Todd Alexander Bill Barton Vicki Cansler Tom Clark Rob Fazio Catherine Flavin-McDonald Paul Gaske John Gates Jim Gaynor

Jeff Graddy Raluca Graebner Theresa Hoffman Bob Kennedy Sacha Lindekens Irene McPhail Glyn Mitchell Howard Morgan

Paula Mulford Steve Rumery Rich Silvestri Anthony Smith John Streitmatter Cathy Swody Rob Tucker Steve Williams

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Todd Alexander is a Director with LRI, specializing in executive and leadership development, organizational transformation, and business planning. He has twenty years experience working with executives and management teams, consulting on business strategy and systems for improving accountability, execution and performance. Todd has developed and implemented approaches for building high-performance teams, partnered with company’s internal leadership on organizational change initiatives, and designed and delivered innovative leadership development programs. He is also a skilled executive coach for individuals and teams.

Todd’s results-oriented approach combines his experience as a Director of Operations with a background in education and leadership development. He has started his own company, served as Executive Pastor of a 10,000-member church, and was a member of the faculty of Biola University and the Quality Institute in New York. Todd’s clients are Fortune 500 companies in the areas of biotech and pharmaceuticals, high tech and telecommunications, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, utilities, and petroleum industries.

Todd has a B.A. in Public Administration from San Diego State University and a M.A. in Education from Biola University in Los Angeles.

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Bill Barton is a Consulting Associate with LRI. He has a wealth of practical experience as a senior executive with over twenty-five years of highly successful US and international business experience. His relationship with LRI dates back to work in the late 80’s and 90’s, when he participated in efforts to improve employee satisfaction at American Express. Much of Bill’s focus has been on the practical implementation of the service-profit chain research. He has extensive, business focused experience in assisting individuals, teams and large organizations to unlock their potential. Bill also works as a coach to provide individual leadership development to senior executives in major multinational organizations. He is especially skilled at helping clients use the immediate challenges they face as opportunities to expand their capacity to lead. Bill seeks to build long-term, trust based relationships, so that client’s most fundamental issues are addressed.

Prior to joining LRI, Bill was a Senior Vice President at American Express, with experience leading large customer service organizations. He has an MA from the Sloan School of Business, MIT (1981), and an MA in Latin American Studies from the Univ. of Texas at Austin (1975) where he studied social anthropology. His BA is from Wesleyan Univ.

 

Tom Clark is a Senior Consultant with LRI specializing in team building, corporate diversity management, and leadership development. Tom earned his A.B. degree at Allegheny College and his Masters and Doctorate degrees at Cornell University. His career spanned several distinguished years in academic institutions in professorial and administrative positions including Assistant Dean of Students/Director of Counseling Services at Cornell University to President of Rockland Community College/SUNY.

Tom has been a frequent conference presenter and keynote speaker and has published a number of articles in academic journals and contributed chapters to several books.

Tom has been with Leadership Research Institute since its inception in 1981 and has served with a number of Fortune 500 companies including those in the professional services, pharmaceutical, consumable good, financial services, and pulp and paper industries in the areas of management development and valuing/managing workforce diversity.
 

Rob Fazio is a Principal with LRI who specializes in talent management and growth leadership in times of crisis and change, where he works with clients on talent management strategies, succession planning, executive assessment, coaching, competency models, leadership training and emotional intelligence.  Dr. Fazio works in a variety of industries including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, banking, retail, sport, public utilities and nonprofits.

 Prior to joining LRI, Rob worked at Hay Group as a member of their global Leadership and Talent Practice.  He has also served as a sport psychology consultant, where he participated in the development of the life skills portions of the NFL’s Coaching Academy and the PGA’s “1st Tee” programs. Rob is a keynote speaker and author in the areas of life skills development, sport psychology, and growth through loss, trauma and adversity.

Rob completed his B.A. in Psychology at Penn State and a M.Ed. in Athletic Counseling/Sport Psychology from Springfield College. He earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).  Rob has served on the Board of the Society of Consulting Psychology and currently is the Chair of Emerging Professionals.

Rob is the founder and President of a September 11th inspired nonprofit organization, Hold The Door For Others, www.holdthedoor.com. The organization’s mission is to empower people to grow through loss and adversity and achieve their dreams.

Catherine Flavin-McDonald is a Principal with LRI.  Her career is animated by a commitment to research that taps the “voice of the people” and links that voice to action.  Her work has taken the form of research and writing on employee and citizen participation, and coaching and consulting leverages such survey data, interview data, and 360-degree feedback results.  Catherine helps leaders at all levels understand and engage others’ perceptions, and respond in ways that drive meaningful improvements personally and organizationally.   Since joining the firm in 1999, Catherine has assisted multi-national and small clients alike in increasing leader effectiveness, enhancing employee engagement, and improving communication. Her primary clients have been in financial and credit services, private equity, investment banking, and healthcare. In addition, she maintains a strong consulting practice with not-for-profit organizations. 

