Meet the Team
Mike Whitehead
Scott Cornwell
Bill Meeker
Todd Cunningham
Partner, Executive Coach, Senior Consultant
Executive Coach, Senior Consultant
Shawn King
Pen Peery
Executive Coach, Senior Consultant
Executive Coach, Senior Consultant
Lauren Haynes
Jenna Mosteller
Director of Client Experience
Client Experience Coordinator
President, Managing Partner, Executive Coach
CEO, Founder
Robert Schleusner
Susanne Deitzel
Partner, Executive Coach, Senior Consultant
Chief Value Officer, Managing Partner
Cristina Montero
Director of Hospitality & Events
Nathalia Oliveira
Client Experience Associate
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.
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 to fully realize the talent, passion, and performance of your people.
Our Vision
Mike Whitehead
As the founder and chief executive of the firm, Mike Whitehead is an advisor and guide for leaders committed to living and leading from a meaningful purpose.
Mike has worked intensively for over twenty-five years with chief executives, industry experts and political leaders, and approaches leadership, human relatedness and global impact using the lens of direct experience, curiosity and keen insight.
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.
Mike developed the principles of Intentional Leadership to yield meaningful and significant results for leaders and their organizations. His method 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. Mike engages with many boards and community organizations with the aim of providing opportunities 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, purpose, and intentionality as it applies to all facets of life. For him, this includes family, his farm, basketball, and an occasional motorcycle ride.
Leaders passionate about creating an impact seek Mike’s guidance to strengthen their performance and expand their influence. In the process, they experience the radical transformation of their lives.
His conversational craft stimulates new ways of seeing, enables new ways of thinking, and creates new possibilities to enrich the quality of human life.
Often referred to as “an ordinary guy with an extraordinary commitment,” his method of inquiry and personal parable engages people with our common human desire to make a difference with one’s life.
Scott Cornwell
Scott Cornwell serves as President and Managing Partner of the Center for Intentional Leadership, combining over 30 years of Fortune 500 executive experience with world-class coaching expertise to develop transformational leaders globally.
With credentials including Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Board-Certified Coach (BCC), Masters in Executive Coaching from Queens University, and an MBA from the University of Minnesota, Scott brings both academic rigor and real-world business acumen to his practice. As a published author of a reflective coaching journal called The Present Executive, his thought leadership extends well beyond individual coaching engagements.
Scott's unique value proposition stems from his proven track record as both a successful business executive and leadership development consultant across start-ups, mid-market companies, and Fortune 500 organizations. He has facilitated leadership workshops, retreats and offsites for companies around the world, designing programs that create measurable, sustainable organizational impact.
His primary focus centers on executive coaching for C-suite leaders navigating critical inflection points—onboarding, in-role development, and transitions in high-growth environments. Scott's work extends beyond individual coaching to team development and organizational culture transformation, partnering with clients to align leadership capabilities with strategic business objectives.
Throughout his career, Scott has led national sales organizations and architected organizational development programs that deliver bottom-line results. His coaching portfolio spans healthcare, technology, manufacturing, financial services, and consulting, with notable clients including Albemarle, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Duke Energy, Sunbelt Rentals, AvidXchange, and Atrium Healthcare. He has successfully coached CEOs, Presidents, CIOs, CSOs, and numerous C-suite and senior executives.
What sets Scott apart is his unwavering commitment to helping executive clients lead remarkable organizations while building meaningful lives professionally and personally. Known for his laser focus on client goals and deep understanding of the values that drive executive success, Scott helps leaders develop the intentional leadership capabilities required to thrive in today's complex business environment.
As Managing Partner, Scott leads the firm's global coaching capabilities, including the proprietary Intentional Leadership Coaching process. This approach provides key stakeholders with transparency into coaching outcomes, consistency across leadership development initiatives, and measurable results directly linked to organizational strategic priorities.
Beyond the boardroom, Scott has been married to his wife Kari, a retired educator and artist, for nearly 30 years. They have two daughters, Madison and Amelia. When Scott isn’t in the boardroom or a coaching session, you’ll find him in his outdoor pursuits including golf, hiking, boot-camp fitness, and open water swimming.
Susanne Deitzel
As Chief Value Officer and Managing Partner, Susanne is a writer and communicator by calling; a coach and consultant by design. She developed the foundation from which the firm now operates — distinguishing the firm's business processes, delivery platform and training programs in alignment with its philosophy. Having designed much of the firm's conversational architecture, she now marshals the talent of an extraordinary coaching and consulting team to deliver value, quality and meaningful innovation — for client engagements and within the team.
Susanne's background in marketing, design and communications found its highest expression when she joined the Center in 2006, and she now offers twenty years of experience in coaching, team, strategic communications and culture design. Her work extends across sectors and has served leaders and organizations navigating increasingly rapid context shifts.
