Our&nbsp;Non-Series Series features popular one-offs/one-and-done/cats &amp; dogs programs, each of which is fantastic, but none of which slots seamlessly into any one of the preceding eight series.

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

&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

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

Greg Methvin 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.
For more than 25 years, Greg has focused on growing organizations by cultivating thoughtful leaders, clarifying vision, organizing for excellence, maximizing engagement, and evaluating effectiveness. Whether investing in a small group of 12 or organizations 13,000 strong, Greg knows how to connect, assess core needs, and communicate a tangible future state that draws people in for long-term, sustainable strategic success.&nbsp;
Greg is a sought-after communicator and teacher. He spent his early career traveling and speaking in classrooms and to large assemblies covering a wide range of topics including self-esteem, positive living, and conflict resolution. Those early years taught him how to incorporate humor and a conversational style to &lsquo;meet people where they are&rsquo; by speaking from the heart to reach hearts of all ages.
Greg has been captivated by the topic of leadership for decades. Specifically, what makes a leader exceptional, and how does a great leader grow other great leaders? He has pursued answers to this around the world, having been mentored along the way by a cast of leaders from walks of life including business, education, and non-profits/philanthropies. In return, he has devoted recent years to passionately paying his findings forward by mentoring as many others as he can, be they millennials, mid-lifers, or retirees striving to solidify their legacies.
Throughout his pursuits, Greg has honed his approach for building outstanding teams who live and breathe their unique identity, values, mission, and who truly love what they do. Today, he works with organizations domestically and overseas to create a powerful difference in the lives of executive team members, employees, and even volunteers. He remains a student of and champion for constructive culture and endeavoring alongside influencers to harmonize work, life, and personal purpose and calling.
Greg brings a hungry mind and generous heart to the work he does. A voracious reader, he draws application lessons from classic literature, modern novels, poetry, history, business leadership books, and even spiritual theology and one-on-one interviews to weave a rich, diverse tapestry of timeless principles that often transcend people, place and time.
Greg earned his BA in Religious Studies at Louisiana College and his Master of Divinity at New Orleans Theological Seminary.&nbsp;
As a &lsquo;bayou boy&rsquo; from Lafayette, Louisiana, Greg loves to cook, play guitar, and ride his motorcycle, but cheerfully professes that nothing beats the boundless joy he derives from spending time with his wife of 25 years, Steffanie, and their two outstanding young adult daughters.

Greg Methvin

Kimberly Kyle House is an Executive Consultant, Coach, and Faculty Member for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures. She is also Founder of&nbsp;K. Kyle &amp; Associates, a talent brokerage firm representing professionals in the top of their fields.
Having begun her relationship with Leath Group as a client, Kim now possesses 28 years of extensive sales and service management experience. She has served in roles as diverse as Personal Lines Manager, Vice President, Consultant &amp; Vice President of Sales, Senior Leader of Employee Development &amp; Engagement, Talent Development Partner, Senior Manager of Organizational Effectiveness, and Manager of Training &amp; Development in industries ranging from retail, insurance, consulting, and financial services to aeronautics, defense, pharmaceutics, and luxury retail design.
Possessing such a vibrant, talented network, today she endeavors to connect great people with great need, often catching them at an inflection point.
Kim&rsquo;s expertise includes oversight and leadership of instructional/curriculum design, mentor programs, performance management solutions, executive coaching, facilitator/instructor pools, public relations and corporate communications projects, sales/operational enhancements, and cultural transformations writ large, be they domestic or international. She is also author of Women Working with Women, a profound and popular workshop that untangles, restores, and renews female executive relationships in the workplace.
She has taught extensively through the years, and served on numerous community and affinity advisory boards including Youth Leadership Program (Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce), The Make-a-Wish Foundation of New Mexico (President), UNM MBA Alumni Association, GRACE Grapevine (Board Member), Wounded Warrior Project, Fellowship Church, Club Corp (Board Member, La Cima), and in various capacities at local Chambers of Commerce from DFW to San Antonio.
As a teen&mdash;with the love of family, friends, and faith&mdash;Kim overcame Hodgkin&rsquo;s lymphoma. As an adult, she battled and beat breast cancer in a fight that would last for years. Her indomitable spirit, grace, and sassy wit are on full display in preliminary drafts of Fight &amp; Claw, her love letter to those who have tangled with Mr. C, and her manifesto for those (approximately &frac12; of males and&nbsp;⅓&nbsp;of females)&mdash;and their loved ones&mdash;who will eventually be drafted into the theater of war.
A native Texan, lifelong learner, and undaunted volunteer, Kim attended Texas Tech University, earned her BBA in&nbsp;Marketing &amp; Management&nbsp;and her Executive MBA (with an emphasis in&nbsp;International Business) from Anderson School of Management at University of New Mexico, and is a Certified&nbsp;Human Capital Strategist.
Today, this itinerant gura and connector of ideas and people can be found traveling, writing, speaking, solving, encouraging, talking back, and introducing.
But when she is not, one will likely not find her at all, for she has traded her kingdom for a horse and will be ankle-deep in manure in some remote southeast Texas barn or stall: shoveling, shampooing, grooming, shoeing, or perhaps even buying or breeding his majesty&rsquo;s greatest mammal. And eventually, come rain or shine or dawn or dusk or midday beam, Kim-the-equestrian will be but a blurry speck off in the distance, a thunderous beast galloping her into some Christopher Cross oblivion beyond the horizon, the future on her face and troubles to the wind.

Kimberly Kyle House

Mary Ober is a&nbsp;Practitioner Consultant, Coach, and Faculty Member for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures. Mary partners with businesses&mdash;big and small&mdash;to plan and deliver Human Resource practices and programs to increase effectiveness at the individual, team, and organizational levels.
Mary&rsquo;s passions and expertise lie in culture analysis and transformation, coaching, change management, organization effectiveness, leadership development, performance management, training and development, and instructional design and delivery. To illustrate, one example of her work includes conducting a cultural analysis for two companies to determine which aspects of each organization would help or hinder the potential merger.
As a coach, Mary partners with individuals to identify and take action to foster strengths and address areas needing improvement. Mary brings her authentic self to each coaching opportunity in order to listen fully, provide helpful feedback and work toward agreed upon goals and outcomes.
Mary also designs and delivers training courses on a variety of topics for employees at all levels and works with teams to optimally deliver results, resolve conflicts, and identify potential strategies and actions. She creates succession planning and leadership development programs and also coaches C-level executives in a range of issues from business strategy to personal effectiveness.
Mary has over 25 years of corporate experience and most recently served as the VP of HR for a multi-billion-dollar company headquartered in Dallas, TX. Mary&rsquo;s education includes Master degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Curriculum Design &amp; Instructional Design. She earned her undergraduate degree from Purdue University. Mary has received an industry award for best practices in diversity, as well as a Chairman&rsquo;s award for cultural transformation.
Mary and her husband (a practicing psychologist) and their four dogs make their home in the hill country. She is active in her church and in the Austin Arts community.

Mary Ober

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

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

Live Online

CORNERSTONE—Spring 2024 Sprint

Printed Workbook(s)

Mnemonic or Other Job Aid

Certificate of Completion

Alumnus Pin

Commemorative Gift

Lecture

One of our most popular programs, Cornerstone hands newly-minted team leads, supervisors, forepersons, managers, or anyone responsible for the performance of others the essential building blocks of good management.&nbsp;Cornerstone&nbsp;is an extensive 15-month learning system comprised of 30 bi-monthly volumes that introduce participants to the fundamentals they will require for a lifetime of leadership.
Each of Cornerstone's 30 volumes runs approximately two hours in length and is delivered two weeks prior to the next. In the interim weeks, participants link their learning to their daily responsibilities by applying principles, tools, and skills in real work, alone and in collaboration with direct reports. This immediate "infield reinforcement" (supported by participants' own managers) allows for safe experimentation, constant reinforcement, and ultimately positive habituation. Because it's much easier to learn new habits than unlearn old ones, we believe Cornerstone is table stakes for early leaders.

Cornerstone

Leadership

Culture

Timeless, firm, unshakeable foundations; solid construction; building blocks to stand the test of time and serve a lifetime of leadership...this is how we think of our Stone Series.&nbsp;This series is the absolute sweet spot of all leadership development.
It begins with Lodestone, our HiPo development program, then proceeds to Cornerstone, our intensive 15-month program teaching 30 bedrock fundamentals for all new and soon-to-be leaders in formal managerial positions. Third comes Keystone, for mid-career folks who lead teams, supervise others, manage projects, manage departments or functions, and are generally the rocks that support the weight of the entire arch. Fourth comes Gemstone, designed for leaders experiencing or nearing burnout and needing to recapture both their sparkles and smiles. Fifth and finally is Capstone, designed to help Act III leaders finish strong as they embrace legacy, succession, and retirement.
Together, this tremendous series represents the metaphorical Main Hall on our campus of concepts.
See <a href="../learning/stone-series-organizing-principle">How Our Stone Series</a> is organized.

