Jerry is the CEO and Director of Kleeman International, a strategic business
and coaching consultancy, based in Adelaide, Australia. Throughout his career,
Jerry has been the Director of Sales for Fortune 500 companies, CEO for high-tech
start-ups and has coached some of Australia’s top performing executives.
For the past 16 years, he’s been a Chair of The Executive Connection (TEC) where he’s facilitated thousands of hours of group sessions for high performing CEO’s and middle managers. During this time he’s also conducted nearly 15,000 hours of 1:1 Coaching.
These days you’ll find Jerry facilitating, coaching and consulting for some of Australia’s most successful businesses. When he’s not doing this, he can be found speaking about creating connected leaders on an international stage, presenting strategy workshops or watching his beloved Northern Illinois Huskies at home.
Born in the US but now a passionate South Australian, Jerry has been named as a Business Ambassador for SA by the Premier and a Champion of SA by the South Australian Government. Jerry holds an MBA and B.S. of Management from Northern Illinois University. He’s a graduate of the AICD’s company directors’ course and the current chair for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (SA).
Testimonials
“Jerry is an exceptional mentor and coach who is vested in developing people to get the best out of themselves to be great leaders.
He is a rational thinking motivator who is very capable of maintaining direction and focus to achieve business and individuals’ goals. Jerry can be relied upon to hold you to account.”
- Rob Milam, General Manager Aquamate
“Jerry is not just my TEC Chair. He is a fantastic advisor, a coach, a facilitator, and a great mentor. When time is of an essence, all I need to do is send Jerry a message. He usually gets back to me in minutes with a flurry of practical ideas! Jerry will also make the time to ensure I have the best solution and follow-up to make sure I have the support needed to finish the job. From my observation, Jerry is passionate about helping each member of his 4 wonderful TEC groups. He has held Executive roles, and as such, can empathise with whatever his team members are going through. Undoubtedly, Jerry is also an avid networker with strong connections within the business communities.”
- Noon McNamara, General Manager at Maximum Energy
“I have known and worked with Jerry for the past 15 years, both with TEC, philanthropy and State Committees. In this time, I have had the pleasure in witnessing him change many people’s lives, professionally and with lifestyle choices. He is an excellent mentor and very well connected to the corporate business community. Jerry is professional, articulate and an exceptional motivator and speaker.”
- Sandy Davis, Executive Manager Lutheran Community Care SA/NT
“Running a Business association has the constant challenge of finding good quality speakers, that have real business experience, know how to present, don’t sell, and are willing to provide practical and useful information that the audience can understand and take back to their business to obtain real benefits. Jerry recently ran a workshop for ‘Southern Business Connections’ on “Building your Personal Brand”, which was well received, and we will be inviting Jerry back in the near future to talk about ‘Building your Team’.”
- Greg Garrihy, Partner nem Australasia
“My professional life has intersected with Jerry Kleeman on 3 occasions, career altering and hugely impactful for me. The first was when he chose me to fill his shoes as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Australia in 2005. Since that time Jerry has been alongside me in the various roles I have filled within AmCham to this day and provided me with unstinting support, knowledge and expertise. I then joined TEC (The Executive Connection) with Jerry as my Chair, and this 10-year experience was extremely helpful in cultivating good management practices and accountability as well as connecting with a wonderful supportive tribe. And thirdly Jerry joined a local charity board of which I was a member, and he subsequently took on the role of Chair. This philanthropy was purely to give back as he has no immediate connection. His professionalism ensured the direction and energy of the charity improved manifold. I cannot commend Jerry highly enough. His professionalism, energy, expertise, empathy, wisdom always shine through – and he’s a really nice bloke to boot.”
- Robyn Houghton, National Operations Director AMCHAM
“I've spent the last decade speaking with CEO groups all across Australia and New Zealand. With a session count that's well into the hundreds. In that time, I have seen vast differences in quality of groups, and quality of group Chairs (the mentor and convener). Jerry's groups are standout, first-class groups you'd be proud to join. And when I ask them why they are so successful, it's a one-word answer... you guessed it... "Jerry"!”
- Ashton Bishop, Speaker and CEO Step Change
