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Groups are powerful resources through which amazing ideas can be generated and solid decisions implemented, but&nbsp;leading&nbsp;groups is super-duper tricky business because they are, almost by definition, comprised of people possessing myriad and genuinely divergent viewpoints. Commonly, somewhere down the line, almost every team runs into differences of opinion, strong disagreements and undeniable conflict, the painful result being the cropping-up of coping mechanisms like delaying, avoiding, or eviscerating. As a result, too many teams become cautious, even fearful, and unlive their full potential. Having burned their collective hands on the stove of conflict one time too many times, teams adapt by advancing ideas that are the least offensive to the greatest number of stakeholders and constituents, and few things in organizational life drain morale and suck soul more than participation on teams who devolve to mediocrity again and again, infirm or altogether lame due to their lack of exercised muscles.
Facilitator Boot Camp, our weeklong intensive, is among our most popular programs because it introduces participants to principles, practices, concepts, and skills through which virtually anyone (no matter his/her previous experience with facilitation, or lack thereof) can more effectively guide groups after a few days through meaningful collaboration toward decision making, implementation, and continuous improvement.
Sign up, buckle up, and come along for our crash course on facilitation skills that will be among the best rides in your career, the skills learned here being those you&rsquo;ll use day after day.

Dr. Blake Leath is the founder of Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures. To date, Leath Group has authored more than 90 copyrighted organizational science solutions implemented for clients around the world. 83 of those solutions are catalogued <a href="https://www.leathgroup.com/programs?f=&amp;s=&amp;d=recommended" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.&nbsp;
Blake has worked with clients as diverse as Abbott Laboratories, Adidas, AEP, Alcatel, Alcon, Alliance Data, Altec Lansing, American Chemical Society, Americo, Anchor Hocking, Anritsu, Anthology, Apple, Aramco, Ardagh, Ashland, AT&amp;T, Atlas Copco, Avnet, BAE Systems, Baker Hughes, Bank of America, Bausch + Lomb (Ray-Ban), BBN Technologies, Beckett Media, Bell Textron, Ben E. Keith Co., Berkshire Hathaway, BFGoodrich, BHP, BlackRock, Blackstone, BNSF Railway, Boeing, Brinker International, Burlington Resources, Capital One, Cardinal Health, Catapult Mineral Partners, Celanese, Centex, Citigroup, City of Albuquerque, City of Plano, City of Shreveport, Claffey Pools, Clemson University, Coeur Mining, Comfort Systems USA, Corelle Brands, CornerStone Staffing, Countrywide Financial, CVS Caremark, Daimler, Ericsson, EssilorLuxottica, Fidelity Investments, Fiserv, Footstar, Freeport-McMoRan, FSI Defense, Fujifilm, GCC, GE, Genencor, General Mills, Gentiva, Giant Industries, GoPro, GuideStone, Haggar Clothing, Halliburton, Hallmark, H-E-B Grocery Co., Hecla Mining, HF Sinclair, Honeywell, IGT, Instant Brands, Intel, JCPenney, Junior Achievement, Keurig Dr Pepper, Kodak, Konica Minolta, KPS Global, L3Harris Technologies, Lennox, LexisNexis, Libbey, LightPath Technologies, L.L.Bean, Lockheed Martin, Lockton Companies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, LSG Sky Chefs, M3 Engineering, McAfee, McDonald's Corporation, McElroy Metal, McEwen Mining, Meeting Professionals International, MetLife, Microsoft, Mohawk Industries, Momentous Institute, Multi-Chem Group, NASA, Naval Air Warfare Center, NEORIS, Nestl&eacute;, New Moly, New York Life Insurance Company, Newmont, NMED, Northwest Airlines, Northwestern Mutual, Peabody Energy, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Phelps Dodge, Pier 1 Imports, PNM, Premier Distributing Co., PrimeSource, Procter &amp; Gamble, Public Werks Inc., Raytheon, Ready Seal, Royal Leerdam, Sabre, Sally Beauty Supply, Sandia National Laboratories, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Service Corporation International, Software Spectrum, SourceHOV, Southern Methodist University, Southwest Airlines, Stillwater Mining Company, Sysco, Takata, TEGNA, Tesoro, Tetra Pak, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Instruments, The Coca-Cola Company, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, The Rosewood Corporation, Thornburg Mortgage, Toledo Zoo, Trinity Industries Inc., Ultralife Corporation, United States Coast Guard, UnitedHealth Group, Universal Instruments, University of Texas, USAA, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture / Defense / Energy &amp; Interior, Vitro, WESCO International, WSDOT, Wyndham Hotels &amp; Resorts, Yahoo! Inc., and Yum! Brands Inc.
Blake and Leath Group colleagues provide consulting &amp; communication services and tools that transform leaders, cultures, and processes to achieve dramatic breakthroughs in strategy and performance. Since 1992, he has worked with practitioners in more than 300 companies and numerous federal, state, and local agencies/departments/bureaus, as well as with individual researchers from leading universities to understand and maximize employee involvement, success, longevity, and passion.
In 32 years as an organizational sociologist and strategist, Blake has instructed in excess of 15,000 participants (in intimate groups rarely exceeding 12-20 at a time) across 41 states, and his content has been used by leaders in 27 countries. Leath Group at large has worked with more than 200,000 individuals, and well over 2,000,000 imprints have been made of the Group&rsquo;s combined intellectual properties. Blake&rsquo;s primary interests include strategy, culture, leadership, change, communication, systems thinking, M&amp;A integration, trust &amp; influence, and the process of acculturation.