Cathy received her M.A. in Political Science with distinction from the University of Connecticut, where she studied political theory and survey research methods at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. Her B.A. is in Government from Franklin & Marshall College.  

Paul Gaske is a Co-Founder and a Managing Director of LRI. Paul works at senior levels in his client organizations providing management and leadership development, strategic Human Resources planning, and systems for improving employee motivation and client retention.

Paul’s consulting work includes the design and delivery of comprehensive management development curricula, which are linked to corporate values, culture, and business strategy. He assists organizations with Human Resources strategic and tactical planning and with implementation. Paul is an experienced executive coach and is able to provide individual coaching and leadership development to senior executives in major multinational organizations. He also leads initiatives that help organizations improve employee motivation, leading to profit growth based on customer retention and satisfaction.

Paul consults at the board level for clients in many fields, including data services, healthcare, finance, and insurance. Paul’s career started with Communication Resources in 1976. In 1988 he joined Keilty, Goldsmith & Company (KGC) as a consultant, later becoming a Managing Director of KGC. He has held teaching posts at San Diego State University, the University of Oregon, and the University of Southern California. He has published more than fifteen articles and has presented more than thirty convention papers.

Paul holds an A.B. in Speech Arts and an M.A. in Speech Communication from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. in Speech Communication from the University of Southern California.

Jim Gaynor is an Associate with LRI.  His consulting work primarily focuses on the areas of organizational effectiveness and individual leadership improvement. His primary experience has been working with leaders facing large growth opportunities and assisting them in building the skills necessary to excel in their transitions or new positions.

Prior to joining the firm, Jim was a faculty member at the University of North Texas where he taught public speaking, persuasion, organizational and small group communication, as well as argumentation and critical thinking. Jim subsequently worked for over ten years as a business development specialist in the media, entertainment, government and education sectors. Jim’s work with a wide range of clients in the public and private sectors as well as his experience as both an internal executive and an external consultant, provide him with an inherent ability to understand the challenges leaders face internally while simultaneously providing the perspective of an outsider.

Jim holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Arts and Sciences from the University of Southern California, and a Masters Degree in Speech Communication from San Diego State University.

Dr. Jeff Graddy is an  Associate with Leadership Research Institute (LRI). He works at the individual, team, and organizational levels, with core competencies in executive coaching and leadership development. Jeff serves various industries, with a focus on healthcare and financial services. He also works with clients in government, media, technology, retail, business and professional services, private equity, and not-for-profit. Jeff uses a variety of approaches to achieve results, including: executive coaching, training programs, survey design and execution, team building techniques, and strategic talent planning. He also utilizes various measurement tools to aid client insights, such as personality testing, psychometric assessments, employee and customer surveys, and 360° feedback.

Jeff started his career in healthcare, serving both private and government sectors. He held clinical and policy roles that ranged in focus from improving mental health care to leading crisis response teams. Prior to joining LRI, Jeff was in private practice as a performance coach and sport psychology consultant. Jeff also lectured in the Psychology departments at several universities within the U.S., often focusing on the intersection of psychology and human performance.

Jeff holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Florida, where he specialized in performance psychology. He completed his doctoral internship at the University of San Diego. He is a member of the American Psychological Association’s Society of Consulting Psychology. He is also a qualified administrator of a range of psychological assessments (e.g., Hogan, MBTI©, EQ-i©, CPI, iDISC, and others) and is a certified trainer in Emotional Intelligence. Jeff sits on the Board of several non-profits, including The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and The Children’s Advocacy Center.

Theresa Hoffman is a Consulting Associate with LRI.  She provides organizational consulting and executive coaching with a primary focus on individual leadership improvement and performance measurement.  Theresa consults with executive clients and their teams to raise awareness via 360° feedback and a combination of personality and strengths assessment. She has strong interest in the implementation of feedback systems that allow for improved performance and the shaping of behavior to reach targeted goals.  Theresa also provides organizational consulting focused on aligning systems and resources with business priorities.  She has conducted research in the areas of goal setting, feedback and pay-for-performance systems.

Theresa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Drexel University and a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from West Chester University.  She is a member of the Organizational Behavior Management Network (OBM) and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Prior to consulting, Ms. Hoffman worked in sales and sales training for Fortune 100 companies in the medical device and technology sectors and spent 5 years as an executive search consultant, recruiting and assessing executive talent.  She is an adjunct professor of Psychology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Bob Kennedy is an Associate with LRI. Subsequent to joining LRI over 10 years ago, Bob’s work has primarily been in the area of organizational and leadership effectiveness. Bob takes great pride in helping business leaders achieve their individual, team, and organizational goals. His specialty is providing custom solutions to difficult problems, while demonstrating measurable increases in key areas, such as leader credibility, employee engagement, and customer loyalty.