Stone Series

Foundations & Building Blocks for Emerging Leaders

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

Carlos V. Duno is an&nbsp;Executive Consultant, Coach, and Faculty Member&nbsp;for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic research, curriculum development, and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.
Originally from Mexico City, Mr. Duno is also the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Cduno Coaching &amp; Consulting. His recent coaching clients include McKinsey &amp; Company, Mexico and Thornburg, a $60 billion Mutual Fund Investment firm, as well as the US Forest Service, ATKearney, and Omidyar Network. Among his noteworthy accomplishments, he coached the CEO of the most important think tank in Mexico to revamp and implement a new strategy.
Mr. Duno was until recently the CEO and Owner of The Hire Firm, the leading executive recruiter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2006 to present, where he served more than 2,500 clients in hiring exceptional talent. From 2001 until October 2004, Mr. Duno served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Clean Fuels Technology, a leading developer of emulsified fuels for transportation and power generation applications. Mr. Duno took the company from a start-up through several rounds of funding to become a commercial operation. From July 1995 to May 2001, Mr. Duno worked at Vitro S.A. in Monterrey, Mexico, a $3 billion public glass company, as President, Business Development and Planning, developing a new strategy for the company and having its stock price grow fourfold over a period of 18 months. Prior to 1995, Mr. Duno served in senior domestic and international management roles at Scott Paper Company. The first ten years of his career included international assignments with McKinsey&nbsp;&amp; Company where he served several international clients during a four-year period, as well as Eli Lilly where he had both domestic and international assignments.
Mr. Duno has been a director of Libbey, Inc. (LBY), a publicly traded company, since 2003. He currently serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee, after being Chair of the Audit Committee for 5 years. He is also a member of the N&amp;G Committee.&nbsp;
Mr. Duno has a BS in Industrial Engineering from the National University of Mexico, an MS in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Columbia University in New York. He is certified as a Coach by the Hudson Institute, a leader in the coaching field.

Carlos V. Duno

Dr. Knute Sorenson is an Executive Consultant, Coach, 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.&nbsp;Knute brings over 35 years of business experience and offers a pragmatic approach to his materials, projects, and work. His primary areas of interest include business planning, organizational diagnosis, vision/mission/values alignment, quality initiatives, conflict management, change management, and project management.
Knute worked at White Sands Missile Range for two years and Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) for 28 years, 18 of them in various management positions. At the time of his retirement, he was the Director of Business Improvement, which included the Project Management, Operational &amp; Organizational Analysis, Quality Programs &amp; Initiatives, Human Resource Development &amp; Training, and Disaster-Recovery groups. In addition to his internal assignments, he was on executive loan to State government and numerous non-profit organizations for strategic planning, business planning, organizational analysis, and organization evaluation. He has given numerous presentations to various regional, national, and international organizations. He has published four papers for the International Project Management Institute. For the past&nbsp;20 years, Knute has also had an independent consulting business specializing in business planning, project management, quality initiatives, and organizational/operational analyses. During this time, he has worked with dozens of organizations.
Knute retired from PNM in 2002. At that time, he became an adjunct professor with Southern Illinois University at Kirtland Air Force Base and continued his consulting practice with organizations that were interested in change and required pragmatic solutions. During this period, he finished his PhD. While the primary focus of his graduate program was Organizational Learning, he expanded his expertise in Action Learning, Knowledge Management, and Organizational Dynamics. Today, he teaches Project Management in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University&rsquo;s graduate program and also studies how organizations consciously use and inventory knowledge/skills, seek to retain this critical knowledge during periods of high uncertainty, and quickly access such knowledge. This area of study has proven to be very important to organizations that are experiencing layoffs, high turnover, and/or high levels of change in their business. It is his desire to assist these types of businesses in maintaining their existing expertise while moving forward in the ever-challenging business environment.
Knute and his wife, Bobbie, make their home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They spend much time with their grandkids and enjoy gardening, reading, and being with their friends.

Knute Sorenson

Susan Thoma is an Executive Consultant, Coach, and Faculty Member&nbsp;with more than 30 years as a results-oriented, relationship-building professional with significant experience managing and driving positive change through leaders and teams.&nbsp;Her background includes consulting, communicating, coaching, developing leaders, strategic planning and events.&nbsp;She has exceptional listening skills, creative and effective communication, with ability to influence others at all levels of the organization.
Most recently, Susan served as Senior Director for a Fortune 200 financial services firm where she led the Sales and Leadership Development function. She also drove the culture integration and talent management initiatives for new business acquisitions. During 2006, she was recognized as one of 30 associates invited to attend the corporation&rsquo;s elite worldwide Leadership Development Program.
Susan also spent seven years at Citibank where she served as the Chief of Staff to a Regional CEO.&nbsp;She managed the CEO&rsquo;s communication, strategic organizational development, change management and leadership development initiatives.
At Citibank, Susan received the Citicorp Service Excellence award in 1996 in recognition of dedication to Citicorp customers and outstanding service. Susan was also awarded membership into Menttium Corporation&rsquo;s Illinois 100&trade;&mdash;elected as one of two high-potential women in Citibank to participate in an external mentoring program with CEOs. In 1994, she received the U.S./Europe Citibank Team Concorde Award from Citibank senior leadership to recognize her &ldquo;extra effort&rdquo; that transcends business borders.
For the first 10 years in Susan&rsquo;s career she served in outside business development, training, coaching and marketing roles spanning industries such as healthcare, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, manufacturing, engineering, chemical, high-tech and consumer products. One of Susan&rsquo;s passions is integrating music as a metaphor in business. Partnering with conductors of symphony orchestras, she writes, produces and directs interactive educational and motivational forums for executive teams and employees.
Susan earned a B.S. degree in Marketing from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Bloomington, with additional emphasis in Speech&nbsp;&amp; Organizational Communication. She served on the Board of Directors, Executive Committee for the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Alumni Association from 1998 to 2001. In 2001, she completed the Coaching Certificate Program from Georgetown University. During 2006, Susan attended Leadership for Extraordinary Performance at the University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. One of her interests includes Write Hand Studio, a creative outlet, where she integrates her faith, nature photography, and the lost-art of the handwritten letter. She currently resides in the Denver, Colorado area.

Susan Thoma

Blended Learning

KEYSTONE—Spring 2024 Cohort

Reading Assignment(s)

Assessment(s)

Group Project(s)

Peer Encouragement & Practice Calls

Coach

Podcast(s)

Alumni Reunion & Refresh

<h2>Description Title should be Heading 2</h2><h3>Also you can put in a subtitle as Heading 3</h3>Some bold for testing. This description is a long format section with a total free rang breakdown of the course. Maybe bullet points:&nbsp;<ul><li>I love wafer gummies biscuit.</li><li>I love chupa chups bear claw pie cheesecake liquorice chocolate cake.</li><li>Cookie muffin jujubes bear claw marzipan cotton candy.</li><li>Halvah sweet roll lollipop danish dessert.</li></ul>Pastry sugar plum powder biscuit. Caramels lemon drops I love topping. I love tootsie roll pastry jelly croissant tart chocolate cake croissant carrot cake.<img style="float: left;" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png" alt="placeholder" width="121px" height="121" data-mce-src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png" data-mce-style="float: left;"> Maybe an image just to see if it works. Cheesecake jujubes cake. Lollipop chupa chups icing. Cake chocolate cake marshmallow dessert chocolate cake biscuit fruitcake. Cake cookie jelly beans candy. Biscuit apple pie jelly-o caramels croissant bear claw tootsie roll sesame snaps halvah. Sesame snaps candy canes cake lollipop biscuit jelly beans dessert dragée. Candy canes chocolate bar soufflé biscuit halvah gummi bears jujubes danish. Tart jujubes soufflé chocolate bar soufflé lollipop ice cream carrot cake macaroon. Gummi bears sweet ice cream cheesecake cake. Marzipan powder liquorice cake dessert bear claw. Croissant cookie lemon drops toffee wafer tiramisu marzipan chocolate pudding. Dessert soufflé macaroon biscuit jujubes gummies gummies chupa chups. Lemon drops icing powder marshmallow. Tootsie roll liquorice dessert tootsie roll sugar plum halvah cupcake topping pastry.&nbsp;<h3>More Pictures</h3>Then if you wanted three images in a row:&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png" alt="placeholder" width="121px" height="121" data-mce-src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png" alt="placeholder" width="121px" height="121" data-mce-src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png" alt="placeholder" width="121px" height="121" data-mce-src="https://res.cloudinary.com/leath-group/image/upload/v1606827951/r2i7bhysln6o4otyzdtp.png">And a list just for kicks:<ol><li>Item</li><li>Item<ol><li>Sub Item</li></ol></li><li>Item with more text</li></ol>