In 2007, Blake published his first mainstream book,&nbsp;Cultivating the Strategic Mind: Growing From Leader to Visionary, Creator, and Architect of Strategy. The modest and very personal text consistently receives high praise from professional strategists&nbsp;embracing&nbsp;its approach to reinforce more systemic strategic thinking, and is increasingly regarded as a classic within its domain. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1939550378/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1513014688&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=cultivating+the+strategic+mind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A commemorative 10th anniversary Second Edition paperback featuring nearly 800 updates&nbsp;was released&nbsp;for Christmas 2017</a>.
Blake's latest book, FIRESIDE: Seasoned Leaders' Reflections on Work, Life, and Life After Work is available now in either <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Fireside-Seasoned-Leaders-Reflections-After/dp/B08FP9Z74T/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=blake+leath+fireside&amp;qid=1601929269&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">black-and-white</a> or <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Fireside-Seasoned-Leaders-Reflections-After/dp/B08KH97MNG/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=blake+leath+fireside&amp;qid=1601929383&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full-color</a> paperback editions, both of which serve as perfect gifts for graduates, parents, grandparents, the recently promoted or retired, or leaders of any age or stage in life intending to live on-purpose for however many more tomorrows remain to their names.
Today, Blake and his colleagues continue to research, write, design, deliver, facilitate, train, present, and film extensively, and most often in conjunction with long-term internal/external communication efforts designed to define, shape, or elevate client cultures.
Gleanings from the Group&rsquo;s contributions to knowledge and best practices (plus hobbyhorses&nbsp;<a href="../blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blake&rsquo;s Blog</a>, <a href="../language-hound" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Language Hound</a>, <a href="../reviews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Movie Reviews</a>, and <a href="https://www.leathgroup.com/books" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Book Bytes</a>) can be found at <a href="https://www.leathgroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.leathgroup.com</a>. Lifelong learners are encouraged to visit the site to experience Leath Group&rsquo;s work, download freebies, and to participate in and contribute to an organic community of dialogue. Follow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/leathgroup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leath Group, LLC on Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/1438715/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LeathGroup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/leathgroup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@leathgroup</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/blakeleath" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@blakeleath on Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/leathgroup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leathgroup on Instagram</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@leath.group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leath.group on TikTok</a> to engage in periodic comings and goings and lighthearted musings, riffs, personal photos, and puff-piece observations.
Existing somewhat skittishly at the 97th percentile of introverts (and therefore endlessly fascinated by what he describes as &ldquo;one of the hardest yet most rewarding and essential puzzles of all time: the people puzzle&rdquo;), Blake admits to being a persistent yet plodding learner since kindergarten, having now been a student in nine states (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont) and an itinerant college lecturer in four (Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Texas). A Baylor University graduate and Brown University Leadership &amp; Performance Coach (with educational tune-ups at Dartmouth, MIT, and Yale in intervening years), Blake earned his bachelor&rsquo;s in Management &amp; Marketing, his master&rsquo;s in Organizational Management, and his doctorate in Organizational Sociology (the latter being i/o psychology at sociological scale that employs generously elastic sensemaking tools for contemporary work). Postdoctoral studies exploring the integration of strategy, leadership, and corporate communication in postmodern management are proving to be the inspiration behind 2025's intended Cultivating the Managerial Mind, the second in a burgeoning series. And though an Adjunct Faculty member at TCU&rsquo;s Neeley School of Business in Fort Worth since 2004, Blake will forever be a Bear at heart.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Blake, Dawn, their daughter (Lauren), and their microscopic Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (Kit) make their home just north of Dallas, Texas. For play, the Leaths enjoy traveling, exploring, reading, moviegoing, attending concerts, plays, and musicals&mdash;and embarking on fun design projects of virtually any nature that get their creative juices flowing.

