Founder & CEO @ Lever Talent | Host of The Lever Show | Helping leaders develop talent strategies that leverage a tech-empowered future.

You’re capable of more than you could ever imagine.

I started my career impatient, driven, and a little naive. In my mid-20s, I was sprinting up the corporate ladder… and got fired.  

That moment forced me to get honest about what actually changes a team: clarity, standards, and the courage to hold them.

My belief is simple: as AI and automation take more transactions, the human work matters more. Technology multiplies what’s already there (judgment, trust, focus). Software doesn’t change a team. Cadence does.

In 2022, I followed that belief and started Lever Talent. I work with CHROs, CPOs, and HR or L&D leaders to align talent with the business so teams get better because of technology instead of being buried by it. We make it practical:

• Lead with Leverage: a manager cadence that makes expectations real (and conversations easier)
• MVV that sticks: values → rituals → behavior change
• AI, but usable: 30-60-90 change plans that turn pilots into ROI
• People-ops command center: fewer dashboards, better decisions

With technology, our leverage is limitless. Let’s build teams that prove it.

DM me to get in touch.

Drew Fortin

Executive & Leadership Coach | Organizational Consultant | Adjunct Professor | IFS-Trained Coach | Self-Leadership is a Superpower

What do I do, you ask? Well, let me tell you a little story. 

Short story: 
I help create high-performing organizations by harnessing the power of their people's natural abilities. 

Long story: 
I support growing small and mid-sized companies to create clear people strategies to revolutionize how they do business. Companies I work with create efficiency, increase clarity, cut expenses, increase revenue, and operationalize values to become purposeful in representing their brand to clients and customers. 

💥 Any organization's success is only as strong as the people - and investing in the development of your people is a direct investment in your company 💥 

Long story short: 
By putting people first – you can make more money.

And we all want that. 


The backstory: 
Culture isn’t a buzzword. 

Culture is what people feel when they come to work or buy your product.

And that is 100% based on your people.

And if you aren’t deliberately cultivating your culture – you are letting it create itself. Unchecked.

An unchecked culture can hurt your business.

Creating the right culture by will impact every single aspect of your business.

Every. Single. Aspect.
•	Revenue generation
•	Client retention
•	Client acquisition
•	Marketing
•	Branding
•	Company reputation
•	Employee satisfaction
•	Employee retention
•	Employee acquisition

The only way to create a strong culture is to have a strong people strategy.

Email me larissa@quivetconsulting.com, and let's get rolling!

Focus Impact Areas:

•	Executive Coaching
•     Pre & Post Hire Assessments
•	Team Cohesion Facilitation
•	Manager Training & Development
•	Leadership Development
•	People Strategy Consulting

Larissa Haynes

One of the most powerful shifts in leadership doesn’t happen when circumstances change.

It happens when perspective expands.

Two people can experience the exact same situation and see entirely different possibilities. Not because the situation changed, but because their lens did.

This is the quiet power of widening your aperture.

When you step back just enough to see more fully, new options emerge. Reactivity softens. Curiosity becomes available again.

And often, what once felt like a problem begins to look like information.

Leadership isn’t just about what you do. It’s about what you’re able to see.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

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There is a version of leadership I used to strive for.

Certain. Unshakeable. Always composed.

Over time, I’ve realized that what people actually trust isn’t perfection.

It’s presence.

It’s the leader who can stay grounded when things are uncertain. The one who can acknowledge complexity without rushing to resolve it too quickly. The one who continues to grow openly.

Leadership isn’t a fixed state you arrive at.  It’s a relationship you continue to build with yourself.

And in many ways, that relationship shapes every other one.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

Growth becomes possible when self-judgment softens into self-compassion.

There’s a moment in almost every team conversation.

Someone asks a hard question.  The room gets quiet.  You can feel the tension shift.

In those moments, we often talk about psychological safety.

And yes, in environments where there is real harm or abuse of power, safety is essential.  But in most professional settings, what we’re experiencing isn’t danger.  It’s discomfort.

And the difference matters.

In this week’s newsletter, I explore why high-performing teams aren’t built on constant comfort.  They’re built on psychological bravery. And why trust doesn’t begin with policies or reassurance.

