INSIGHTS
Board effectiveness focus: One ounce of prevention
Les Csorba | Bonnie Gwin
Four steps boards can take to mitigate activist campaigns before the first letter arrives.
Les T. Csorba
Les T. Csorba is a partner in Heidrick’s Houston office and a member of the CEO & Board of Directors Practice, focusing on the energy industry.
Prior to his experience in executive search, he served in the White House as a special assistant to the president during the George H.W. Bush Administration.
Experience
With 30 years of experience in executive search, leadership consulting, and executive coaching, Les partners with boards and executive teams of Fortune 500 companies across the energy sector. His non-profit work includes CEO and board engagements with organizations.
Les is the author of two books, AWARE: The Power of Seeing Yourself Clearly and TRUST: The One Thing That Makes or Breaks a Leader. His articles have appeared in The CEO Magazine, Corporate Board Member, Hart Energy, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and the Houston Chronicle, among other publications.
Les has been recognized for his contributions to the firm, having received the Heidrick Partnership Spirit Award for the Americas and led a team honored with the Global Craftsmanship Award for excellence in execution.
Education
University of California, Davis, Bachelor’s Degree
The John Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University, Coach Rice Leadership Coaching Program
Awards
Global Craftsmanship Award, Heidrick, the firm’s highest honor for quality execution
Partnership Spirit Award for the Americas, Heidrick
Philanthropy and Service
Beyond his professional work, Les is deeply engaged in the Houston community as a founding board member of Yellowstone Academy, an inner-city charter school. An advocate for the energy industry, he serves on the board of directors of the Bettering Human Lives Foundation, which provides clean cooking fuels to communities experiencing energy poverty in Africa.
Thought Leadership
Insights by Les T. Csorba
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INSIGHTS
Too aware to fail
Les Csorba
A heightened self-awareness of blind spots combined with the courage to combat the flaws will make a leader and their organization. A lack will break them.
INSIGHTS
The Agilist mindset: How leaders are putting agility to work to thrive in volatile times
Les Csorba
Leaders’ agility can have a multiplier effect across their organizations. Here’s how some are putting it to work.
INSIGHTS
Finding the human core of competitive advantage in the AI era: Avoiding the Pygmalion trap
Les Csorba | Tom Monahan
As effective leadership becomes the most reliable source of value in the AI era, and as AI becomes ever more capable, leaders must understand why leadership itself remains a uniquely human capability.
INSIGHTS
The next energy crisis? Talent
Les Csorba | Clayton Sears
Eleven CEOs across the energy sector share their insights on how companies can recruit and develop the leaders the industry urgently needs to create sustainability for leadership for decades to come.
INSIGHTS
The new energy leader
Les Csorba
What separates today's high-performing organizations from those unable to keep pace with the new demands of leadership?
INSIGHTS
Wired and unaware: The neuroscience behind leaders’ greatest liability
Les Csorba
Lack of self-awareness is leaders' greatest liability. As power grows, brains rewire, dulling feedback, empathy, and reflection. Neuroscience offers ways to rebuild self-awareness.
INSIGHTS
Energy focus: Seeing clearly in the AI century | A 2026 mandate for energy CEOs
Les Csorba
Amid unprecedented uncertainty, four forces are reshaping leadership in the energy industry.
- Read More
INSIGHTS
Board effectiveness focus: One ounce of prevention
Les Csorba | Bonnie Gwin
Four steps boards can take to mitigate activist campaigns before the first letter arrives. - Read More
INSIGHTS
Too aware to fail
Les Csorba
A heightened self-awareness of blind spots combined with the courage to combat the flaws will make a leader and their organization. A lack will break them. - Read More
INSIGHTS
The Agilist mindset: How leaders are putting agility to work to thrive in volatile times
Les Csorba
Leaders’ agility can have a multiplier effect across their organizations. Here’s how some are putting it to work. - Read More
INSIGHTS
Finding the human core of competitive advantage in the AI era: Avoiding the Pygmalion trap
Les Csorba | Tom Monahan
As effective leadership becomes the most reliable source of value in the AI era, and as AI becomes ever more capable, leaders must understand why leadership itself remains a uniquely human capability. - Read More
INSIGHTS
The next energy crisis? Talent
Les Csorba | Clayton Sears
Eleven CEOs across the energy sector share their insights on how companies can recruit and develop the leaders the industry urgently needs to create sustainability for leadership for decades to come. - Read More
INSIGHTS
The new energy leader
Les Csorba
What separates today's high-performing organizations from those unable to keep pace with the new demands of leadership? - Read More
INSIGHTS
Wired and unaware: The neuroscience behind leaders’ greatest liability
Les Csorba
Lack of self-awareness is leaders' greatest liability. As power grows, brains rewire, dulling feedback, empathy, and reflection. Neuroscience offers ways to rebuild self-awareness. - Read More
INSIGHTS
Energy focus: Seeing clearly in the AI century | A 2026 mandate for energy CEOs
Les Csorba
Amid unprecedented uncertainty, four forces are reshaping leadership in the energy industry.
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