Blake Leath

&nbsp;
Ashley Acker, PhD, is an&nbsp;Executive Consultant,&nbsp;and both a&nbsp;Faculty Member&nbsp;and&nbsp;Program Advisor&nbsp;for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.
With expertise in instructional design, individual and organizational assessment, and leadership development, Ashley has spent the last several years partnering with companies both large and small, across a wide variety of industries, to develop solutions in the following areas:
<ul>
<li>People Operations</li>
<li>Change Management</li>
<li>Flexible Work Practices</li>
<li>Management Training</li>
<li>New Hire Onboarding</li>
<li>Customer Service</li>
<li>Leadership Coaching</li>
<li>Customer Service</li>
<li>Marketing Strategy</li>
</ul>
Ashley is passionate about changing the way we work and helps organizations increase the flexibility of how, when, and where they work in order to boost productivity and profitability. She frequently speaks and consults on the topics of results-only work environments, managing virtual teams, online collaboration, and the changing nature of work and leadership.
She has served as an instructional designer, curricula developer, trainer, presenter, project manager, coach and director of operations. Her entrepreneurial nature, creativity, and attention to detail make her an indispensable asset in both large and small engagements.
Ashley earned her BS in&nbsp;Psychology&nbsp;from Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, TX, her MS in&nbsp;Industrial Organizational Psychology,&nbsp;and her PhD in&nbsp;Experimental Psychology from The University of Texas at Arlington. She is a graduate of Coach U, the leading global provider of coach training, and is a Certified Director of Operations.

Ashley Acker

Clay Morgan is an&nbsp;Executive Consultant and Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;As an author and speaker, Clay&nbsp;has&nbsp;presented extensively.
In addition to his first book,&nbsp;Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, and Reborn&nbsp;(Abingdon Press), Clay&rsquo;s work has appeared in&nbsp;The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Patheos, Problogger, Pop Matters,&nbsp;and beyond. He&rsquo;s served as head editor and/or writer for multiple Pittsburgh publications and with circulations into the hundreds of thousands.
A passionate teacher, Clay has taught history, political science, research, and communication at the University of Pittsburgh, Robert Morris University, Community College of Allegheny County, the University of Phoenix, and California University of Pennsylvania.
Aside from teaching, Clay has worked as a&nbsp;research and writing consultant&nbsp;for a variety of organizations, most notably the National Parks Service, CareerLink, and Infinity Broadcasting. Prior to teaching, Clay started a successful r&eacute;sum&eacute; writing service in which he was able to help hundreds of jobseekers at job fairs and workshops.
After developing 18 courses in eight years for his own sections, he was contracted to rewrite a course on human communication for Robert Morris University&rsquo;s organizational leadership program.
His passion for understanding and teaching about communication and successful leadership grew until 2015, when he left higher ed and Pittsburgh to put classroom theories into practice as a consultant for corporations around the globe.
Clay loves communicating all sorts of topics to diverse audiences through multiple media. He&rsquo;s consulted for CBS Radio/Viacom, appeared on a variety of TV and radio programs such as HuffPo Live, and served as a fill in cohost for a Salem Communications afternoon talk show on multiple occasions.
As a blogger, vlogger, and podcaster, he continually experiments with creative ways to communicate his unique teaching style to online audiences hungry for entertaining answers delivered quickly. Clay&rsquo;s second book, <a href="http://claypicks.com/influencebook">Gain Influence Through Communication: How To Connect With Others and Build Meaningful Relationships</a>, was released in 2018.
He launched <a href="https://communicationkingdom.com/">Communication Kingdom</a> in 2020, a one stop website and podcast platform designed to help business professionals and entrepreneurs craft clear messages, create memorable presentations, speak effectively in public, and gain influence for good.
He lives in Dallas with his wife Jennifer Cho, who is an executive in marketing and PR.

