Lead Aligned Programs are systemic, research-backed solutions to prevent costly, avoidable turnover.


victoria mccausland

Our Strategic Vision

Lead Aligned exists to help organizations reduce costly, avoidable turnover by addressing it as the systemic business risk it is—not a people problem to train around.

Our programs are research-backed and designed to diagnose and correct misalignment across teams and leadership structures that quietly erode engagement and performance. This is not leadership development training. It is a strategic brief, grounded in data, that helps leaders see where risk exists, why it persists, and what must change to stabilize and strengthen their organization.

Leaders who are serious about reducing preventable turnover don’t ask, “What program should we roll out?”

They ask, “Where are we misaligned—and how is it impacting our people and results?”

We help answer that question—and guide organizations in building environments where people stay, grow, and lead because the system supports them.

A Bold Solution to a Problem Too Many Organizations Face

Dr. Victoria McCausland and Sarah Davis didn’t set out to build another employee training program—they came together to close a growing and costly gap in today’s workforce.

With decades of experience, Sarah Davis and Dr. Victoria McCausland combine:

  • Academic expertise in leadership theory, communication science, and resilience-building

  • Real-world experience designing and leading programs across industries and institutions

  • A consultative approach that begins with understanding your people and your organizational goals

Our process is never generic. It’s tailored—because we know that personal and professional growth happens when individuals feel seen, heard, and supported. We don’t just teach skills. We help participants:

  • Understand themselves

  • Communicate effectively across generations

  • Navigate challenge with confidence

  • Align their values with their work

… all while supporting your company’s culture, retention goals, and long-term success.

How We’re Different - and Why it Matters

In a world filled with one-size-fits-all leadership trainings and off-the-shelf employee programs, Lead Aligned offers something deeper: a data-driven and research-backed, human-first solutions to getting control of avoidable turnover.

Bringing together their varied professional perspectives—leadership development and human communication studies—Sarah and Victoria were both seeing the same challenge play out again and again:

Talented employees were leaving—not because they lacked capability or ambition, but because the system around them wasn’t working.

Leaders were frustrated. Teams were disengaged. Managers were carrying the cost of constant replacement. And organizations were quietly accepting turnover as unavoidable, despite its growing impact on performance, culture, and results.

What they identified wasn’t a training gap—it was misalignment. Between leadership expectations, communication, team functioning, and the employee experience.

Lead Aligned was built to address that reality—not as another leadership program, but as a strategic, human-centered approach to reducing preventable turnover. By strengthening alignment at every level, organizations stabilize teams, reduce risk, and create environments where people stay, grow, and lead.

This is how high-functioning organizations are addressing a known operational risk. Retention isn’t an initiative—it’s a systems outcome.

Meet Sarah Davis & Victoria McCausland the Founders of Lead Aligned

Victoria McCausland

  • Founder

    Sarah Davis, founder of reCreate Leadership, is a leadership consultant, and visionary with a Master’s in Education and a specialization in Instructional Design from Point Loma Nazarene. Since 2013, she has designed, developed, and led leadership programs across diverse industries, from government agencies to private enterprises. Sarah combines evidence-based strategies with real-world applications to empower individuals and teams to achieve their full potential. Driven by her personal mission to “pay it forward,” Sarah’s work is fueled by the belief that the right tools and skills can create lasting impact and empower others to flourish.

  • Founder

    Dr. Victoria McCausland is a Marine Corps veteran, a Professor of Communication with a PhD in Interpersonal Communication from Penn State University, and the founder of Strong Ties. Alongside her teaching and research portfolio, she spent more than a decade working in government and with military nonprofits to create and lead transformative programs for military families of the fallen, earning recognition for her creative, impactful approaches as a 2018 Presidential Leadership Scholar. In each community she serves, Victoria excels in creating environments where individuals connect, grow, and develop the skills they need to thrive.