Leslie Gordon-Christie is an executive coach, keynote speaker, leadership educator, and former television journalist specializing in emotional regulation, leadership presence, communication under pressure, and sustainable performance for high-responsibility professionals.
With a career spanning broadcast media, higher education, entrepreneurship, leadership development, and executive coaching, Leslie brings a unique and highly relatable perspective to modern leadership conversations, blending real-world experience in high-pressure environments with practical strategies for clarity, steadiness, communication, and self-leadership.
Leslie began her career in media and communications, writing for a number of Canadian publications before transitioning into television broadcasting. She later spent years working in fast-paced newsroom environments, including as a reporter and television personality with CTV, where adaptability, emotional composure, and clear communication under pressure were essential. Her work involved live broadcasting, on-camera communication, deadline-driven reporting, and navigating high-pressure situations where focus, credibility, and effective communication were critical.
Following her media career, Leslie founded BUFFnation, a leadership and personal development company that has supported thousands of women through coaching programs, workshops, online education, speaking engagements, and transformational experiences. What began as a fitness-focused business evolved into a broader platform centered around mindset, emotional well-being, resilience, communication, leadership, self-image, and sustainable success.
In addition to building and leading her own company, Leslie also served as a professor within the School of Business at Conestoga College, teaching marketing, branding, communication, presentation skills, and media-related programming. Her background in higher education further strengthened her expertise in audience engagement, leadership communication, messaging, and human connection.
Leslie is a Certified Consultant with the Proctor Gallagher Institute, where she studied leadership, mindset, and human potential development through the teachings of the late Bob Proctor. She is also a certified Executive Coach and NLP Coach and continues advanced studies in executive coaching, leadership development, communication, and behavioural change.
Today, Leslie’s work focuses on helping leaders better understand how chronic stress, emotional overload, and ongoing pressure impact communication, decision-making, leadership presence, and workplace dynamics. Drawing from her combined background in media, executive coaching, NLP, education, leadership development, and human behaviour, she teaches practical strategies that help individuals cultivate greater steadiness, emotional regulation, clarity, and intentional leadership in demanding environments.
Her keynote presentations are recognized for blending storytelling, practical insight, reflective experiences, and leadership communication strategies that resonate deeply with audiences across education, healthcare, leadership, corporate, and women’s leadership spaces. Leslie has presented for conferences, organizations, professional associations, leadership communities, wellness events, and educational groups across Canada.
Her signature keynote, “Leading Clearly Under Pressure,” explores the relationship between emotional regulation, attention, leadership presence, and sustainable performance in today’s increasingly high-demand world.
Talks/Workshops
- Leading Clearly Under Pressure
The greatest threat to leadership today isn’t lack of skill. It’s the inability to stay clear under pressure.
Today’s leaders are carrying relentless demands, constant decision-making, emotional responsibility, and increasing complexity, often without the space to reset before the next challenge arrives. Over time, pressure doesn’t just impact wellbeing. It impacts clarity, communication, confidence, and the ability to lead effectively.
In this powerful and practical keynote, executive coach and former television journalist Leslie Gordon-Christie helps leaders understand what happens beneath performance when pressure rises, and how to lead with greater calm, steadiness, and effectiveness in high-responsibility environments.
Drawing from her years in broadcast journalism, where she learned to think quickly and communicate clearly in high-pressure situations, Leslie blends compelling storytelling with practical leadership tools rooted in emotional intelligence, nervous system regulation, executive coaching, and resilient leadership.
Audiences will discover how chronic stress quietly shapes decision-making, leadership presence, communication, team culture, and organizational effectiveness, and how to shift from reactive leadership into more grounded, sustainable performance.
This keynote is especially valuable for leaders navigating organizational change, burnout, high-demand roles, people leadership, and ongoing pressure.
Leslie’s approach is warm, relatable, actionable, and immediately applicable. Audiences leave feeling clearer, calmer, and better equipped to lead with confidence in demanding environments.
Ideal for leadership conferences, corporate organizations, education leaders, healthcare professionals, women’s leadership events, and high-performing teams navigating pressure and change.
Key Takeaways:
- Understand how pressure impacts leadership clarity, communication, and decision-making.
- Learn practical tools to regulate stress and prevent reactive leadership.
- Strengthen leadership presence and emotional steadiness during high-pressure situations.
- Develop sustainable strategies for maintaining focus, energy, and resilience over time.
- Improve communication in ways that build trust, calm, and confidence within teams.
- The Capacity to Lead: How Strong Leaders Sustain Clarity, Energy, and Confidence
Many leaders carry significant responsibility quietly, often at the expense of their own clarity, energy, and wellbeing. In today’s demanding environments, leadership is not just about managing people and priorities; it’s about managing yourself.
In this engaging session, Leslie Gordon-Christie explores the hidden costs of carrying too much for too long and provides practical strategies to build the internal capacity required for sustainable leadership. Through storytelling, reflection, and actionable tools, participants learn how to remain grounded, effective, and resilient under pressure.
Key Takeaways:
- Recognize signs of leadership overload before burnout occurs
- Understand patterns of over-responsibility and over-functioning
- Increase capacity without simply working harder
- Regulate stress and remain calm under pressure
- Create boundaries that protect energy and effectiveness
- Lead with greater confidence, presence, and influence
- Leading Through Change: Staying Grounded When Everything Around You is Shifting
Change is inevitable, but uncertainty often leaves leaders feeling overwhelmed, reactive, and unsure of their next steps. Whether navigating organizational change, career transitions, new responsibilities, or shifting priorities, leaders are expected to remain steady while helping others do the same.
In this engaging keynote, Leslie Gordon-Christie shares practical strategies to help leaders navigate change with greater clarity, confidence, and resilience. Through storytelling, reflection, and actionable tools, participants learn how to remain grounded during uncertainty, manage their mindset, and lead themselves and others through transition more effectively.
Key Takeaways:
- Understand why change creates resistance and stress
- Develop strategies to remain grounded during uncertainty
- Build confidence when the path forward is unclear
- Strengthen resilience during periods of transition
- Learn practical tools to manage mindset and emotions during change
- Lead others through change with greater clarity and confidence