It begins inside the leader.

If you’ve ever felt the room tighten during a difficult conversation and wondered how to hold it steady, this one is for you.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

There’s a moment in almost every team I work with. Someone asks a hard question. The room goes quiet. You can feel it. Eyes drop. Postures shift. Some

Open article: Trust Begins Inside: The Internal Work Behind High-Performing Teams by Larissa Haynes • 3 min read

Trust Begins Inside: The Internal Work Behind High-Performing Teams

“We don’t really have conflict here.”

I hear this often, usually said with pride.  And sometimes it is a strength.
But sometimes it’s something else.

In many teams, the absence of visible conflict isn’t alignment. It’s avoidance. Hard questions get softened. Disagreement gets redirected. Meetings stay polite, and important tensions remain unspoken.

Healthy teams don’t avoid friction. They build the capacity to stay steady within it.

In this week’s newsletter, I explore why productive conflict isn’t about encouraging debate; it’s about strengthening internal regulation. Because trust and commitment don’t grow in perfectly comfortable rooms.

They grow when leaders can widen their aperture and remain grounded when disagreement surfaces.

If your team prides itself on harmony, this one might stretch you.. in the best way.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

It’s a phrase I hear often, usually delivered with a quiet sense of pride. “We don’t really have conflict here. We get along.” At face value, that sou

Open article: “We Don’t Really Have Conflict Here.” by Larissa Haynes • 3 min read

“We Don’t Really Have Conflict Here.”

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about integration.

Not the kind that happens in strategy decks or team structures.  The kind that happens quietly, over time, inside a person.

There’s a moment when something you once had to consciously practice becomes part of who you are. When staying calm in tension feels more natural. When listening deeply feels less effortful. When you trust your own internal signals more fully.

It’s subtle. But it changes everything.

Growth isn’t always about becoming someone new.  Sometimes it’s about becoming someone more whole.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

Have you ever walked out of a meeting thinking,  “Why don’t they get it?”

You explained the strategy.  You clarified the direction.  Everyone nodded.
And yet something still felt… off.

Over time, I’ve noticed that when teams feel unclear, leaders often try to solve it externally with more discussion, more explanation, and more alignment sessions.

But what if clarity isn’t created in the room?  What if it begins within the leader?

In this week’s newsletter, I explore how internal alignment shapes team cohesion and why the clarity you’re looking for might start in unexpected places.

If you’ve ever left a meeting feeling misunderstood, this one is for you.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

You walk out of the meeting feeling unsettled. You explained the strategy, outlined the priorities, and answered the questions. People nodded. There w

Open article: Ever Leave a Meeting Thinking, “Why Don’t They Get It?” by Larissa Haynes • 3 min read

Ever Leave a Meeting Thinking, “Why Don’t They Get It?”

This quote has stayed with me for years.

So much of leadership isn’t about controlling external circumstances. It’s about developing awareness of what’s happening internally: the patterns, reactions, and protective responses that shape how we show up.

When we begin to notice those patterns, something shifts.

We gain more choice.
More steadiness.
More clarity.

And over time, leadership becomes less about reacting and more about responding intentionally.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

It’s interesting how often the biggest shifts in leadership don’t come from learning something new.

They come from seeing something differently.

The same conversation.
The same challenge.
The same team dynamic.

But with a wider lens, new possibilities become visible.

That’s the intention behind Friday Focus.

It’s a space to explore the internal side of leadership, the awareness and perspective that quietly shape how we show up every day.

I’ll be going live today and would love for you to join me.

🕛 Today.
📍 Live right here.

https://loom.ly/uv3lwzQ
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

“Is everyone aligned?”

It’s a question we ask almost automatically at the end of a decision.

Heads nod.  No one objects.  We move on.

And yet… weeks later, momentum slows. Execution feels uneven. Side conversations begin to surface.

In many teams, agreement is mistaken for commitment.

But silence is not the same as conviction. And speed is not the same as alignment.

In this week’s newsletter, I explore why genuine commitment requires something more than polite agreement and how productive dissent actually strengthens cohesion.