A cross-disciplinary thinker, Susanne’s has an instinctive ability to locate and refine the frame that best serves the objective and purpose of the leader in front of her. The conversations and communications that grow from that work form the backbone and context of many of the firm's engagements. She brings this same concentration to the Center's programs, advising senior executives on developing genuine, clear and effective communications with their teams. She co-designed many of the Center's signature programs and has developed a particular commitment to leaders who are both gifted with and challenged by deep empathy and compassion.
Susanne has a particular passion for platform-building, communications and speech design, and for aligning the essential qualities of the leader and their organization with language and symbols that provide traction and advantage. Her work is integral to the firm's ability to express its unique value: guiding leaders and organizations to find their true voice and meet stakeholders in meaningful and effective ways.
Susanne has two adult children whom she raised to be free thinkers and free spirits. In 2024 she found her spot in the woods just outside Asheville, and now spends much of her time walking her black lab and getting back to basics. Like her colleagues, she is committed to making the world a better place — and spends the better part of her waking hours working to bring those ideas to fruition.
Robert Schleusner
Robert serves as an executive coach and senior consultant for the Center for Intentional Leadership. Robert earned his Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies. Robert holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Alabama.
Prior to joining CFIL, Robert served as a business leader for 24 years at Bank of America. As a member of the firm’s Management Committee, Robert led the 3500+ person global Wholesale Credit organization with annual revenue of more than $6BN. His team was responsible for underwriting and monitoring credit to the firm’s Global Banking & Markets, Private Bank, and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management clients. Prior to this appointment in 2015, he spent 18 years in Global Capital Markets, the last four of which were spent as head of the Global Leveraged Finance organization, a $1.5BN annual revenue business.
Robert recognized the value of the executive coaching he and his team received, and this served as a catalyst for his next career. Robert is committed to bringing his business experience and his education in coaching to benefit clients in a way that helps them unlock their potential and lead authentic lives inside and outside their professional environment. He brings a holistic approach to his coaching engagements and wishes to serve as a LIGHT on his client’s path. Robert’s current and former clients include the Charlotte United Way, SteelFab, Barings and Training the Street.
In the Charlotte community, Robert spent six years on the board of directors at Charlotte Latin School, an independent, K-12, day school. He currently serves on the board of F3 Nation, a national organization whose mission is to plant, grow and serve small men’s workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership. He also serves as the President of the F3 Foundation. Robert is a mentor within several organizations and currently serves on the strategic steering committee for Christ Episcopal Church. In conjunction with prior roles, he served on the board of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association.
Bill Meeker
Bill serves as Partner, Senior Consultant and Executive Coach, bringing 30+ years of experience with a track record of success in senior roles of increasing responsibility in complex, global environments. His career has spanned a variety of industries, including small manufacturing, heavy industrials, distribution, industrial services and financial services sectors. As a formal coach to executives over the years, he has built enduring, confidential relationships and is known for his business acumen, candor and focus on high-performance leadership.
Bill has developed a deep expertise in leading large-scale organizational change globally. He has served as a Chief Human Resources Officer under a private equity-owned business where he focused on organizational transformation, including structure, culture, employment brand, talent, change management and engagement. As the head of talent and learning for a Fortune 500 company, with operations in 60 countries, he had responsibility for the global talent strategy, including global talent acquisition, learning and leadership development, succession management, engagement strategy, performance management processes, assessments and career management. He was recognized by the Board of Directors for leading a progressive company talent roadmap and a successful competency rollout. For one of the world’s largest financial services companies, he led enterprise leadership development programs, had responsibility for strategic leadership for management development and supported C-Suite development offerings for the CEO. His experience in leading change at this size and scale allows him to understand the pressures executives face.
Bill’s corporate work experience has afforded him the opportunity to work in over 30 non-U.S. countries, leading to a deep understanding of leadership development in culturally diverse settings. He has been an active champion of diversity and inclusion, receiving recognition for his leadership efforts, particularly as a National Society for Black Engineering (NSBE) Conference speaker and recruiter, a Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) recruiter, Women’s Network speaker and Men Advocating Real Change (MARC) speaker.
Bill holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) from Western Connecticut State University and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He has been a corporate faculty member and certified in adult teaching methods, a certified trainer for facilitation, coaching and behavior-based interviewing content and in a number of assessment tools (Lominger, MBTI, Hogan, Behavior-Based Interviewing). He holds his Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential through Intentional Coaching Federation (ICF).
Bill and his wife, Suzanne, have been married for 28 years and have a son, Billy, and a daughter, Sierra, who are active young adults. He has summited Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, is a five-time marathon runner, a triathlete and has an interest in helping others achieve both their professional and wellness goals. When he is not playing pickleball, cycling or spending time soaking up the outdoors with his family, he is helping leaders find their best selves. Whatever the charter, Bill is known for bringing his energy, enthusiasm, and collaborative style to address needs and customize solutions based on the unique culture of the organization.
Todd Cunningham
Todd is an Executive Coach and Senior Consultant at the Center for Intentional Leadership whose work is grounded in a simple belief: organizations thrive when their people do.