Keystone provides mid-to-late career managers (the true architects of work culture and how things get done) with meaningful, next-level, best-in-class Cohort experiences and tools to maximize the department, function, or organization one leads.
Arising from the observation that today&rsquo;s managers must carry their own workloads, shoulder the responsibility of team performance, and guide cross-functional projects, Keystone provides leaders with the much-needed opportunity to pause, reflect, develop and practice the skills essential to achieve managerial success in today&rsquo;s fast-paced, ever-flattening, more-with-less, often disassociated work environments spread hither and yon. Keystone participants will re-evaluate personal strengths, clarify professional challenges, engage others in one&rsquo;s own development, and sustain essential behaviors for personal and professional success in the years ahead.
&nbsp;

Keystone

The Essential Discipline of Professional Management

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

Dawn Leath is a Principal, Executive Consultant, and Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;
Prior, Dawn spent a decade in the financial services industry working as a Human Resources Professional (recruitment, selection, career planning, benefits), Instructional Designer, Trainer, and Facilitator. In that time, she developed and delivered content for workshops and organizational universities that addressed Empowerment, Individual &amp; Organizational Accountability, Internal &amp; External Customer Service, Leveraging Interpersonal Differences, Morale, Critical Thinking &amp; Problem Solving, Quality, Team Audits &amp; Teamwork, and Performance Management (Orientation &amp; Onboarding through Succession Planning &amp; Conducting Effective Exit Interviews).
Since 2002, Dawn has devoted more time volunteering and serving nonprofit, local community organizations in varying capacities. However, in May 2013, she accepted a full-time calling to join the staff of RockPointe Church as Women&rsquo;s Minister. Building upon the solid foundation begun by her predecessor and surrounded by servant-leaders, peers, and a body of passionate believers with shared vision, she has been blessed with an opportunity to extend and mature a sustainable infrastructure that is more commensurate with RockPointe&rsquo;s current needs and future growth projections&mdash;numerically, but more importantly, of course, relationally and spiritually. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Today, as a wife of 28 years and mother for 19 years, Dawn continues to run a busy household while working alongside 70 colleagues at Leath Group to improve clients' cultures and performance. She is also an author and instructor of Leath Learning's Spirited Series, a leadership program designed for ministry leaders.&nbsp; &nbsp;
Dawn earned her BBA in Entrepreneurship at Baylor University&rsquo;s Hankamer School of Business. The university&rsquo;s pioneering entrepreneurship program is ranked No. 4 in the nation by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.&nbsp;
Dawn, Blake, their daughter Lauren (and her partner in crime&mdash;the beloved rapscallion, Kit) make their home in the Great State of Texas.

Dawn Leath

Brian Sanders is an Adjunct&nbsp;Faculty Member&nbsp;for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic research, curriculum development, and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;He is a&nbsp;Spirited Series&nbsp;teacher, facilitator, and cohort leader.
Here's a bit more about Brian in his own words:
My Story: I have had the incredible privilege of serving alongside my best friend (my wife) in marriage ministry for over 25 years. God has blessed us beyond measure by allowing us to serve at RockPointe where building &ldquo;thriving, life long, God-honoring marriages&rdquo; is not just a pithy slogan, but is a deeply held RockPointe value.
Something Most People Don&rsquo;t Know: My first career was in the construction business and my second career was in the oil and gas business. My undergraduate degree is from the University of Houston in Petroleum Land Management and I have a seminary degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.
My Trademark Expression: &ldquo;Life is like a river&hellip;.&rdquo; and &ldquo;You have any Tabasco to go with that?&rdquo;
Besides the Bible, my recommended reading would be: Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas, This Momentary Marriage by John Piper and all of Skeeter Skelton&rsquo;s works.
I&rsquo;m most excited about: God allowing me to have a front row seat to see the power of the Gospel transform marriages and families.
My Favorite TV Shows: Blue Bloods and NCIS
In my free time, I usually: Read a lot. I also like hunting, photography, and traveling with Edie.

Brian Sanders

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

Jean Grossman, CPC is an Executive Consultant, Coach, 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;She is also a consultant for London-based Primeast, and today has&nbsp;more than 40 years' experience as a management consulting professional specializing in Organizational Development. During these years, she has effectively transformed organizational goals and project requirements into actionable strategies, programs, and operational objectives in the profit and non-profit realms.
Jean&rsquo;s extensive experience has always focused on creating and delivering programs and projects focused on more effective and efficient use of operational resources, while ensuring client needs are met. She is a motivated, organized, and results-oriented individual who readily facilitates credible communication with all constituents. Her prowess in meeting facilitation, project management, technical writing, and business process re-engineering ensures that team members operate at peak levels.
Representative clients include BASF, ExxonMobil, Mobil Oil, Raytheon Professional Services, Software AG, Youth Mentor Network, TXU Energy Retail, Leadership America, Pioneer Natural Resources, SemperCare Hospitals, Inc., Texas Health Resources, APA Petroleum Consultants, Inc., Countrywide, and Northwest Airlines. Jean&rsquo;s work for these organizations has included facilitating the design of a documentation database, developing methodologies for a PMO, organizing managers and high-level technical personnel to optimize team performance, improving customer experiences, and managing multi-million-dollar projects. Clients consistently praise Jean for her exceptional research, analysis, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Jean is a conceptual and holistic thinker able to bring awareness of the essential meaning of variables, ideas, and options as they relate to the big picture. A lifelong learner, she is constantly pondering the meaning, purpose, potential, and destiny of people. This has been exhibited through her role as a mentor for the past 15 years, working initially with students at the University of North Texas in its Professional Leadership Program and most recently with select Professional Advancement students at Prep for Prep, a non-profit organization serving promising students of color in New York.
With her strong sense of personal responsibility to influence good, growth, and gain in the lives of those she serves, Jean uses her intuition and philosophical curiosity to bring awareness of personality, intentions, emotions, ethics, and values. She is open-minded, curious, creative, and innovative&mdash;and often applies these traits to meaningful community development opportunities. She is motivated to influence and convince others to participate in social, organizational, vocational, or recreational activities,&nbsp;including&nbsp;a project with fellow Master Gardeners to install a learning garden at a local environmental center and in her position on the Board of The Land Conservancy of New Jersey.
Jean&nbsp;resides in her native New Jersey and lives with her cardiologist husband, Steven, where she&nbsp;continues to coach and has worked on a 21st Century Community Kitchen in Newark that&nbsp;brings healthier food options, job training, and food production to the inner city.&nbsp; She is the proud mother of James, a graduate of Hofstra University.

Jean Grossman

Joe Brouillette is an Executive Consultant, Coach, 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.
Joe has five&nbsp;decades&nbsp;of leadership, consulting, teaching, and global project management experience in finance, marketing, sales, new business launches, business transformation, technology enablement, and executive team development.
Through both entrepreneurial endeavors and corporate assignments, Mr. Brouillette has produced value across numerous industry segments in senior leadership roles with global firms, including Vice President, Capgemini, Senior Executive Global Business Development, Accenture, and Strategy Director, Verizon&nbsp;Enterprise Solutions.
In addition to numerous other senior positions in technology system design and development, Mr. Brouillette served as President of the American Airline Tech Subsidiary, AMRIS, and President/CEO of TelAmerica&mdash;two global telecom service providers.
Joe&nbsp;formerly served&nbsp;as an independent Board member for a number of public and private organizations and as an adjunct professor at <a href="http://www.neeley.tcu.edu/">M.J. Neeley School of Business </a> at Texas Christian University and Tandy Center for Executive Education, both in Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Brouillette earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance &amp; Economics from the University of San Diego and attended the University of Chicago and Stanford University focusing on graduate studies.
He is widely known for his work in Human Capital Development and serves as an advisor and executive coach for many organizations focused on optimal performance. He is a certified Heart Centered Leadership facilitator and counselor.
Joe&nbsp;lives in Wilsonville, OR where he currently serves as Chairman of Delta Energy &amp; Communications.