Bob has served clients in the financial services, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries.  He received his  B.S. in Finance from Central Connecticut State University, where he worked as an accountant in the business services department.

Sacha Lindekens is a Principal with LRI, specializing in executive education and organizational development. Sacha employs a results oriented and data driven approach to enhancing executive and organizational effectiveness in three areas. First, he focuses extensively on executive education, assisting leaders to enhance their credibility via both executive coaching as well as leadership training programs. Second, Sacha has deep expertise in designing and administering pre-hire selection programs for leaders as well as sales people. Finally, he specializes in cultural assessment and change, which has enabled his clients to transform existing culture, facilitate their M&A efforts by assessing and integrating diverse cultures, as well as aiding organizations in hiring leaders who are good cultural fits or transformers.

Sacha has had the honor and pleasure of serving a wide variety of leaders, ranging from owners of mid-sized family businesses to senior executives within Fortune 50 companies. Moreover, he serves clients across a broad base of industries, including pharmaceutical, health care, professional service firms, manufacturing, banking/financial services, as well as professional sports organizations.  Prior to joining LRI, Sacha was a psychology professor at the University of Florida. Additionally, he worked as a psychotherapist for several years, and as a psychological consultant to an NFL team

Sacha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from SUNY Albany, a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Florida. He is a member of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Consulting Psychologists.

Leadership Research Institute Principal, Irene McPhail, brings to her consulting practice a unique blend of line and executive management experience. Serving for more than twenty years as an operations executive in the media and telecommunications industries, she held VP of Operations and General Manager positions with Cablevision Systems Corporation, NYNEX/Bell Atlantic, and a number of other established and emerging media / telecom companies. During her business career, Irene successfully led teams of as many as 2,000 employees and contractors; with responsibility for half-billion dollar budgets. In addition, Irene successfully operated her own operations and marketing consulting practice for several years, serving media, telecommunications, and service delivery clients.

Irene applies a wealth of practical experience in exceeding business results, managing and developing people, and facilitating individual and organizational change. Twelve years as a consultant has furnished her with a deep appreciation for the scholarly principles and best practices that impact individual and organizational effectiveness. Her approach to engagements is pragmatic and outcomes-oriented.

Areas of professional focus are executive coaching for senior executives; leadership acceleration of highest-potential emerging leaders; executive team dynamics consultation; organizational design and role clarification; change leadership; colleague engagement and loyalty; integrated human capital development; and competency modeling. She also has helped clients with succession planning; values identification; and client loyalty assessments. Irene supports a wide range of premier clients in professional services, financial services, healthcare, media/telecom, and emerging technology on a variety of individual, team, and organizational development initiatives. Beyond her work in the US, she has extensive experience in the Far East.

Irene earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Communication Arts from New York Institute of Technology; an Executive M.B.A. from University of Colorado – Denver; and is a qualified user of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Glyn Mitchell is a Consulting Associate with LRI. He has worked in personal and organizational development since 1992. Glyn serves a wide range of multi-national companies in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the USA. In a previous existence, Glyn practiced as a lawyer in the UK in both private practice and as a Crown Prosecutor.

Glyn provides executive coaching for managers in a number of different organizations. Representative areas of coaching focus include leadership effectiveness, communication skills, employee satisfaction, and employee retention. He has designed and delivered a range of team, leadership, and personal development programs that work with a variety of learning approaches, mixing theoretical content with discussion and experiential learning. Glyn serves clients in a variety of industries, including pharmaceutical, financial services, and chemical manufacturing.

Glyn has a degree in Economics from York University and qualified as a Solicitor in 1981. He holds a Certificate in Leadership Mentoring and Executive Coaching from Bangor University Business School, and is a qualified user of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the FIRO-B and is a practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic programming. Glyn serves on the Research and Ethics Community of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.

Howard Morgan is a Co-Founder and a Managing Director of LRI. He specializes in executive coaching as a strategic change management tool leading to improved customer/employee satisfaction and overall corporate performance. He has led the development of an internal coaching model for a large international organization and has done significant work coaching executives on the art of managing managers. He has worked with many executive committees of the world's largest organizations on improving corporate and executive performance.

As an executive coach, Howard has led major organizational change initiatives in partnership with top leaders and executives at numerous international organizations. He was named as one of the world’s “Top Fifty coaches,” recognized as one of five coaches with "a proven track record of success," and has published several books. His clients include global businesses in the financial services, manufacturing, management consulting, communication, media and high tech industries.

