consistency in approach when coaching multiple leaders of their firm, and impactful leadership development results linked to the strategic priorities of the firm.
Scott and his wife Kari, a second grade school teacher, have been married for over 25 years and have two daughters, Madison and Amelia. Scott has a passion for the outdoors and fitness where he enjoys golfing, long hikes, boot-camp fitness, and open water swimming.
Trusted Partners
Our business processes support our methodology to ensure continuity, consistency and confidentiality, while providing room for adjustment, agility and alignment to stakeholder needs.