Joe Brouillette

Dr. Michael D. Wood 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. Mike is passionate about creating more resilient organizations&mdash;particularly during times of uncertainty. He is most interested in helping organizations generate solutions that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable.
While Mike once practiced environmental law, he left his traditional legal work to lead processes that resolve disputes through collaboration. For more than ten years, Mike worked with the University of Montana, College of Forestry &amp; Conservation to design, implement, and facilitate a leadership development program for the United States Forest Service (USFS). In September 2014, Mike formed <a href="http://highridgeleadership.com/">High Ridge Leadership, LLC</a> and is continuing his work with&nbsp;USFS while engaging new clients.
Mike has led numerous workshops and sessions that offer participants the opportunity for deep self-reflection focused on discovering one&rsquo;s own leadership potential while breaking through self-imposed barriers. His primary emphasis is the field of emotional intelligence and the intersection of emotion, change, and resilience.
Mike&rsquo;s philosophy is that personal leadership transformation involves moving toward a mind of empowerment, engagement, and humility. His curiosity (first documented in his dissertation, Modeling Sustainability through Collaboratively Organizing) has inspired him to focus on social dynamics within successful teams and organizations&mdash;especially when there is little or no positional authority involved.
Mike holds an MS in&nbsp;Resource Conservation,&nbsp;a JD with an emphasis on&nbsp;Environmental and Indian Law,&nbsp;and a PhD in&nbsp;Sustainability Education. He is certified in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), EQ Map, and is a member of the International Leadership Association.
Mike lives in Flagstaff, AZ, along with his wife and business partner, Raquel, and two step-children, Aspen and Carson. He is an avid trail runner and skier.&nbsp;

Michael Wood

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

In Person

FIRESIDE FIELD GUIDE—Spouse Retreat Autumn 2023

Slides

Facilitated Dialogues

Participant Map

Message & Meal

Handouts

Individual Project(s)

WHAT
FIRESIDE FIELD GUIDE is a gathering (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fireside-Seasoned-Leaders-Reflections-After/dp/B08KH97MNG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=fireside+blake+leath&amp;qid=1609924391&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FIRESIDE</a> in 'workshop retreat' form, if you will) that creates a safe, serene, almost sacred space and place to give pause and cause for reflecting deeply about one&rsquo;s own values, behaviors, relationships, and past-present-future&mdash;that we might become more focused and intentional when authoring however many tomorrows remain to our name.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
WHY
It is our team's conviction that COVID-19 will prove to be a cohort-forming crucible event (not terribly unlike Pearl Harbor or 9/11) for most everyone who survives it. Unfortunately, despite this, many among us may still find ourselves living on autopilot, only rarely (if ever) engaging in intimate dialogue regarding the balance of our time and our potential epilogue in this great book of life.&nbsp;
The fortunate, however, are those among us who come to a point in our lives when we take stock and reflect purposefully on who we are and why. Looking over all that we have and all that we&rsquo;ve achieved, we may find ourselves asking that important, often life-altering question: &ldquo;Where do I go from here?&rdquo;
The road ahead can be the best part of the journey. It can be a chance to rediscover our &lsquo;self&rsquo; and to remember what matters most to us&mdash;a powerful opportunity to attain a richer, more authentic sense of fulfillment and reframing our vision of &lsquo;the good life.&rsquo; But how does one define the good life? To put it simply, we believe it is (1) Being in the right place, (2) With the right people (social connection), (3) Doing the right work (what draws us&mdash;calling), and (4) On purpose (personal purpose, clarity, and contribution). In short, it is the ability to move from success to significance (living out one&rsquo;s eulogy rather than his or her r&eacute;sum&eacute;).
The good life is a journey that changes and evolves throughout our time here, and the balance between place, people and relationships, and meaningful work is ever shifting. The North Star, the lighthouse, the magnet, the glue&mdash;the &lsquo;thing&rsquo; that coheres our sense of self, makes meaning of it all, and directs our journey, whatever one's metaphor&mdash;is purpose. When we are crystal clear about our purpose, it&rsquo;s magnitudes easier to establish and maintain the life-giving sense of balance between place, people, and work.
&nbsp;
HOW
FIRESIDE FIELD GUIDE is an In Person multi-mode experience that includes workshop time (as a group to share a few premises, principles, and to swap stories), solo introspection time (following guided instruction), personal journaling, couples time and small group time to ponder questions and generate answers together, and an extraordinary fireside dinner beneath the stars.
Please join us as we reflect deeply, meaningfully, and personally in order to live more fully, preciously, and deliberately through work, life, and life after work. You&rsquo;ll be glad you did.

FIRESIDE FIELD GUIDE—A GATHERING

Non-Series Series

Living Deliberately Through Work, Life & Life After Work

COMMUNICATION KINGDOM SERIES—March 2024 Sprint

Are you struggling to connect with your audience? Did your last presentation flop? Does speaking with others make you insecure? Maybe you&rsquo;ve tried strengthening your messaging, but you struggle to order your thoughts, and your presentations are unorganized and confusing as a result.&nbsp;
You&rsquo;re not alone. We&rsquo;ve all known the frustration of struggling to connect with folks who seem like a perfect match for our passion and expertise.
These courses will show you the exact steps to take so you can build confidence, engage listeners, and gain influence through communication.
<ul>
<li>Present in public like a pro.</li>
<li>Become more visible and memorable.</li>
<li>Share your message with anyone.</li>
<li>Reduce your anxiety over public communication.</li>
<li>Elevate your message above the noise.</li>
<li>Solve your public presentation problems.</li>
<li>Stand out in the crowd.</li>
</ul>
Nothing gets accomplished without effective communication, and every encounter you have with someone on the job is a presentation. The Communication Kingdom Series will show you what it takes to be interesting, clear, and memorable as you change the way others view and respond to you.

Communication Kingdom Series

Communication

Are you struggling to connect with your audience? Did your last presentation flop? Does speaking with others make you insecure? Maybe you&rsquo;ve tried strengthening your messaging, but you struggle to order your thoughts, and your presentations are unorganized and confusing as a result.
You&rsquo;re not alone. We&rsquo;ve all known the frustration of struggling to connect with folks who seem like a perfect match for our passion and expertise.
These courses will show you the exact steps to take so you can build confidence, engage listeners, and gain influence through communication.
<ul>
<li>Present in public like a pro.</li>
<li>Become more visible and memorable.</li>
<li>Share your message with anyone.</li>
<li>Reduce your anxiety over public communication.</li>
<li>Elevate your message above the noise.</li>
<li>Solve your public presentation problems.</li>
<li>Stand out in the crowd.</li>
</ul>
Nothing gets accomplished without effective communication, and every encounter you have with someone on the job is a presentation. The Communication Kingdom Series will show you what it takes to be interesting, clear, and memorable as you change the way others view and respond to you.

Cross-Realm Connection Strategies to Build Meaningful Relationships with Others

Poster

In the same way courage is not an absence of fear but rather&nbsp;the overcoming of fear, resilience is not a springy-bouncy-unmarred ball, but an ordinary person failing and falling and struggling and rising and returning back through the gates of Hell. It is precisely this persevering with integrity&mdash;not the absence of adversity&mdash;that constitutes and defines resilience.
First through exploring Organization-level change, then Individual change, Change, Adaptation &amp; Resilience&nbsp;concludes with what&mdash;and how&mdash;to not just endure change, but rather, to be made more whole and perfect as a result:&nbsp;"I neither fear you nor lament your arrival, for I know that only through embracing this hardship may I become the person I was designed to be."

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

Change, Adaptation & Resilience

Change

Strategy

Persevering with Integrity

Workshop

The journey of merging, acquiring, and integrating is&mdash;for every executive, shareholder, stakeholder, constituent, Board member, party, and player involved&mdash;a formidable, multi-year, high-wire/wing-walking undertaking, to say the very least. Billions of dollars may be on the line, to say nothing of present and future viability, reputation, and thousands or tens of thousands employees' livelihoods. Moreover, experiencing and/or creating the hoped for value in such combinations is infrequently about successful technical&nbsp;integration and frequently about successful&nbsp;interpersonal and cultural&nbsp;integration.&nbsp;
Said another way, technical integration is a hygiene factor, but "people" integration is the multiplier.&nbsp;&nbsp;
While buyers commonly spend billions of dollars to acquire other companies in order to shore up, diversify, extend, or complement their business portfolio, and tens of millions of dollars to migrate HR systems and SAP enterprise tools for sizeable portions of a decade or more, if people from the [frequently two] cultures involved fail to harmonize or synergize, the equation looks something like 10 x 0.
GREATER Than the Sum of Our Parts&nbsp;guides leaders from every essential party involved in the integration through the "vital few necessities" proven to maximize the likelihood of successful cultural integration.
It really is a no-brainer in terms of risk management and success assurance: Who&mdash;in his or her right mind&mdash;would spend millions or billions to acquire a company only to forego investing in the human beings expected to come along, get along, work together, and eventually create value anew?