Over 37 years in business—spanning global public companies, private equity backed firms, and high-growth startups—Todd has seen firsthand how leadership shapes culture, and how culture shapes results. As Chief People Officer at AvidXchange for 11 years, he built the HR function from the ground up, guided the company through an IPO and back to private ownership, and helped cultivate a culture that could not only hold together through rapid change, but strengthen and accelerate business results. That experience gave him a practitioner's understanding of what it actually takes to align leadership behavior, team dynamics, and organizational culture with business performance. Today, Todd brings that perspective to his coaching and consulting work with CEOs, executive teams, and boards. He's known for building trusting, genuine partnerships—the kind where hard conversations happen and real growth follows. Whether working one-on-one with a leader navigating a critical transition or helping a team achieve uncommon results, Todd focuses on the relational and behavioral dimensions that turn good intentions into lasting change and impact. Todd received his coaching certification from the International Coaching Federation (ICF). He and his wife, Shannon, live in Davidson, NC and are the proud parents of four adults. Outside of work, they enjoy volunteering at their church and spending time on children the lake.
Shawn King
Shawn King serves as an executive coach and senior consultant at the Center for Intentional Leadership. She received her executive certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University and holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science at the University of Rochester, where she also studied at the Eastman School of Music.
Shawn’s three-decade career spans board membership, CEO tenure, and cross-functional leadership in operations, sales, and risk management. Having steered organizations and teams through both rapid growth and complex turnarounds, what truly distinguishes Shawn is her uniquely tuned ear. She listens deeply to harmonize fresh insights with existing context—a confluence that uncovers new possibilities.
Working with an executive coach mid-career profoundly shifted her understanding of coaching’s value and leadership impact as she journeyed to realign creative energy with presence to focus on what really mattered. When Shawn later experienced a bank closure first-hand, she recognized it was no longer about doing (work). It was about being. Being present and calm in the chaos while creating spaces of connection, aligned in shared hope of new possibilities. In this moment, she met with a trusted advisor who is an executive coach. The transformational conversation helped her hear differently, to tune into a new way of being as a coach.
Shawn describes coaching as a joy-filled place to be present with presence; to create incredibly safe, high-resonance space—a sounding board—where people are seen, heard, and valued; and to support individuals, teams, and organizations to be their distinctive best.
Shawn is passionate about music, photography, and sport fishing. She is a Trustee for the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and serves on the Commission for Lay Leadership.
Pen Peery
Pen is an executive coach and consultant with the Center for Intentional Leadership who approaches his work with a joy that reflects purpose. His interest in coaching is empowering leaders to navigate the role they carry so they can both perform at a higher level while tending to themselves. Pen also has a heart for family-owned businesses, and an appreciation for the dynamics they present.
Before joining the Center, Pen was a congregational pastor for 22 years leading churches in Virginia, Louisiana, and Charlotte. He served the last 18 of those years in an executive role as a Senior Pastor leading dynamic organizations and people through change, setting team culture, and working with Boards and stakeholders to imagine and realize what is possible, as well as communicating an organization’s strategic goals in a compelling and winsome way.
Building on his prior work as a pastor, Pen branched out as a consultant to help organizations identify and recruit talent, develop leadership, articulate strategic plans, and support fundraising.
What fuels Pen’s coaching is a love for people. Through more than two decades of experience in listening and guiding individuals and groups through change, challenge, crisis, and opportunity, he recognizes what a privilege it is to empower leaders to become their best selves.
He is married to Lindsey, his wife of 24 years who is a strong, capable leader in her own right. Together, they have four children (Wells, Eliza, Tyler, and Liam) who are their collective priority. Relatedly, Pen delights in spending time as a short-order cook, an overly loud cheerleader at games, meets, and matches, and an eager participant in the unscripted conversations that happen during carpool.
Lauren Haynes
Lauren has a combination of grace, purpose and an impeccable commitment to excellence in 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.
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.
Nathalia Oliveira
Nathalia has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and over 15 years of experience in Education, combining teaching and management experiences in Brazil and the United States. She has worked in diverse educational settings in her hometown of Rio de Janeiro and the U.S. As part of her transition to a new country, Nathalia furthered her knowledge in Intercultural Psychology, gaining valuable insights that have shaped her approach to work and personal life.
Nathalia enjoys exploring Charlotte’s vibrant restaurant scene, spending time outdoors with her dog, and traveling, embracing new experiences and cultures.
Cristina Montero
Cristina Montero brings more than 15 years of hospitality and event planning experience to her role as Director of Hospitality and Events at the Center for Intentional Leadership. A Charlotte native, she earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a minor in Spanish. Raised in bilingual households and spending summers in Spain with family helped shape her passion for connection, hospitality, travel and community. Outside of work, Cristina is an avid reader who reads 100+ books a year and loves spending time with her seven-year-old son, embracing every chance to get to be a kid again through his eyes.
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.