Clay Morgan

Dalton Jantzen is an Executive Consultant, Coach &amp; Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures.
Dalton has over 50 years of experience in leadership, business and ministry formation, transformation, training, coaching, consulting, facilitation, and team-leading in environments as varied as mining, manufacturing, churches and para-church ministries, and the remote jungle outposts of South America.
As a coach to business leaders and owners, he has worked with for-profit and nonprofit organizations, as well as their boards of directors in both private and public sectors. In the manufacturing world, Dalton has worked with multi-lingual teams and helped streamline and heal interactions between teams and their counterparts across borders and competing organizations. Dalton always emphasizes the importance of leading from within&mdash;both within the individual, and the organization he or she serves.
Dalton is a popular speaker and growth cultivator, inspiring groups as well as working one-on-one with individuals on four continents: Europe, SE Asia, North America, and South America. He is co-author and facilitator of the impactful workshop series created for business and ministry leaders entitled The Spiritually Healthy Leader Series and Leath Group's <a href="https://www.leathgroup.com/series/spirited-series?f=&amp;s=&amp;d=recommended" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spirited Series</a> (co-authored by church leaders for church leaders) including programs on Righteous Leadership, Giving Leadership, Impactful Leadership, Leading the Growing Church, and Leading Volunteers.&nbsp;
Fortune 500 companies in the USA, Canada, and Mexico know Mr. Jantzen through his consulting work with DeLaPorte &amp; Associates, Inc., where he served as Senior Consultant, Coach &amp; Special Projects Leader. His expertise in facilitation, strategic planning, coaching, mentoring, conflict resolution, production integration, and quality improvement gave these clients access to what one executive described as "Wisdom with heart." Many acclaim his ability to care more for their people and business than any other consultant.
Dalton and his wife, Vicki, are co-founders of 30 60 100 MINISTRIES, a Christian 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on coaching and equipping leaders to multiply their impact through a passionate relationship with Christ. Using a variety of workshops, customized consulting programs, and unique blend of ministry and business expertise, they equip men and women of all backgrounds and cultures to prevent burnout and multiply impact through effective leadership&mdash;building healthy, effective, and efficient organizations and teams.
Dalton and Vicki observe that many professionals in the corporate world are educated and trained to rely primarily on their acumen and skill to make leadership decisions and achieve goals. As 16-year veterans of the mission field in the jungles of Colombia, South America, the Jantzens understand firsthand the ramifications of what it is like to rely solely on God to minister and live. Skills only take leaders so far; agility, adaptability, versatility, understanding, and learning to roll with the punches are equally vital parts of becoming a healthy spiritual leader, whether leading in a literal jungle or an urban one. Dalton's 20 years of experience coaching pastors and their staffs, elders, and deacons often distinguish him from those possessing theoretical depth and breadth yet lacking real-world experience, a deft touch, sufficient confidence, or good instincts.
Over the 20 years since founding 30 60 100 MINISTRIES, INC., Dalton and Vicki's unique blend of experience and expertise has helped equip men and women and their organizations to fulfill a healthy spiritual life balance and a passion for service to their Lord and His people.
Dalton and Vicki have been married for 51 years, with three grown children and five grandchildren, and have recently made Fort Worth, Texas their new home base.