Anne E. Lucchetti, PhD, is an 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. Her 25 years of experience in university teaching (most recently at Texas Christian University and North Carolina State University), consulting, and training covers such topics as Group Dynamics, Leadership, Interviewing, and Interpersonal Communication skills.
Her research has been published in numerous regional and national periodicals such as the Family Communication Journal and Human Communication Research, the top journal in the communication field. She has also been interviewed as a communication expert for CBS, Redbook, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, and The Fort Worth Star Telegram, among others. In recent years, Anne has volunteered her time as a manuscript and publication reviewer for the Western Journal of Communication.
Anne has received numerous awards for academic and professional excellence, most notably Outstanding Faculty Person of the Year, given to her by TCU&rsquo;s Greek Honor Society, and Communication Studies Professor of the Year given to her twice by the Departmental Honor Society at TCU. She has also received faculty research and professional development grants from both NCSU and the University of Texas.
Her passion for helping others manage their relationship communication more effectively has led to the development of her conflict coaching program. Recently, Anne was most heavily involved in implementing a longitudinal research-based program she designed concerning personalized conflict management strategies. The marital enrichment program that is based on this research focused on the key factors in increasing marital quality and improving marital stability.
Some of Anne&rsquo;s most recent workshops include:
<ul>
<li>Minimizing Conflict Risk: Maximizing Employee Gain</li>
<li>He Said/She Said: Unlocking the Mysteries of Relational Communication</li>
<li>Training Couples from Faith Communities in Ethical Conflict Resolution</li>
<li>Constructive Conflict Communication: A Couple&rsquo;s Guide to Avoiding Misunderstanding</li>
</ul>
Anne received her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin with a research emphasis in both Interpersonal &amp; Organizational Communication and her master&rsquo;s degree from Purdue University. She resides in Dallas with her husband and two sons.

Anne Lucchetti

Colleen Murphy 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. Colleen brings more than 26 years of experience in Human Resources, including Employee Relations, Training &amp; Employee Development, and Talent Acquisition from senior level positions in the Financial Services and Healthcare industries.
In her most recent position (Senior Vice President, Human Resources) with Santander Consumer USA Inc., she succeeded by managing and leading a team responsible for all strategic Human Resources functions for more than 3,000 employees in a multi-state, multi-facility environment. Specific accomplishments included:
<ul>
<li>Development and delivery of HR Leadership and Performance Management training courses</li>
<li>Policy, procedure, process mapping, and employee handbook creation and maintenance, including regulatory/compliance updates</li>
<li>Employee initiatives, welcome/onboarding programs, and recognition events</li>
<li>Building and managing strong partnerships with business leaders to improve effectiveness, maximize teamwork, and drive high performance results</li>
<li>High-volume staffing to meet business goals and objectives</li>
</ul>
Colleen graduated from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 1994 with a BA in Communications. She also received a Certificate in Human Resource Professional Studies in 1998 from Cornell University School of Industrial &amp; Labor Relations, along with her Professional in Human Resources (PHR) accreditation. Colleen is certified in Ken Blanchard&rsquo;s Situational Leadership II program and remains an active member in the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).
In addition to these professional contributions, Colleen&mdash;as a wife and mother of two&mdash;is extremely devoted to her family and children&rsquo;s school community.

Colleen Murphy

Brian Cesare is a Subject Matter Resource and Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures.
Brian is a Human Resources Professional with over 25 years of experience across four Fortune 100 companies including General Electric, Citigroup, Microsoft, and BHP-Billiton. Brian&rsquo;s background includes an in-depth knowledge of performance management processes, organizational development and design, organizational effectiveness, staffing, compensation, employee relations, and culture change. He also has had extensive employee relations experience that includes union and non-union work, as well as union avoidance. Additionally, he has international experience in staffing, compensation, benefits, and expatriate relations.
He has implemented Workday with two very different organizations, with both implementations coming in on time and on budget.
A couple of his hallmark successes include an instrumental role in completely reversing negative employee satisfaction at a multi-site General Electric operation. This organization has become one of the premier employee-satisfaction businesses in all of GE.&nbsp;He also was the first in the country to implement both market-based pay for teachers, as well as a unique pay for performance for teachers.
Brian is a Certified Mediator, Arbitrator, and Compensation Professional (CCP). Other training includes Workday, Six Sigma, LEAN, DDI Administrator for Behavioral Based Interviewing, Administrator of OAI (Overseas Assignment Inventory), Organizational Effectiveness, Change Management, and Union Avoidance Consultant.&nbsp;

Brian Cesare

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

Peter DeMarco is an 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.
Through the practice of Priority Thinking&reg;, Peter helps clients improve performance by first understanding their culture and subsequently identifying and assessing the risks to their organization. Priority Thinking&reg; is a unique application of practical philosophy developed by Peter&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.prioritythinking.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Institute for Priority Thinking&reg;</a>, which promotes a framework of sound priorities that can be applied at any level of any organization to increase effectiveness, reduce risk, and embed ethics application and rigor into daily and long-term decision making. The Institute&rsquo;s leadership and ethics programs are currently utilized at Duke University and other eminent universities across the United States.
Over a 34-year career, Peter has gained extensive leadership experience through general management and senior level executive assignments in the United States and Mexico while working for LIS Corp, Bausch &amp; Lomb, and Xerox. He has held leadership positions including Chief Operating Officer, Division President, Chief of Talent Acquisition &amp; Organizational Effectiveness, Managing Director, Plant Manager, Manufacturing Information Technology Manager, and Quality Engineer. Along with plant and multi-site management experience in the United States and Mexico, Peter has led the start-up of two manufacturing facilities from construction through staffing and ongoing operations. His first-hand experience with leading in distress and crisis situations has made Peter an invaluable resource to many clients.
Prior to his business career, Peter served as a United States Army infantry officer in airborne and mechanized assignments. Peter holds a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California, an MS in Statistics from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and an MBA with a focus on Corporate Finance from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.
Peter and Debbie, his wife of&nbsp;34 years, are the proud parents of seven children and&nbsp;more and more&nbsp;grandchildren!

Peter DeMarco

GREATER Than the Sum of Our Parts

Optimizing M&A Integration through People, Practice & Process

Perhaps you had a great relationship with a person or entire team, but then one event caused that to literally be shaken to the core. From hurt feelings to shock and then, finally, a broken relationship. When this happens, it can devastate everyone around us. Tension can be felt and it seems to follow some folks more than others. Just because we are in leadership roles doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean we know the best ways to handle stressful conflicts!
Achieving Superior Leadership offers insights into managing conflict across all work relationships. We will discuss and explore how we&mdash;as leaders&mdash;can handle stressful situations better... one-on-one, with another individual, and ultimately as leaders of groups, projects, and even large teams (including departments, functions, or liaising divisions).
It IS possible to work through conflict and circle back to cohesion. Join us as we explore how.

Achieving Superior Leadership

Successfully Traversing Work Relationships from Conflict to Cohesion

Call(s)

Appointment(s)

Sometimes it's all too much: MBTI? Gardner, Goleman, and the ceaseless debate about standardized tests or IQ vs. EQ? Birkman? Winslow? NASA's PCM? Holtzman's inkblots? Jung's personality? Hexaco? Six Thinking Hats? That new fandangled Enneagram mysticism? Social Styles? DiSC? Maybe just a plain ol' Leadership 360?
The list goes on and on, and we enjoy helping clients sort through the hype, the mumbo-jumbo, and the alphabet soup to decide which cat or dog is right for you. But sometimes, just sometimes, we also enjoy opining about our own personal faves, and why.
The next time you need to choose a leadership-like assessment for yourself or others (or wish to journey down the philosophical rabbit hole with us), please give us a call. We can help you stick your landing in short order.&nbsp;

Exploring IQ, EQ, AQ, Big 5 & Beyond—From Multiple Intelligences Theory, Personality, Disposition & Temperament to Alphabet Soup and Fun Stops in Between: Popular Tools as Perceived by an Assessment Agnostic

In this increasingly more-with-less work-world, leaders and managers are expected to bring multiple projects and change initiatives to a successful conclusion on-time and under-budget while sustaining the satisfaction of a broader diversity of stakeholders.
The biggest challenge: diverging and conflicting ideas of success across stakeholders.
The best answer: better, faster, more inclusive decisions.
In this course, leaders and managers will experience a hands-on, first-things-first approach to decision-making under time-cost-quality constraints while managing potential risks and conflicting stakeholder expectations. Participants will develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills as they apply a set of tried-and-true Decision Dominoes methods and tools.
For most programs, that&rsquo;s enough. Knowing and applying the right tools at the right time should bring about the right outcomes. True, if people were not involved! Leaders and managers need more than just better decisions. They need better communications&mdash;written, spoken, remote, face-to-face, one-on-one, presentations, meetings small and large with third-party contractors, higher-ups, bosses, coworkers and team members, not to mention that growing list of increasingly diverse stakeholders. Even the best decisions will fail without buy-in and sustained support.
Decision Dominoes integrates much-needed communication skills into the training methodology. As participants work through business case interactions, special attention is given to information, presentation, and influence fundamentals&mdash;the why and the when and the what and the how. Participants will gain deep insight into how and why their decisions&mdash;and more importantly their presentations of those decisions&mdash;domino into the next and the next and the next. Graduates of Decision Dominoes will be prepared and practiced for taking on current and future assignments with confidence.

Decision Dominoes

Making Informed Decisions While Reconciling Speed, Quality & Cost with Risk & Divergent Stakeholder Expectations

Imagine you have just accepted a promotion as a leader of a team. The job is located in an organization and town new to you. Everything will be new to you. You will arrive to a new job, new boss, new team, new peers, new home, new everything. After the usual interviews, you were selected based on the credibility of your credentials, reputation, and presence.
Since your selection was announced at the new organization, your team and others have now begun gathering tidbits about your reputation&hellip;your credibility, shall we say, which is now preceding your arrival. You have also started forming a perception of the new environment and the culture you will be joining soon.
Personal credibility is a cornerstone of our character. Being in accord with our perceived credibility, through congruent actions and behaviors further refines, reinforces, and shapes our being. Our being and doing therefore reinforce one another. Until our credibility is demonstrated and witnessed by others, it remains a perception though, and maybe a rumor.
The Credibility Spiral explores this interplay, giving voice and meaning to who we are called to be as authentic leaders in today&rsquo;s shape-shifting world. The six volumes listed offer authentic practices and behaviors that will consistently spiral the new leader&rsquo;s credibility and effectiveness upward. This offering is particularly recommended for new leaders in transition.

The Credibility Spiral

Many employees state through engagement surveys and exit interviews that they do not get the feedback they need and want from their managers. Managers, on the other hand, often find employees are not receptive to or are fearful of feedback. They also feel it is unrealistic for employees to rely entirely on them for feedback. Project managers, team leads, and peers all need to be engaged, but relying on others to naturally provide feedback may be unrealistic. Employees must therefore take proactive steps to seek the feedback required to improve and grow. Giving, Seeking &amp; Receiving Feedback speaks to the skill, courage, empathy, and mindset employees need in order to take advantage of the feedback opportunities available to them.

Pam Venn&eacute;, MA, LPC, 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.
With over 32 years in leadership development and executive coaching, Pam brings a wealth to organizations with her ability to quickly grasp client disconnects and gain trust among management teams. She is an innovative thinker and strategic problem solver who understands corporate objectives.
Pam has taught a broad array of subjects ranging from personal growth courses at local community colleges to dining etiquette for executives and has presented frequently on diversity and career planning.
Since 2004, she has focused in the areas of:
<ul>
<li>Leadership Skills Development</li>
<li>Cultural Awareness Training</li>
<li>Career Transition Coaching</li>
<li>Transition Preparedness</li>
</ul>
Her background includes multi-unit HR responsibility for manufacturing operations across the U.S. for The Southland Corporation and other manufacturing and distribution companies both large and small, public and private. She understands the importance of cultural fit and the many nuances that arise from organization to organization, company to company. As a seasoned and engaging facilitator, Pam has learned the importance of keeping the audience fully engaged and the material relevant. Her passion is seeing people&rsquo;s &ldquo;ah-ha&rdquo; moments as they connect training to real situations and the real world.
She has served on the Board of Directors for the local chapter of SHRM (Society of Human Resource Managers) and as local President, and on the national board of IACMP (International Association of Career Management Professionals). She is a member of ICF (International Coaching Federation) and APT (Association for Psychological Type).
Ms. Venn&eacute; has been quoted in numerous syndicated articles across the U.S. on leadership development and executive coaching, among other topics.
She has her Masters degree in Counseling, a Bachelors of Science from North Central College in Naperville, IL, and received her LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) in Texas in 1998.
Pam is a certified Multicultural Diversity Trainer&nbsp;&amp; Coach, certified Assessment Based Coach and a certified Manager/Leader Coach from the <a href="http://www.behavioral-coaching-institute.com">Behavioral Institute.</a>
Pam lives in Dallas with her husband and extended family,&nbsp;with whom&nbsp;she enjoys relaxing&nbsp;by&nbsp;attending live theater.

Pam Venné

Giving, Seeking & Receiving Feedback

Requisite Skills for Personal & Professional Growth

Interviewing and selection is one of the most important roles leaders play. It is how A-teams are picked not just to get today&rsquo;s work done but to secure the future of the company. Yet, despite that, many leaders do not prioritize interviewing and selection, nor do they recognize the negative reputational impact a poor interviewing and selection process has on the company. Planning, skills, empathy, and a sense of urgency are all needed for a successful interviewing and selection process that yields top-notch talent while ensuring a positive candidate experience for all. This course addresses the key components of the interviewing and selection process including planning, identifying job-related selection criteria, properly engaging the interview team, conducting the interview, and closing with candidates on a timely basis.

Interviewing & Selection

A Framework & Skills for Making Successful Hiring Decisions

Do Tank

Leaders at all levels eventually face a moment of paralysis. The weight of decision-making lands full on your shoulders&mdash;the benefit/cost, success/failure, second-guessing of it all. We are tempted to stand aside, allow others to push and pull us along, envisioning and deciding our collective future, while we sneer from the sidelines and jeer from the peanut gallery, a pale shadow of our former selves, leading the disgruntled and unengaged. For leaders who wish to throw off this miserable mantle and help others do the same, we offer a course of study and practice to challenge individuals, teams, and hierarchies to reinvent and reenergize bold direction, courageous ownership, and impassioned engagement.
We begin with the Law of Empowerment, examining its components as enacted in the enterprise, developing a common language for moving forward, and practicing a mutual methodology to revitalize decision-making, autonomy, and accountability. Our &lsquo;Do-Tank&rsquo; process brings real-world needs to the floor at the close of each 4-part series to strengthen transfer-of-learning from classroom to organization.

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

Beyond Permission to Lead

Empowerment in the New Era

Spend three hours learning the real secret to achieving results. Whether professional or personal, influence is the ticket. Discover the core principles, approaches, and activities employed by successful leaders who harmonize diverse groups to deliver exceptional results effortlessly. Master these for a lifetime of results in all you do.

Not Management, INFLUENCE

Learn to unlock the bonds of anger, bitterness, and disappointment. Participants are introduced to simple yet powerful strategies that provide remedies to enriching one's life, escaping from resentment, and removing the burdens of guilt. Gain a fresh perspective, launch a positive attitude, and learn to embrace healthy behaviors that deliver a lifetime of stability and strength.

Not Resentment, FORGIVENESS

Real value derives from relationships, not transactions. Discover how others have embraced these simple yet powerful attributes to build character, integrity, and trust.&nbsp;Learn the secrets of leadership impact when you learn to lead from who you are.

Empathy, Kindness & Generosity

Exploring Heartfelt Power

FDR once said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead&mdash;and find no one there.&rdquo; Some may find such an outcome so sufficiently terrifying that they lead only where others wish to be led. Others return to the outdated bargain of authority and punishment within a rigid hierarchy to give their orders weight, relying on compliance rather than influence. How then, in organizations hellbent on becoming leaner, flatter, nimbler to gain competitive advantage can such timid tactics substitute for real leadership? Join us for a look at leading as an act of selfless service. Explore strategies for engaging, aligning, and sustaining commitment in dispersed, decentralized, and detached organizations where we must begin thinking of employees as volunteers, because in many ways they are, their talents having become completely portable in our fluid, virtual world. Join us to learn new tools for enhancing leadership in the &lsquo;leaderless workplace.&rsquo; In this program, we offer an opportunity to set aside hesitancy to let go of the past to finally and fully embrace a proven methodology for creating the future. As FDR also said, &ldquo;The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.&rdquo;

People Over Power

Reflections on Employee Growth, Engagement & Commitment in the Age of Diffusion

Book or Textbook

Book Club

Leaders are readers, and reading engages the mind in so many profoundly meaningful ways, literally demanding that we linger for sustained periods of time with focused concentration. If you ever wonder What books should I be reading to become a better leader, please join us for Book Club!