If your team says “yes” quickly, this one may offer a different lens.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

The decision is made. You go around the table. “Is everyone aligned?” Heads nod. A few quick “Yes” responses. No visible objections. It feels efficien

Open article: When Everyone Says “Yes”… But No One Is Fully Committed by Larissa Haynes • 3 min read

When Everyone Says “Yes”… But No One Is Fully Committed

Ever leave a meeting and think, "Why don't they get it?"

https://lnkd.in/eHpwJjuG

Are you subscribed? Stay in touch to receive monthly articles, tips, and resources to level up your talent optimization and organizational performance!

#quivetconsulting #talentoptimization #coaching #consulting #organizationalsuccess #leadership

Open article: You Know What To Do - So Why is Change Still Hard? by mailchi.mp

You Know What To Do - So Why is Change Still Hard?

Some of the most important leadership work happens in moments no one else ever sees.

It happens in the pause before responding.
In the decision to stay curious instead of defensive.
In the willingness to remain present when something feels uncomfortable.

From the outside, leadership often looks like confidence and decisiveness.

From the inside, it often feels like learning how to stay grounded in the middle of uncertainty.

Over time, I’ve come to believe that leadership is less about controlling what happens around you and more about deepening your capacity to stay steady within it.

That steadiness doesn’t come from eliminating discomfort.

It comes from expanding your ability to hold it.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

Leadership isn’t something we figure out once and then carry forward unchanged.

It’s something we continue to practice.

Practice noticing what’s happening internally.
Practice widening our perspective.
Practice staying present when something feels uncertain.

Over time, those small moments of awareness begin to change how we show up — not because we’ve forced ourselves to be different, but because we’ve become more integrated.

Friday Focus is a space to support that practice.

I’ll be going live today, and I’d love for you to join me.

🕛 Today
📍 Live right here.

https://loom.ly/Bh_Ehws
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

There are moments in leadership when everything looks clear from the outside… but doesn’t feel clear on the inside.

You say the words. You set the direction. You move things forward.

And privately, parts of you are still sorting, still questioning, still making sense of it all.

For a long time, I believed leadership meant eliminating that internal tension. That clarity meant certainty.

But what I’ve come to understand is that clarity isn’t the absence of internal voices. It’s the ability to listen to them without letting them fracture your direction.

Self-leadership isn’t about becoming someone without doubt. It’s about becoming someone who can hold complexity without losing coherence.

Some of the clearest leaders I know are not the ones who never question themselves.

They’re the ones who have learned how to stay with themselves while they do.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

There’s something powerful about taking time to pause and reflect intentionally.

Leadership moves quickly. Decisions stack on top of each other. Conversations blur together. And without space to step back, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s actually shaping how we show up.

Friday Focus was created to offer that pause.

It’s a space to slow down, widen the lens, and explore the internal side of leadership — the patterns, perspectives, and practices that influence everything we do externally.

I’ll be going live today, and I’d love to have you join the conversation.

🕛 Today at 2:15 pm
📍 Live right here.

https://loom.ly/7wMk0Xg

Hope to see you there.
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Hi, I’m Larissa, founder of Quivet Consulting, and I’m on a mission to help people show up with courage, clarity, and heart, leading from the inside out.

An unfiltered recap of this week's client coaching focus.

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of mastery.

Not in the professional sense, but in the quiet dedication it takes to learn something purely for the joy of it.

The patience.
The practice.
The willingness to be a beginner.

It’s such a different experience from the pace most of us live in every day.

Curious what you would choose.

If you could instantly master one skill, what would it be?

Before the week rolls into the next one, there’s value in stopping long enough to ask:

What actually happened this week and what does it ask of me next?

Friday Focus is a short, reflective space to do just that. No fixing. No performing. Just thoughtful conversation and perspective.

Hope you’ll join me tomorrow.    https://loom.ly/7wMk0Xg
2:15 pm EST

One of the things leadership teaches us over time is that the hardest skills to develop are often internal.

Not strategy.
Not execution.
But the ability to stay steady, trust ourselves, and remain open in moments of uncertainty.

I’m curious what this has looked like in your own experience.  💡

Which leadership skill took you the longest to develop?

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Drew Fortin

Larissa Haynes

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Larissa Haynes's LinkedIn Performance

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