Dalton Jantzen

Gary Moreau is an&nbsp;Executive Consultant and Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic research, curriculum development, and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.
In his fourth decade of leadership, Gary has served as consultant, global executive, private equity partner, General Manager of a large multinational in China, and always as writer, thinker, and pragmatic philosopher.&nbsp;
As former President &amp; COO of Oneida, CEO &amp; Operating Partner of Lionel LLC (Lionel Trains)/Wellspring Capital Management, Managing Director and subsequently VP &amp; GM (Asia Pacific) of Libbey Inc., Gary has thought often and deeply about the disciplines of leadership, collaboration, communication, strategy, and the nature of ethics in the workplace.
He is the author of the Understanding series of books with volumes devoted to doing business in China, general business and leadership, and living a fulfilling life. Understanding Business: The Logic of Balance was named a 2017 Top 100 Business Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and one of his fictional books, The Message, written under the pseudonym Avam Hale, was given a perfect 4/4 rating by the <a href="http://onlinebookclub.org">onlinebookclub.org</a> and subsequently named book of the day.
Recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Global Leader for Tomorrow in the Class of 1993, which also included Bill Gates and Michael Dell, Gary&rsquo;s abundant curiosity and thoughtfulness are animated through research, consulting, speaking, and ongoing contributions to scholarship and personal and professional service. You can find many of his articles on leadership and management on LinkedIn.
Gary studied&nbsp;Economics at Middlebury College, from which he graduated with honors.&nbsp;
Having spent eight consecutive years leading in China, Gary is now stateside again, where he makes his home in Rochester, Michigan. A voracious reader, Gary is an Amazon Top 500 book reviewer and has a large following for his book reviews on Goodreads, where he reviews a wide range of genres from classic literature to philosophy and business.

Gary Moreau

Greg Holden is an Executive Consultant and Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.
Having served three decades in diverse roles including HR Director, Learning &amp; Development Director, Compensation Manager, and HR Business Partner for a variety of functional groups such as Engineering, Research &amp; Development, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Information Technology, Mission Success, and Global Sustainment across Massachusetts, Alabama, Florida, and the Delaware Valley, Greg is the epitome of a broad-gauged HR professional and an exciting addition to our team.
Our rich, high-trust relationship with Greg began two decades ago when he and his colleagues implemented a transformational HR/L&amp;D initiative at Lockheed Martin entitled Leadership 21. At the time, a sizeable number of LM leaders were becoming retirement eligible within five years. As an intellectual-capital intensive business, Leadership 21 was designed to capture and transfer as much knowledge as possible within the five-year timeframe. Through assessments, workshops, and an award-winning mentoring program, Leadership 21 was a tremendous success.
Greg and his peers were equally instrumental in Leadership 21&rsquo;s successor solution, Full Spectrum Leadership.
Today, most frequently through executive coaching, Greg brings his complement of what we describe as &ldquo;heartfelt thoughtfulness&rdquo; to executives, managers, and individual contributors alike. We consistently receive positive feedback regarding his approach, which is equal parts&nbsp;deeply philosophical&nbsp;and&nbsp;pragmatically impactful.&nbsp;Greg attributes much of his coaching style to Marilee Adams, Ph.D. (author of&nbsp;Change Your Questions, Change Your Life),&nbsp;and to&nbsp;Cornerstones of the Gestalt Model for Change as taught by the renowned Gestalt International Study Center in Wellfleet, MA.&nbsp;
Greg is a&nbsp;Lockheed Martin Certified Executive Coach&nbsp;and is designated as a&nbsp;Senior Certified Professional&nbsp;by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). He earned his MS in&nbsp;Organization Development &amp; Leadership from Saint Joseph&rsquo;s University in Philadelphia, PA.
Greg, his wife Anne, and their Goldendoodle, Libby, reside in Cohasset, MA. Their sons, Christopher and Scott, live in Somerville, MA and Philadelphia, PA, respectively. Greg loves spending time with family, exercising, and enjoying the outdoors. He also likes visiting with his three brothers in the Bay Area of California.