Leath Learning Presents: BOOK CLUB

Conversations with Faculty & Friends

For time immemorial, conflict is a constant. Evidence of this fact is everyone we turn, no matter how novel Coronavirus or today&rsquo;s unorthodox politics may be, polarization and clashes are the order of the day. &ldquo;Conflict sells,&rdquo; they say, and even when it&rsquo;s not our own (Conflict in the Middle East, the headline reads), it triggers&mdash;and negative feelings rise within us. Mentally healthy people do not enjoy conflict, and certainly don&rsquo;t seek to stir it up, but what do we do when we find ourselves dragged into it nonetheless? What do we do when we feel ourselves becoming emotional, angry, scared, confused? Or when we are approached by others to take sides, take a stand, or &ldquo;fight for me!&rdquo;
A surprising amount of both our personal and professional success revolves around how we handle (or don&rsquo;t) conflict in our and others&rsquo; lives. Therefore, the goal of Conflict Is Not A Bad Word is focusing on what makes conflict tick, diffusing its emotionality and dispelling fear, as both always ride in the sidecar of conflict&mdash;and sometimes they take over. We&rsquo;ll also explore skill-building for conflict management and resolution so that each of us can take our power back in future situations that might otherwise feel out of our own control.
Each of us can break free from old coping habits we&rsquo;ve used our entire lives to avoid conflict and fear, and ultimately learn to repurpose fear into a motivator for empowerment and constructive action. Upon completion, participants should feel more confident in their abilities to see conflict more objectively for what it is, understand its anatomy and energy and edges, and be further equipped to walk successfully through differences of agreement surprisingly less scathed.

Conflict Is Not A Bad Word

Successful Navigation from Conflict to Cohesion

Succession (already tricky business) is multiples trickier in family businesses.
Most family businesses began simply enough. In the words of one of our favorite clients, &ldquo;35 years ago with a notepad and one telephone that, in a good week, would actually ring a time or two.&rdquo; When run right, family businesses that began humbly enough actually set the standard for personal attention, quality service, and product reliability. They remain, century after century, pillars of the greatest and most progressive and successful civilizations. Excluding socialist countries, between 75% and 90% of the world&rsquo;s business is carried on by family companies. As scholar William O&rsquo;Hara writes in his landmark book, Centuries of Success, &ldquo;Before the multinational corporation, there was family business. Before the Industrial Revolution, there was family business. Before the enlightenment of Greece and the empire of Rome, there was family business.&rdquo; Indeed, while only 77 of the 1955 Fortune 500 have remained independent, approximately 20,000,000 family businesses of significant size and revenue are thriving worldwide.
But the family business is not without its perils. Between the first and second generation, only about 1/3 of family businesses survive, and of those, only 12% reach a third generation. An exclusive 3% to 4% of third generation survivors make it to a fourth. Alone, these are sobering statistics, and even more so considering that &ldquo;the biggest intergenerational transfer of wealth&rdquo; in US history is occurring right now and in immediate decades. Economist Robert Avery predicts there will be a $10.4 trillion net-worth transfer between generations by the year 2040. This transfer telegraphs a major shift, as the subsequent generations are less traditional and exceedingly adventurous. The landscape of management teams, co-CEOs, the role of influential advisors, governance, and advisory boards is changing forever.
Are you ready for this? If you are, you&rsquo;re the exception to the rule.
If your family business means a great deal to you, and you and those succeeding you might like to see it continue, then join us for Your Turn: Family Business Edition to explore your company through our lens in an effort to not only see it survive you, but to perhaps even flourish and thrive for generations to come. It&rsquo;s really tough to see one&rsquo;s baby objectively, but the day you stop working FOR your business or IN your business and start working ON your business is the day you graduate to leader.

Your Turn—Family Business Edition

Developing Successors, Orchestrating Transitions & Executing Business Continuity Plans

Succession is tricky business.
Sure, most businesses begin simply&mdash;an idea and two dedicated hands&mdash;but they evolve into complex, multi-layer organizations by the time their founding leaders are ready to hand over the reins.
For many, humble beginnings set high standards for personal attention, quality service, and product reliability. And as the business grows and thrives, these pillars remain but in a far more complex form, guided by more minds and hands competing internally for attention and resources.&nbsp;
Add to this the impending retirement of boomer-owners from their businesses (some 48% of all private US companies according to a 2018 survey by Project Equity) and you have what amounts to the &ldquo;the biggest intergenerational transfer of wealth&rdquo; in US history occurring right now and in immediate decades.&nbsp;
Economist Robert Avery predicts there will be a $10.4 trillion net-worth transfer between generations by the year 2040. This transfer telegraphs a major shift, as subsequent generations are less traditional and much more adventurous. The competitive landscape of management teams, co-CEOs, the role of influential advisors, governance, and advisory boards is about to change forever.
Are you ready for this? If you are, you&rsquo;re the exception to the rule.
If your business means a great deal to you and those succeeding you, and together you want to see it continue, then join us for Your Turn: Private Business Edition to explore your company through our lens in an effort to not only see it survive you but to flourish and thrive for generations to come.&nbsp;
We know all too well how tough it is to see your baby objectively, but the day you stop working FOR your business or IN your business and start working ON your business is the day you graduate from entrepreneur, manager, or CEO to legendary founder and visionary leader.

Your Turn—Private Business Edition

Digital Files

Gleaming service and warm hospitality that people never forget can be two surprisingly inexpensive strategies for business success, as both flow from the same simple spring: positive attitude. Learn timeless values of personal integrity, punctuality, and accountability. Practice priceless dedication to relationship-building, acts of kindness, and a job well done. And witness the transformative power of genuine smiles to foster a goodwill-gushing service environment that can't help but spill over into customer delight, repeat business, positive word of mouth, brand loyalty, and long-term viability.

Rick Shaum, MA, is an Executive Consultant and Faculty Member for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;Rick brings more than 35 years of diversified business experience as a results-oriented leader and manager resulting in a broad understanding of sales, operations, marketing, advertising, human resource development, and finance/accounting, with an expertise in change management for organizations in transition.
In his most recent corporate role as SVP&mdash;HR &amp; Chief Talent Officer for Local Insight Media, Rick invested five years overseeing HR and talent-development responsibilities for the organization. This private equity portfolio company grew by acquisition, and Rick worked through the integration process to develop an overall corporate culture that supported an aggressive business strategy. His functional areas of responsibility included benefits and compensation, talent acquisition (recruiting), corporate and employee communications, employee relations, executive development, and training.
Prior to that, Rick served as SVP&mdash;Sales &amp; Marketing for Vantis, a Canadian-based private equity portfolio company in the travel industry. He was responsible for an international sales organization that developed more than 5,000 existing and new client relationships in more than 50 countries. The marketing organization provided support to the sales organization&rsquo;s efforts by creating and branding new products and services for the company.
Rick&rsquo;s background allows him to move from advisor to manager/leader within a broad range of industries and functional areas of responsibility. His versatility has been invaluable to organizations facing transition where bench strength and scalability are needed. He enjoys mentoring talented individuals and helping others play to their strengths. In the past few years, Rick has served as executive coach and consultant to a broad range of individuals and companies.
Rick earned a Bachelor&rsquo;s degree in Religion &amp; Psychology from Vanguard University in Southern California and his Master&rsquo;s degree in Speech Communication from the University of New Mexico.
Rick and Gayle have been married for more than 35 years, and their four children are thriving. His hobbies include skiing, softball, reading, and Texas Hold&rsquo;em Poker.

