About

“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

My Background

Like so many people, I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I liked science in high school; my dad worked for Eli Lilly & Company, a pharmaceutical company, and the Strong Campbell Interest Instrument reported that I should be a private investigator, a scientist, or an investigative reporter. So the science of biochemistry in the field of Food Science it was. After a couple of years I realized that I would probably not be successful or happy working in the field so I found a creative way to be a part of the Industrial Supervision curriculum and graduated with an offer from a company out of Denver, CO, American Management Services. They provided contract managers for housekeeping and laundry services in hospitals and universities. Thus my journey into supervision, management, and leadership began.

My 10 years at Career Consultants, Inc in Indianapolis started as a recruiter where I learned how to identify talent that not only fit the role but also fit into the organizational culture. I had the opportunity to move into the first Outplacement Services offered regionally and learn the processes of selection and termination, and understanding the human element of corporate change. As a member of the Entreprenurial Consulting Group, I helped small growing companies in selecting new employees, improving performance of individuals, building teams, and developing leadership.

After forming my own consulting practice in 1989 I introduced Career Planning or Navigation Services. My path followed the projects that came my way in the form of a problem. My clients, whether individual or corporate, invited me into their situation and allowed me to help them. The problems or circumstances evolved from Teams and Empowerment to Communication to High Performing Management and Leadership practices.

In 1997, I authored a book that reported on the seismic shifts in the workplace. At a time when many were waiting for a return to ‘the way things were,’ I was focused on helping people look forward to navigate the transition they faced.

The concept of being Embedded as a coach in the workplace has added invaluable experience and perspective. This allows me to understand the impact of individuals on the success of a team or organization.

The material I learned and the tools created to enable others came from all of these opportunities and I now offer them to you.

“May you be inspired by giving, changed by love, filled with peace, and touched by miracles.”

People I need to acknowledge and want to thank

There are many people that I want to thank including every individual that allowed me to share a part of their journey.   Every individual that engaged my services and trusted me enough to participate in their organization enabled me to test my concepts and ideas.  Many of these people have become friends.  They have had to listen to my evangelizing and analyzing over the years.

The following individuals have been instrumental in my success and added so much to life-long study. In the order they came into my life:

Peggy Dixon – When I started my practice with the focus on Career Navigation, I knew I needed a physical workbook (paper and pen) and I didn’t have a clue how to create one.  Peggy’s experience was computer programming but I knew her core skills and I believed she could do the job.  And she did.  It was more than I expected and still adds value today.  Thank you Peggy.

Jolene Mentink Moffatt – Jolene’s chosen field of work is theater but I knew she had the ability to research and create the materials for the Career Center workshop at Eli Lilly & Company.  Jolene was instrumental in the success of that project in many aspects.  We not only needed to create the materials for the workshop but they needed customized for the client.  I couldn’t have achieved what she did.  She also attended every meeting with the client and often had a better understanding of what they wanted than I did.  Thank you Jolene

Iris Holliday (Khalil) – Iris helped me write “Feeling Lost at Work.”  She had a better sense of what to present first.  I would send her several pages of writing and she would rearrange the material.  At the time, I asked Iris how she wanted to be given credit and she didn’t at the time but since then, she realized how much she contributed and changed her mind.  So, better late than never, I acknowledge her work on the book publicly. Thank you Iris.

Dick Butz – Owner and “my boss” at Career Consultants, Inc. hired me as a recruiter but in his efforts to expand and grow, I got opportunities in Outplacement/Job Search and Entreprenurial Consulting.  Dick brought in excellent training on selection, employee performance, terminations and that allowed me to get certified in programs that I still employ today.

Even though we disagreed on many aspects of managing people, he taught me a lot   Because of our disagreements, he is the reason I asked myself what kind of manager or leader I want to be. Thank you Dick.

Michael J. Kenney – Michael not only shared his job search brainchild, he was my first real mentor and coach.  Several days a week at the end of the day we would cross the street and have a drink while we talked about the day, our clients, and our perspectives of what to do.  Michael taught me how to have a different perspective and how to think about problems.  Having been a Roman Catholic priest in his first career, Michael wasn’t constrained by corporate expectations so his creativity was very influential. 

Being a service business, there were emergencies or fires and Michael would just shut down in these circumstances.  Fortunately, I loved crisis, opportunities to be a hero, and I was able to jump into action and resolve the problem.  Then a day or two later I would find a typed (before computers) document that addressed how we could prevent that problem from happening again, which I hadn’t given the first thought to.

Michael passed away years ago but his job search program now lives on.  That is his legacy. Thank you Michael.

Christopher Clapp – Has been the most significant contributor to my career, my standards of leadership, my understanding of business needs (therefore how I could be helpful), and my value to an organization.  Christopher hired me on a few projects mostly centered around team building and supervision so when he took the CEO spot at a start-up software development company, he and I knew each other.  He asked me to fulfill different roles over time during the ANGEL Learning days such as working with the executive team to shape a culture.   For many people, Christopher’s leadership style has been their “gold standard”.  He demonstrated how to lead and achieve high performance across the organization.

Christopher not only gave me opportunities to work but learn so much.  It was at ANGEL Learning that I learned to look for that there are natural gaps in performance when an individual gets promoted into a higher level of management. Thank you Christopher.

Phill Miller –

Please know that I often feel and express gratitude for these individuals.