Greg Holden

JR. Forasteros is a Senior Ghostwriter and Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;JR. is also a prolific blogger, podcaster, and pastor. He&nbsp;served as Teaching Pastor at Beavercreek Church of the Nazarene in Dayton, Ohio before beginning his #Texodus, which led him to become Teaching Pastor at Catalyst Church, just&nbsp;east of Dallas.
As a blogger, podcaster, and pastor, JR. illustrates complex and abstract theological and philosophical ideas in accessible, non-technical language. He erases the divide between the Academy and everyone else by demonstrating we are all having the same conversations and using popular culture to create a common language and foster insight and understanding.
JR.&rsquo;s blog features film, TV, and book reviews on everything from the latest superhero film to Dexter to Stephen King. His sermons and classes frequently mash up the ancient worlds of Israel and Rome with contemporary authors, filmmakers, and storytellers. And the StoryMen podcast he co-hosts regularly interviews authors from across the country in a variety of genres. He&rsquo;s found that any time you can show how Batman fighting the Joker embodies Nietzsche&rsquo;s void, people tend to pay attention.
After a decade in the blogsphere and in ministry, JR. has learned how to speak the languages people understand. He is an outstanding written and verbal communicator, regularly consulting with other pastors and bloggers to improve both strategy and content. JR. also regularly leads a team of communicators in developing content that is engaging, clear, and transformative.
JR. has a BA in New Testament Theology from Southwest Baptist University and an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene. Studying in both confessional and non-confessional institutions taught JR. to navigate the various languages people use to navigate their days: how they talk to their co-workers, their families, their friends, and their fellow worshipers. JR. has honed his ability to communicate the same message in all of these spheres, so that his readers and listeners are drawn together to celebrate what they share in common, often to their surprise. In the classroom, on the stage, and in his blog, JR. pushes the envelope of what educational conversations can look like. His community of listeners, readers, and co-teachers constantly re-imagine what serious engagement looks like and how to foster it in their communication.
JR. works so he and his wife, Amanda, can travel. They love to set off on adventures, and have friends all over the globe. They also love to host, and are always on the lookout for a new recipe to try for one of their famous Forasteros Feasts. They&rsquo;re also avid readers and film-goers, and they&rsquo;re always up for a new challenge. JR. and Amanda call Dallas, TX home base.

JR. Forasteros

Raquel Romero is an&nbsp;Executive Consultant and Faculty Member for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;Raquel is a self-described "leadership nerd"&nbsp;who likes observing how leadership emerges in all walks of life. Before joining <a href="https://highridgeleadership.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">High Ridge Leadership</a> in 2015, she enjoyed a 22-year career in the federal government: 15 years as a Public Affairs Officer with the US Forest Service and seven years with the National Park Service (NPS) as a Leadership Development Specialist.
While with the Forest Service, Raquel worked as a communication strategist and spokesperson on many high-profile, high-conflict issues.&nbsp;She found that the projects with effective leaders tended to have the most positive outcomes.&nbsp;She became intrigued and wanted to learn more about leadership and what she could do to help others hone their skills.&nbsp;So, in 2008 Raquel changed her career focus and joined the NPS as a Leadership Development Specialist. While working on her Master&rsquo;s Degree in Organizational Leadership she designed a program for employees at Grand Canyon National Park. It quickly grew and was ultimately a national leadership development program that served NPS employees from throughout the country. Raquel was proud to receive two prestigious awards: one for &ldquo;Excellence in Innovation&rdquo; from the NPS Intermountain Regional Director, and one for &ldquo;Visionary Leadership Development&rdquo; from the National Parks Conservation Association.
As Principal Consultant with High Ridge Leadership, Raquel continues to enjoy her work helping people become better leaders and the teams they lead become more effective.&nbsp;
Raquel&rsquo;s education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication from Eastern New Mexico University and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Norwich University. She also holds certifications in&nbsp;Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0), Hardiness Resilience Gauge (HRG), Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), Change Style Indicator (CSI), Change Navigator (CN), Decision Style Profile (DSP) and Influence Style Indicator (ISI). Raquel is also a Wiley Authorized Partner to deliver Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team assessments and workshops as well as DiSC assessments and workshops.&nbsp;In addition, she is trained in the Interaction Method of meeting design and facilitation. Raquel is a member of the International Leadership Association, The Association for Talent Development, and The Society for Organizational Learning.
Raquel lives in Missoula, MT with her husband Mike.&nbsp;She adores her grown children Aspen and Carson and she enjoys running, hiking, skiing and cooking new recipes with ingredients from her garden.