Rick Shaum

Phil Davis is a&nbsp;Practitioner 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.
Phil has over 35 years of hands-on leadership, customer service, operations transformation, technology enablement, risk management, project management, and client support experience in leading customer care and financial services organizations.&nbsp;He managed as many as nine locations (on-shore, near-shore, and off-shore) and almost 1,500 associates at one point.&nbsp;Phil&rsquo;s consulting focus is business transformation, performance management, and cultural integration.&nbsp;
Phil&rsquo;s passions and expertise flourish when effectively leading organizations through change from process re-engineering to cultural integration and transformation.&nbsp;He is a proven leader in delivering on corporate targets, as evidenced by achieving a 35% reduction in operating expenses over a recent three-year period through performance management and technology efficiency initiatives.&nbsp;In addition, he has successfully steered organizations through approximately two-dozen organizational consolidations and/or site closures by understanding the human impact of change on employees, families, livelihoods, and communities.&nbsp;
Phil has served capably in executive leadership roles with Bank of America, Citigroup, and, more recently, Vantiv and Think Finance.&nbsp;During the recent global recession, Phil was serving as the Chief Operating&nbsp;&amp; Credit Officer for a Nevada-based credit card lender.&nbsp;Despite overseeing 140% portfolio growth immediately prior to the downturn, he led the design and implementation of risk-management strategies that mitigated the external risk to the portfolio.&nbsp;&nbsp;
During his career, Phil has played an integral role in the credit industry. He was a charter member of the Bankruptcy Issues Council, which spearheaded bankruptcy reform, has served as a member of the National Foundation for Consumer Credit Advisory Council, and on the Board of Directors for Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Virginia.&nbsp;
Phil is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit International Baseball Academy of Central America, and he was instrumental in their recent signing of a training partnership agreement with one of the Nicaraguan professional baseball teams (BOER Indians).&nbsp;
He earned a bachelors degree in Economics with a concentration in Management from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.
On the personal side, Phil has been married to Lisa for 22 years, and they currently reside in Flower Mound, TX.&nbsp; They enjoy socializing with friends in their new mixed-use community, yard work, and volunteering at the local food pantry.&nbsp;As evidence of their passion for travel, they moved temporarily to Nicaragua for four months in 2014 for what they describe as a &ldquo;once-in-a-lifetime adventure.&rdquo;

Phil Davis

Amanda Forasteros is a Practitioner Consultant and Faculty Member for Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures.
The majority of her career has been defined by translating problems into solutions across four countries in two languages.
After overseeing operations at a Midwest caf&eacute;,&nbsp;Amanda moved south to pursue her passion of advocating for those who struggle to have a voice. Throughout her journey, she&rsquo;s used empathy and communication expertise to uncover problems and create clearer paths to success for individuals, families, teams, and organizations. Essential to her life&rsquo;s work is the desire to assist people in need through empathy and active listening&mdash;in English and Spanish&mdash;which she has done for business leaders, patient-clients in hospitals, children coming from homes of abuse or neglect, and victims of family violence in need of referrals and resources. Honoring individuals&rsquo; dignity through a &lsquo;hand-up&rsquo; versus &lsquo;handout&rsquo; approach, Amanda has equipped hundreds of people with the knowledge and tools necessary to more successfully navigate their own lives, to learn to solve problems for themselves and, as a result, to improve their immediate circumstances and longer-term trajectories. She believes fervently that this is best accomplished through a strengths-based and, in some personal cases, a trauma-informed perspective.
Amanda has provided interpretive and professional communication services for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and served in key leadership roles in numerous community organizations, the Texas Department of Child and Protective Services, and most recently The Family Place. She has volunteered with Girl Scouts of the USA, Genesis Women&rsquo;s Shelter, mentored, and served at Life Message.
Having earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Amanda is currently pursuing her&nbsp;Master of&nbsp;Social Work (MSW)&nbsp;at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Amanda and her larger than life husband, JR., live in Rowlett, TX, where they demonstrate &ldquo;radical hospitality&rdquo; to all who enter here. She is a devoted member of Assassination City Roller Derby, a servant in Catalyst Church, an adventurous traveler, a crafter, and a foodie in search of the perfect taco (among other things).

Amanda Forasteros

Michelle Simms is a&nbsp;Practitioner Consultant and Faculty Member for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property greenhouse that grows leaders and shapes cultures&mdash;and is also owner of <a href="https://leapingcalf.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leaping Calf Communications</a>.&nbsp;Michelle is a&nbsp;marketing&nbsp;resource and creative content curator with specialties in media strategy, communications, work culture analysis, event planning, social media, writing, graphic design, emceeing, and webinar hosting. Applying many of the public relations, journalism, psychology, and communications classes from college days, Michelle is also constantly studying what drives herself and others to make decisions to buy products, work with a team, cooperate on a project or engage in events. She is a critical thinker and driven self starter who thrives in synthesizing ideas with others.&nbsp;
Collaborating with teams in the business, nonprofit, and education sectors, along with church and parachurch entities, Michelle&rsquo;s experience brings out the best of each organization&rsquo;s internal and external vision and message using marketing and communication strategy. Michelle&rsquo;s goals and initiatives result in stewarding current company constituents well while recruiting new ones, along with increasing positive brand awareness.&nbsp;
After graduating from Pepperdine University with degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science, Michelle spent several years at NBC Network News as a field producer covering the O.J. Simpson trial for the NBC&nbsp;Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Today Show, and Dateline. She also helped produce Today Show entertainment segments in Los Angeles interviewing various artists, industry leaders, and celebrities, including coverage of the Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy award shows.&nbsp;
A Southern California native and pilot&rsquo;s daughter who spent a handful of her childhood years living in a Lockheed community in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Michelle now hunkers down in North Texas with her husband, former Major Leaguer Mike Simms, and their two teenage daughters. When they are not willingly suffering whistle shock from watching endless college and club volleyball matches, they love traveling, discovering new seafood or sushi restaurants, and sipping on a Cuban Cortadito (with caramelized raw sugar, please).

Michelle Simms

Sterling Service & Unforgettable Hospitality

Delivering Consistently Memorable Moments in a Same Same, Ho-Hum World

Experiential Activity

Dropbox Access

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.

Facilitator Boot Camp

Savable PDF Workbook(s)

Outbrief

A complement to the latest Social Styles technology, Social Styles &amp; Versatility: Reinforcement Guide for Coaching Dialogues augments and extends (all the way through to repeated execution one year after) what participants glean from preceding classroom experiences.

Paul Bruno is a Subject Matter Resource&nbsp;for&nbsp;Leath Group, LLC&mdash;a dynamic curriculum development and intellectual property&nbsp;greenhouse&nbsp;that grows leaders and shapes cultures.&nbsp;Paul is a consultant, facilitator, author, and coach/mentor with a distinguished record in delivering custom-designed leadership and performance management training programs, sales and customer service seminars, coaching/mentoring clients through effective job and career and transitions, and presenting motivational presentations to a significant client listing over the past&nbsp;30 years.
Paul has written and published a variety of training seminars and workbooks in the areas of sales, transition, and performance management, including: Always Selling: Taking the Company's Sales Training Program to the Streets, Results-Based Selection, and Perfomance-Based Appraising. Three additional publications: Living in Gratitude: 3 Steps to Creating a New "Way of Being," Career Pathing: Matching the Right Work to the Right Time in Your Life, and Transitioning to New Destinations: Accepting and Preparing for Life's New Chapters, serve as cornerstones for coaching that focus on developing positive life outlooks and skills that will enable his clients to achieve their goals.
Paul has designed and implemented a wide range of interventions for more than 7,000 individuals in a variety of market settings. A selected client listing includes the Walt Disney Corporation, Lockheed Martin, The Harkins Development Corporation, Rollins College, CED-Concord Ltd., the SKANSKA Corporation, Livingston &amp; Haven, Local/Global Directive, Flowers Baking Co., the Orlando Utility Commission, Tampa Bay Water Agency, the Florida cities of Oviedo, Kissimmee, Sanford, and Orlando, and the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.
Paul&rsquo;s former employers in his diverse career included sales and management positions with Pacific Telephone &amp; Telegraph, the Xerox Corporation, and ADI-Wilson Learning.
Paul earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science &amp; International Relations from Occidental College. He is a graduate of the Newfield Network&rsquo;s Coaching for Professional and Personal Mastery program and is the Founder and President of REFocus, Inc., a "Sales &amp; Performance Management" consulting, mentoring, and presentation firm located in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Paul has served as a Director on Charlotte's American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Board. Paul is a former Toastmaster and works as a volunteer at Pro-Net and Charlotte Works, organizations established to assist/support job hunters and professionals in transition. He also serves as a C3 coach and partner with the Charlotte Christian Chamber of Commerce.
Paul has been happily married for&nbsp;53 years to (the Reverend) Suzanne Bruno and is the proud father of Michael (50) and Kim (47). A long-distance runner since 1977, Paul has logged over 20,000 miles on pavement and dirt roads all around the world.

Paul Bruno

SOCIAL STYLES & VERSATILITY

Reinforcement Guide for Coaching Dialogues

As a lite prelude to the latest in interpersonal, traits-based behavioral science,&nbsp;Social Styles &amp; Versatility: Orientation Guide for New Participants&nbsp;prepares learners (frequently of intact teams, steering or guiding coalitions, or long-term projects) for subsequent classroom, coaching, or collaborative experiences necessitating authentic, individual flexibility.