Pathfinders CTS, Inc. has been serving the greater upstate New York area since 1991, and in that time has earned a stellar reputation for working with individuals and organizations experiencing transition. Expanded offerings include corporate performance coaching, executive leadership coaching, team and organizational effectiveness, career and leadership related assessment tools ie: Harrison Assessments, customized cultural and 360 survey systems and web-based career centers.

Hello, I'm Leslie Rose McDonald, founder and President of Pathfinders. I conceived the idea for Pathfinders in 1991 after experiencing my own painful job loss from my Human Resources management role (twice in three years due to mergers and acquisitions). My personal story was the inspiration for what has now become the area’s premier provider of services for professionals in transition.

I was stunned at how someone like me, who was not only successful in my professional role, but also who had immense emotional resiliency, could be as vulnerable as I was when I lost my job. My self-esteem, normally healthy and positive, turned into self-doubt and depression. I had no idea how much my job and title were a part of my whole being and sense of identity until it was stripped away. I realized that if I was impacted this way, others would most likely have a similar experience and need not only grounding and encouragement, but reliable professional guidance and resources with which to become re-employed as quickly as possible. The end destination needed to be a good fit for their personal and professional goals, whether is was traditional re-employment, or a form of self-employment / entrepreneurship such as starting a business, buying a business or franchise, or starting a specialty consultancy. My mission emerged…………..

Up until the late 80’s, white collar job loss was almost unheard of, and the outplacement services that did exist were there to primarily serve only senior level executives. I saw my own personal experience of job loss from a high technology company as a foreshadowing of what was on the horizon: more white collar jobs shifting or being eliminated as the business world adapted to emerging technologies and global competition. Admittedly always having had the "entrepreneurial spirit," I saw my job loss as a potential new opportunity and surveyed the central New York business community. I concluded that if more downsizing / right-sizing was on the rise as suspected, there would be a need for comprehensive services that would support all levels of white collar professionals in transition, not just senior executives.

Today, we are the only full-service outplacement provider in the greater central New York area that offers professional facilities with fully equipped office space, a job search and business lending library, and on-site support from our competent and caring professional staff.

As we entered the new millennium, the market started to shift from employer-driven to employee-driven. It became evident that our clients and other businesses would soon need a specialized professional partner to assist with employee and leadership development and retention efforts. Anticipating these needs of the business community and playing to the strengths of our team, Pathfinders "re-invented" itself and evolved from predominantly career transition services to adding comprehensive coaching, consulting and facilitation services as well:

To enhance the expansion of our services and resources, Pathfinders became affiliated with Career Partners International in 2006. This has allowed us to provide full and consistent service to our clients through a network of trusted colleagues in other parts of the US and around the world.

We know and live by the value of relationships: it is the main reason that our business has grown predominantly from repeat and referral business from our very satisfied clients who have come to trust who we are and how we work. They know that Pathfinders represents integrity of services, and we are proud of the relationships and reputation that we have built over the past 16 years. Pathfinders continues to maintain relationships with hundreds of businesses and client alumni throughout the United States and Canada. These clients range from small and mid - sized businesses to large enterprise and Fortune 500 customers and span many different industry sectors.

The best is yet to come… Once upon a time, individuals and businesses were able to be pretty clear about where they would be in 5 or 10 years. Today, this is much more challenging to us all as we must respond to the myriad of changes that are going on all around us – politically, culturally, and especially in the unpredictable world of business. Frankly, we are not quite sure where we will be in 5 or 10 years….but what we do know is that we will be fulfilling a business need, and doing it with integrity, creativity, passion and joy.

Thank you very much for taking time from your busy schedule to visit our website. Please contact us if we can be of service to enhance your career, leadership, team, business or not-for-organization.