Raquel Romero

Formerly Vice President of Product Development for Wilson Learning, President of The Inventure Group, and currently President of Emergence, Dr. Steve Buchholz is a noted author with significant experience in three relevant domains:
<ol type="1">
<li>His book Creating High Performance Teams is the basis for building the benchmarks of a high-performance team. He currently conducts sessions that focus on what it means to lead as a team.</li>
<li>His book Aftershock&mdash;Change's Impact on the Human Spirit is the basis for numerous insights regarding what happens to the energy of an organization after major change. He has recently co-authored a book based on research regarding re-engagement: Unplugged&mdash;How Organizations Lose Their Energy and How to Get It Back.</li>
<li>And his work on leadership brings a special knowledge regarding the importance of leaders and leadership teams and the role they must play during turbulent times.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
His most recent projects with Wilson Learning include looking at the key elements that influence high employee engagement and a leadership journal that promotes deep reflection on what it means to lead.
He also serves as a "Mastery" coach working with several high potential candidates from various organizations. The focus is on building their leadership regard and preparing them for the next level of leadership. Specialties: Mastery Coaching, Learning Design, Leadership, Change Management/Engagement, Work Culture, and Working with Senior Executives.
Steve earned his PhD in Organizational Behavior and consults regularly with leaders around the world. When stateside, he can often be found near a remote lake in Minnesota enjoying his family and friends.

Steve Buchholz

Sylvia LaVoie is a Senior Consultant, Coach,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic research, curriculum development, and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;
She&nbsp;has 25 years&rsquo; experience managing financial systems&mdash;combined with teaching, mentoring, and coaching (coaching being her&nbsp;greatest vocational passion).
Sylvia loves people and thrives by building rapport and communicating with others.&nbsp;
Other interests, strengths, and experiences include:
<ul>
<li>Extensive solution-centric coaching provided to individuals and groups</li>
<li>Exceptional listening and&nbsp;client-focused orientation</li>
<li>University student academic mentorships</li>
<li>Conflict management coaching</li>
<li>Personal financial coaching for individuals</li>
<li>Workshops on financial coaching for groups</li>
<li>Mentoring new-hire adjuncts (technically, and in the classroom)</li>
</ul>
Sylvia earned both her BS in Business Administration and her MS in Management and Organizational Leadership from Warner Pacific University. She and Jim, her husband of 38 years, live in rural Oregon. They have two children and seven grandchildren. She is active in several ministries at her church.

