Jennifer Copley makes teams stronger. Her process is scientific, multi-dimensional, and proven. It also puts soul squarely at the center of business. Leader by leader, group by group, Jennifer expands not just minds, but hearts.

Jennifer connects self-awareness to exceptional business performance with unique directness, consistency, and transparency. Global corporations have become believers and loyal clients: Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, DePuy Institute, IntraLinks, Ilumno Management, BlueSnap, Academic Partnerships, ACI Worldwide, Inc., and Best Associates number among the companies that have turned to Jennifer for her signature approach. Her methods have succeeded cross-culturally: She has worked with global teams in EMEAC, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

“When people are self-aware and truly know and appreciate their strengths, they’re more confident,” Jennifer explains from Boston, Massachusetts, where she is based. “When individuals are encouraged to recognize their gifts and then positioned to use them, they do better work. Better work leads to better business, hallmarked by higher productivity and lower employee turnover. They also become confident enough to surround themselves with others who have different gifts, which results in a more diversified, talent-rich culture.”

Through team workshops, team training, and keynote talks, Jennifer helps teams and leaders raise their self-awareness, as well as nurture their own gifts and those of others. Using accredited scientific assessments and personal development techniques, she delves into each individual’s behavioral style (DISC), motivators, decision-making clarity, emotional intelligence, worldviews, and self-perception. She calls these her Principles of TEAM Expansion, and cumulatively, they serve as the beacon for her practice.

As she discusses her M.O. and motivation, it becomes increasingly clear that Jennifer is a rare blend of competitive and easygoing. She wants the best, both for herself and for her clients, and is eager to put in the work to achieve it. But she never steamrolls: Collaborative and empathetic, Jennifer understands that different people learn differently. She listens. Then, she introduces new ideas in ways each client can truly hear them. “It’s an exchange, rooted in trust and integrity,” she says. “Some people see just two sides, but I see a more nuanced picture made up of many different perspectives.”

Jennifer’s background sheds some light on how her unusual internal chemistry developed. “I am one of six children, and I was born fourth––smack right in the middle of three brothers, all very close in age,” Jennifer shares before laughing as she adds, “So I am a diplomat. I always had to negotiate, or I’d get the you-know-what pounded out of me.” While growing up in Massachusetts surrounded by boys made her wisely conciliatory, her upbringing also gave her a fighting spirit.

At Bryant University, Jennifer majored in marketing. She spent the first 10 years of her career in consultative selling. When her first post-college sales manager started his own consulting firm, she joined and began working with small, fast-growing entrepreneurs, especially web-based companies emerging as the Internet took over the world. Jennifer joined the organizations as an interim sales manager, and would set up a sales department, divvy up territories, design compensation and commission structures, hire and train sales people, and ultimately, hire her replacement.

The experience helped Jennifer to realize that what she loved most was the development of people, so she enrolled in Coach University. In 1996, she launched CopleyConsulting. The following year, she graduated from Coach University, and her business was already thriving.

Today, when Jennifer accepts an engagement, she guides teams through transformative exercises honed over almost two decades and supported by 80 years of science. Individuals take assessments, which yield the raw material she will use to help clients uncover their strengths, understand their blind spots, and then design a plan for improvement. One of Jennifer’s most valuable skills is her ability to understand each assessment in context and to notice what others may overlook. “The assessments themselves are important, but you need to know how to interpret and then apply the results in order for them to be truly impactful,” she says. “I explain what the assessment means both for the individual and for the group dynamic.”

Jennifer uses the assessments to help companies make smarter hiring decisions as well. “We look at a candidate’s behavioral style, motivations, and competencies and compare them to a top performance benchmark that I help clients define,” she says. “There are safeguards in the assessments so people can’t outsmart them––validity scores. Generally, the validity scores are very high, so I can tell that it’s an accurate read of that person. We measure soft skills that are so hard to determine during interviews and reveal if the job would reward the candidate in a way that naturally drives them. You want self-motivated employees who want to come to work, are a glove-fit behaviorally, and possess the skills to see the job clearly. This process helps you find them.”

Through teambuilding workshops, Jennifer also helps manage the conflict that naturally arises when teams push through change. “At these forums, we eliminate distractions and deal with the personality clashes and differing viewpoints that can get in the way of attaining goals,” she says. “There are a lot of ‘aha!’ moments that lead to breakthroughs and a deeper understanding of each other.”

The married mother of teenage twin boys and a white bulldog named Maggie––“my shadow,” she affectionately calls the little dog–– Jennifer keeps busy personally as well. One of her favorite volunteer roles is running the fundraising arm of her sons’ high school athletic booster club. It’s a perfect fit for someone who believes so passionately in the ability of sports to help shape strong character. She is also hard at work on her first book, which will explore her pioneering concept of TEAM and leadership expansion.

“The more complex the role, the greater the need for increased self awareness,” Jennifer says. “Expansion is about expanding your capacity to understand yourself and others. When you understand people, you can do more than motivate them. You can inspire them.”