My Journey
My physical journey began in the industrial mid-west. Education and work took me to the East Coast. I now reside near the geographical “center” of the contiguous forty-eight states. Research and consulting have taken me to Europe and Asia where I have worked on leadership issues in various national, ethnic, and organizational cultures.
My vocational journey began in the skilled trades, as mold maker in the plastics industry. I later became a Hydraulic Project Engineer, designing and supervising the fabrication of John Deer’s first fully automated foundry. I then became a family therapist, and worked for the court systems of Genesee and Lapeer counties in Michigan, where he worked with the families of juvenile felony offenders. It was my privilege to lead churches in Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts and Nebraska. Most recently I spent a decade with The Gallup Organization, serving as a Senior Analyst and Executive Director of Leadership teaching, consulting and research in the Gallup International Research and Education Center. In addition to providing leadership to my own company and I am joining NexStep as an Executive Coach and Organizational Strategist.
My coaching journey began with helping teachers, coaches, and neighbors understand how they could support the lives of young people at risk and in trouble. As a local church leader I coached lay leaders on their performance, and replicated this with pastors as a denominational executive. Working with Gallup, I coached and consulted the top officers of some of the world’s leading companies, such as Toyota USA, Pacific Northwestern Laboratories, Disney, Phillips Petroleum, The Caterpillar Corp. and The Corps of Engineers. Because of my personal passion, I also coached leaders of strategic not for profit organizations such as Robert Woods Johnson, and outstanding denominational and local church leaders.
In my publication journey, I co-authored a book, which is an application of systems theory to the local church: “Church Conflict, Abingdon.” The latest edition (9th) of Fred Luthans’ standard MBA text, “Organizational Behavior,” McGraw-Hill, features a “best practices consulting” article for each section. I was selected to write these “best practice” articles on behalf of the Gallup Organization. I have also written for “The Inner Edge” management magazine, relating strengths theory as “talent” to the work of Daniel Goleman (emotional intelligence). I have taught Leadership in various corporate Universities and in higher education at the MA, MBA and Doctoral levels.
My Philosophy
My philosophy is that leaders are most effective and productive when they are self aware of their talents and are living their life as an expression of the confluence of their values, abilities, and passions and are leading others accordingly, within the unfolding story of life. Sensitivity to the Spirit, ones own heart and mind, and the dynamic context to which one is called are all a part of the process. In the tension between the given and the possible, leaders must understand and respond well to objective relevant measures. In order for a leader to be Transformational, they must be capable of Transcending their context in effectual ways. A coach can provide questions, prompts and objective perceptions which “midwife’ the process of emergence of new realities of self and others which leaders seek.