Sylvia LaVoie

Walter Nusbaum, MA, is an Executive Consultant and Faculty Member&nbsp;for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures, and is also President &amp; CEO of <a href="http://thenusbaumgroup.com/">The Nusbaum Group</a>.
For more than 20 years, Walter has worked individually with leaders and managers, athletes, churches, and executives from organizations as diverse as Buckeye Partners, U.S. Remodelers, Baylor Medical, HollyFrontier Corporation, Pratt Industries, Sandia National Laboratories, and Williams Financial Group.
Walter is a respected facilitator, instructor, and presenter&nbsp;who shares insightful messages spanning multiple topics&nbsp;for audiences across the country.&nbsp;Having worked with small entrepreneurships, Fortune&nbsp;500 companies, sports teams, churches, and nonprofit&nbsp;entities, Walter is well-versed in a broad array of issues.&nbsp;His perspective, combined with a unique interdisciplinary&nbsp;approach, provides a rich and deep capacity to help clients&nbsp;resolve seemingly limitless contemporary challenges which&nbsp;are often systemic in nature. While he has coached,&nbsp;counseled, and mentored hundreds of leaders in teambuilding,&nbsp;communicating effectively, managing conflict, and setting&nbsp;goals, Walter has a unique knack for identifying and helping&nbsp;others navigate the interrelationships between complex issues&nbsp;and distilling them into manageable simplicity. Walter is also the author of Do You Have What It Takes?&nbsp;and travels around the country speaking on the essential traits of all successful people and organizations.&nbsp;
Walter&rsquo;s academic background reflects his diverse and&nbsp;insatiable curiosity about multifaceted and timeless&nbsp;matters. He earned a BA from the University of North&nbsp;Texas in&nbsp;Strategic Management, an MA in&nbsp;Religious Studies&nbsp;from Dallas Theological Seminary,&nbsp;as well as completing some graduate work in&nbsp;Philosophy.
As a voracious reader and lifelong learner, Walter is a&nbsp;polymath well-versed in other areas including politics,&nbsp;medieval history, world religions, philosophy, systems&nbsp;thinking, and employee development.&nbsp;Walter played competitive tennis at the collegiate level&nbsp;and has worked professionally with students of all abilities&nbsp;to help them reach their full potential by tapping into&nbsp;many of the same principles demonstrated in the highest&nbsp;echelons of competitive sports.
He has also worked&nbsp;alongside four large churches with congregations between&nbsp;3,000 and 10,000 representing different denominational&nbsp;backgrounds. The creator of countless series, including&nbsp;Evidence for Faith, Survey of World Religions&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overview&nbsp;of the Bible,&nbsp;Walter once authored content that informed&nbsp;churches and congregants but which now helps all&nbsp;organizations to thrive during periods of transition by&nbsp;mastering the many difficulties that accompany progress.
Walter has spoken nationwide to tens of thousands of&nbsp;people on issues of leadership and faith and continues to&nbsp;do so with a thoughtfulness, knowledge, and charisma that&nbsp;frequently lead to personal introspection, organizational&nbsp;transformation, and repeat invitations. Walter has also written on leadership issues for&nbsp;Brilliant, the only&nbsp;statewide luxury-lifestyle magazine in Texas.
Walter is married to Stacey, and they have four wonderful children who all make their&nbsp;home in Denton, Texas.

Walter Nusbaum

William &ldquo;David&rdquo; Rigdon is an&nbsp;Executive Consultant, Faculty Member, and Thought Leader&nbsp;for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;In his most frequent roles as consultant and instructor, David works in the areas of assessment center development, change management, team leadership, adaptive performance, and curriculum development for interactive technology platforms.
Formerly a marketing/advertising consultant, David spent more than 15 years specializing in entrepreneurial start-ups and new product/service launches. His &ldquo;prior life career pinnacle&rdquo; occurred in Los Angeles at GoWarehouse.com (now Vizional Technologies, Inc.), where he developed and implemented a one-year internal/external communication campaign. His efforts garnered a $250 million second-round funding offer from Goldman Sachs just prior to the market collapse.
In this former career, David was asked to hire, develop, retain, and manage small marketing/communications/graphic design teams. Over those 15 years, he learned many hard lessons about managing projects and leading people and was intrigued by failure and where/why it occurred. Disappointed in his own lack of leadership consistency (why some teams gelled and others disintegrated and why most met their objectives but few possessed the desire to exceed them), David persevered to convert lemons into lemonade. Following the burst bubble of the dot-com era, David returned from L.A. in 2003 to study Industrial Psychology.
His initial driving questions included, &ldquo;What was I missing?&rdquo; and &ldquo;How could I improve?&rdquo; As everyone does, he realized there is no one-size-fits-all magic formula, but he did find an active research community with solid answers to many tough questions, and a genuine desire to improve the world of work.
Today, in addition to sharing his many wonderful talents and keen insights with Leath Group, David teaches Psychology Applied to the Workplace (a hands-on experiential course in small group dynamics and team leadership) at the University of Texas at Dallas.
David earned his BS in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin and his MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington.
David and his wife, Cathy, met and married while both were attending UT Arlington in 2004. A second time around for both, David&nbsp;is dad to adults Rob and Kate, and a cat, Comet,&nbsp;four dogs (Darwin, Dakota, Boiler, and Colt), a sister (Julie), and Julie&rsquo;s two-year-old daughter, Sarah. Yes, things are always happening at the Rigdon household! David and Cathy love to travel&mdash;not really the getting there part&mdash;just the going there part. Their favorite way to travel is by passenger train. They spent two weeks on the rails for their honeymoon traveling up and down the U.S. Eastern seaboard. In his spare time, David designs non-traditional tabletop games and builds furniture.

William David Rigdon

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