The Power of Hands-On Experience: How Leigh Wilmot Discovered Her Passion for Consulting

Leigh Wilmot, a 2021 graduate of the Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology (MAOP), found her way to One Wells Avenue quite by accident. The self-described career changer ultimately transitioned from leadership in health and human services to consulting for organizational development and change management on the heels of a difficult performance review in 2019. Candid feedback from her supervisor, who underscored Wilmot’s strength in leading, coaching and developing big teams (as opposed to providing direct clinical services) led her to an admissions Open House at William James College.

“I was immediately taken by the program…and [being a full-time student] was one of the best and hardest experiences of my life,” says Wilmot who, drawn to the idea of advancing her career without having to leave her job or relocate, enrolled in the accelerated 11-month blended program—attending online classes at night while leading as a clinical director at a public-facing health agency through the COVID-19 pandemic. (Given Wilmot’s Fall 2020 matriculation, all the Weekends-in-Residence were delivered virtually, rather than in-person, as a result of the pandemic). It was during her corporate field placement at Definitive Healthcare that Wilmot discovered a passion for consulting. 

“This was a total identity shift,” says Wilmot who envisioned using her degree in the context of a public health leadership career. Despite misgivings at leaving her beloved team behind, Wilmot accepted an offer of full-time employment as a Talent Development Specialist following the completion of her practicum; she was promoted following graduation and concluded her four-year tenure in June to join Mass General Brigham as a Senior Leadership Development Consultant. 

Looking back, Wilmot likens the experience she gleaned at William James College as falling into a pair of primary arenas. One bucket holds the salient skills that have made her a better practitioner in the workplace and led to several  promotions and opportunities as evidenced by her trajectory to date.

“I pull upon my training hourly—as a consultant, as an organizational psychologist, and as someone who consults to large, complex adaptive systems—when diagnosing issues within groups, teams and organizations and formulating powerful interventions that drive impact at the individual, team, and enterprise level,” says Wilmot in a nod to the language, theory, and academic backing that has allowed her to apply her skill set to the work.

The second bucket has allowed Wilmot to excel in a rocky employment landscape.

“My degree from William James College has made me a much more competitive applicant in a volatile and unpredictable job market,” says Wilmot who knows, for certain, that she was hired—at least in part—for her academic background, namely a degree from a reputable school in a domain that directly relates to the work. Suffice it to say, she has remained closely connected to the College since her graduation.

“I built a very deep and fruitful network of support at William James College,” says Wilmot who developed close relationships with several of her professors including Ara Haroutiounian, MS, her advisor, and Enin Rudel, PsyD, LCSW. These connections led to Wilmot being a frequent “guest star” during weekends-in-residence, called upon to share her experience—via Q&A sessions on her career journey or panel discussion—of doing the actual work out in the wild.  

“I get so much joy out of working with early-career practitioners,” says Wilmot, who sees teaching as the central role of any organizational psychologist. 

This fall, building upon stints as both student and alumna, Wilmot returned to campus as an adjunct faculty member, teaching one section of the field placement seminar—one of her favorite courses as a student. The MA in Organizational Psychology program requires that each student complete an organizational development project that includes approximately 80 hours of supervised fieldwork, which includes class instruction. 

“In this live, weekly class, students get to grapple with how they apply the theory and the skills on-the-job before coming together not only to discuss but also to receive consultation and coaching from one another,” says Wilmot. In her estimation, the most successful seminars are those in which she speaks the least. 

“I will indulge their questions, but only if they take a crack at it first,” says Wilmot, utilizing the same approach her own seminar instructor, Carlene Caldwell, PsyD, modeled. Wilmot feels particularly suited to this role for a handful of reasons: She has first-hand experience as an MAOP student in a field placement; she received a full-time job offer from that field placement; and she has twice served as a field placement supervisor. While at Definitive Healthcare, Wilmot supervised Christine O’Brien, PsyD (who also joined the faculty as an adjunct professor in the OLP Department this fall); at present, she is supervising a current student (not in her seminar section) to build a leadership development program at Mass General Brigham.

“I have seen the program from all sides, and I especially love facilitating experiential learning,” says Wilmot of the unique perspective she brings to her current work. As someone who aspired to be an attorney—and learned the skills of trial advocacy, including rhetoric and cross examination while an undergraduate—Wilmot was trained never to ask a question to which she did not know the answer, a stance she’s slowly let go of. 

“It was a wonderfully generative and transformative experience, not to mention a complete paradigm shift in my way of thinking, to come into an organizations with ‘humble inquiry’”, she says, in a nod to the term coined by OD great Edgar Shein in the 1960s: In short, a good practitioner can make assumptions about another’s experience and test hypotheses, but the client has all the wisdom they need to be able to solve their own problem—the consultant is simply the instrument for empowering them.

“This way of thinking has improved my personal life, my working life, and my general view of humanity—all thanks to having undergone a complete mindset shift that began in the MAOP program at William James College. 

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