After completing my PhD, I pivoted to management consulting. I have provided consulting, coaching, advisory and leadership development services to managers and executives for over 30 years.
My specialty is change leadership and management. Other areas of exoertise are as follows, many of which complement and supplement change leadership and management.
> Coaching
> Facilitation
> Team building
> Problem solving
> Project management
> Leadership development
> Strategic action planning
> Economic and market assessments
> Development and delivery of training and leadership development programs
> Growing small-medium size businesses (new opportunities, increased leads, conversions, transactions, revenue and profits)
> Hands-on Leadership & Management, expereince e.g., appointed as Director in the Canadian Government, elected as Chairperson of a Congregation for 2 terms, elected as Head of the Policy Committee of a Constituency Association for 6 years, appointed as Founding Chair of the Environment Committee at the Ottawa Board of Trade, appointed (by the founders) to be the First Chair of a City-wide Environmental Group and a year later elected as Chair of the Group,
CHRONOLOGY
1. Grew up on a small farm in a Mennonite community in Western Canada
2. Received a BSc (First Class Honours) and MSc in mathematics (Was recipient of a National Research Council Scholarship while doing the MSc)
3. Was a Geophysicist at Shell Canada (included a project in Houston Texas)
4. Received a PhD for conceptualizing and proving two theorems that were published in a highly regarded mathematics journal (Was recipient of a National Research Council Scholarship)
5. Joined the Canadian Government where I became a Director
6. Joined Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) where I became a Senior Principal
7. Founded my own consulting firm over 20 years ago – during this time:
o Provided consulting, advisory and coaching services, specializing in Change Leadership and Management
o Delivered training for VitalSmarts and FranklinCovey
o Took a 9-month coaching program led by Jim Selman
o Developed and delivered a 12-day leadership development program
o Was a member of a 900-member global Business Academy whose members help small-medium-size businesses grow
ATTRIBUTES (self assessment)
1. Maintained the common-sense values learned growing up in a Mennonite farming community in Western Canada
2. Am self-disciplined – completed my Grade 9 with A-level marks, by correspondence (no teacher)
3. Am a capable quick-learner – been engaged for major projects based on my track record, despite not having the relevant formal credentials
4. Focus on achieving significant results for myself & my clients, e.g., led a project to help Ministers decide whether to approve $1 billion to design and produce the robotic arm for the International Space Station — they approved it (an image of the arm has appeared on the Cdn. $5 bill since 2013)
5. Am a creative & innovative problem solver, be it to overcome challenges or identify opportunities – have recently written a booklet entitled “A simplified explantion of what caused Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and what needs to be done to overcome it” — using Steve Jobs’ approach to assessing problems and identifying opportunities
6. Have extensive facilitation, leadership and change management skills & experience in helping teams & organizations overcome challenges & achieve significant results, e.g., Was elected Chairperson of a church for 2 terms during which donations doubled; I helped a drug regulatory agency eliminate a major backlog of submissions without additional resources
7. Have coaching and business advisory experience, e.g., aside from working with senior executives, helped small-medium size business overcome challenges & grow – applying techniques provided by a global Business Academy with 900 members via seizing new opportunities & increased leads, conversions, transactions, revenue & profits
EVIDENCE OF BEING COMPETENT
1. Selected by clients who needed and were anxious to produce results, e.g.,
o Helped the head of a regulatory agency who was under pressure from politicians to resolve a major problem — I helped them resolve it in 18 months without additional staff or money
o Helped a client build a case for the Canadian Government to approve $1 billion to design and build the robotic arm (Canadarm II) for the Space Station — The project was approved
2. Have been selected to work with some of the best, e.g., selected to help the Chancellor of McGill University (arts graduate at Harvard and law graduate at Cambridge University) who later became President of University of Waterloo and then the Governor General of Canada
3. Received numerous unsolicited written acknowledgements including from a Prime Minister of Canada and a Deputy Auditor General of Canada
4. Received a written testimony from a client for helping him numerous times during a 14-year period, during which he progressed from being an Assistant Director to a Senior Vice President
5. Received approval of my PhD dissertation by the founder and head of the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo (one of the world’s best mathematics departments) and then published the results in a world-class journal.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
> Co-founded and chaired a city-wide organization to bring together stakeholders to resolve issues involving development and impacting on the environment
> Elected Chair of a church (two terms)
> Appointed to the Board of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)
> Founded and chaired the environment committee at the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce
> Elected Vice-President and Director of Policy of a political constituency association for 6 years
> Was on the Board of an organization that found jobs for handicapped persons
SUCCESS FACTORS — I built-up my RESULTS and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS portfolios (see tabs on this web site) by paying attention to the following:
1. Focus on results for clients
2. Be a passionate servant: be committed & persistent, focus on client (not self), create superb results, demonstrate humility.
3. Be approachable: put others at ease; be warm, pleasant, and gracious;, build rapport
4. Be compassionate: authentically care about people; be concerned about their issues; be available and ready to help; offer empathy when needed.
5. Be creative: develop innovative and distinctive ideas; connect problem issues into distinctive action plans.
6. Be client focused: meet the desires of the client; and develop trusting, respectful and effective client relationships.
7. Be confident and helpful: speak the truth in a diplomatic and supportive manner.
8. Develop rapport: build trusting and respectful relationships, relate well to all persons (regardless of seniority).
9. Listen actively: fully hear the client
10. Be savvy: identify and deal with organizational politics
11. Apply self-knowledge: identify personal strengths and weaknesses; learn from past mistakes; accept criticism and feedback; not be defensive
I endorse what Catherine Pulsifer had to say about humor:
