Parker: Executive leadership development firm Incito acquires Calgary company LeaderSharp​on February 10, 2025 at 1:00 pm

The core purpose of the LeaderSharp Group, a Calgary company ranked as one of the top 10 leadership development companies in Canada, has always been: “The world needs better leaders.”

Co-founded by Chris Jones and Lisa Scott, the firm grew to be a respected leader in its field, but Jones and Scott decided that even though they wanted to continue in the business, they didn’t want to run the shop anymore.

The result is that LeaderSharp has been acquired by Incito Executive and Leadership Development, another homegrown provider of executive and leadership coaching and development, solidifying its position as a global provider of services across diverse industries.

“Our acquisition of LeaderSharp is an exciting step forward for Incito,” says Incito founder Jenn Lofgren. “The combined strengths of our teams allow us to deliver enriched coaching, training and consulting services to leaders and organizations across Canada and beyond.

“Together, we are better positioned to empower leaders with the tools, insights and strategies needed to thrive in today’s fast-changing business environment.”

After graduating from Mount Royal University with her degree in business administration/human resources — and where she was also awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award — Lofgren began a career in the human resources field with an infotech firm. After 11 years with the company, she decided technology wasn’t really her thing and decided to make a change into the side of her job she liked best — strategy and team-building.

As an adult, Lofgren took a co-op program with the Calgary Airport Authority and worked in HR for a time, but wanting to concentrate on the leadership development side of the profession, struck out on her own, founding Incito as an external consultant in 2009.

Her progress has been nothing less than dramatically fruitful, building her business and reaping numerous awards along the way. Lofgren is one of only four per cent of coaches worldwide with a Master Certified Coach designation, has been on the Forbes Coaches Council for the past six years, named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and a Business in Calgary leader.

Add her many volunteer board roles, including chair of The Grand theatre, and it was time for some senior level help. In 2021, Shawn Gibson joined Incito as a partner.

Gibson earned an engineering degree at the University of Calgary and was a founder of Revolve Technologies. When it was bought by Swedish firm SKF Group, he remained as president in Canada, and then as director of digital transformation for the Americas.