Howard's profound understanding of the demands of executive leadership come from seventeen years of experience as a line executive and executive vice president in industry and government. He has operated major businesses with full profit and loss responsibility; managed the people side of mergers and acquisitions; led international expansions and start-ups; and gained the respect of unions and corporations when negotiating agreements in volatile labor environments. He knows what it means to structure an organization, lead people and manage a business to achieve quarterly objectives. This practical background, along with an understanding of the politics of leadership and the competitive pressures of today's global marketplace, is embodied in the “roll-up-your-sleeves” coaching work he does with executives.

Howard holds an M.B.A. from Simon Fraser University and has completed advanced studies at the University of Michigan. He currently serves on three Boards of Directors, located in Europe and the U.S.

A Consulting Associate with LRI, Paula Mulford is a corporate educator in the areas of leadership, performance management, time management, personality assessment, and customer service. She also specializes in 360° feedback coaching. Paula often is invited to be a keynote speaker at conferences and conventions.

The hallmark of Paula's work is her ability to generate behavior change. This success is driven by her ability to make the content come alive for participants. Paula’s work focuses on specific, results-oriented techniques for improving the effectiveness of organizations and individuals, both on and off the job. Paula makes her programs relevant to the daily life and experiences of participants through her uniquely entertaining presentation style, coupled with years of business experience.

Paula has served an extremely diverse client base over the last two decades.  Sectors where she has done extensive work include: petrochemical, chemical, high tech, telecom, aerospace, banking, airline, retail, entertainment parks, food and beverage, and service.

Paula earned her B.A. in History from Westmont College with graduate certification in Education from San Diego State University. Before joining LRI, Paula had fifteen years of experience in sales and sales management.

Steve Rumery is a Principal with LRI and leads the Discovery Team, a global community of scientist practitioners in the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Through the Discovery Team, Steve works to enable positive growth in his clients by facilitating the discovery of insights into personal and organizational leadership.

Steve joined LRI in 1999, having previously worked as an independent consultant. Steve holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Connecticut and is a member of the Society of Industrial & Organizational Psychology (SIOP), the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the Academy of Management, and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).

 

Rich Silvestri is a Director with LRI. For over twenty-seven years he has worked with senior management and their organizations in the areas of leadership development and executive coaching;  executive development planning and succession planning;  organizational assessment, development and change;  team building;  and strategy development and implementation.  He has served clients in the financial services, consulting, computer/technology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, trade association, information services, retailing, energy, and manufacturing industries, and in higher education.  Prior to his work in consulting, Rich practiced law for several years in the fields of antitrust litigation and commercial law.

Rich received his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School.  His AB in Political Science and Economics is from the University of Notre Dame.  His professional development also includes special studies in organization development, individual and group development, leadership, systems thinking and process consultation.

Anthony Smith is a Co-Founder and a Managing Director of LRI.  He has been an active consultant for over twenty years in the areas of organizational change, executive development, and leadership training and design. He serves clients in the financial/banking sector, as well as the sports, entertainment, professional services, and manufacturing and production sectors. 

Anthony has served on the teaching and research faculties of several universities, including Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, the University of California, and the European School of Management at Oxford, UK. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in the Behavioral Sciences and earned his Doctorate from the School of Leadership and Educational Sciences at the University of San Diego. Following his Doctorate, Anthony was appointed as a Post-Doctoral Fellow of Social Anthropology at the University of California, where he studied Leadership and Organizational Culture. 

Anthony’s research on leadership has appeared in several publications, including the European Journal of Management, the Journal of Leadership Studies; and the best-selling books, The Leader of the Future and The Organization of the Future, both published by the Drucker Foundation.  He is also author of the critically acclaimed book entitled The Taboos of  Leadership:: The Ten Secrets That No One Will Tell You About Leaders and What They Really Think, (Jossey Bass, March 2007). Anthony’s mostrecent book, ESPN The Company  (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009), tells the fascinating story of how ESPN managed to sustain its growth, innovation, and brand in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving marketplace.  He serves on several boards, including the V Foundation for Cancer Research, named in honor of the famed basketball coach, Jimmy Valvano.

John Streitmatter is a Principal  with LRI.  John brings a diversity of line and staff experience as well as consulting expertise to the firm.  During the course of his professional career he has worked in organizations ranging in size from a sole practitioner to the Fortune 25. John’s consulting clients have seen results from his contributions to increasing the effectiveness of teams, growing and developing future leaders, clarifying strategic intent and direction, and driving significant cultural change in the midst of rapidly changing market conditions. 

Prior to joining LRI, John was SVP, Sales and Marketing for SunTrust Bank, Tampa Bay.  His team provided consulting services to the various lines of business within the region, including sales performance management, sales process and skill development, and strategy development.  John  joined SunTrust after founding the Trusted Advisor Group.  His firm specialized in providing strategic planning, change leadership and management, and team facilitation services.

The organizations led by John have consistently exceeded world-class associate satisfaction standards.  John graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Management with Distinction, and is a Harvard Business School Graduate, with his MBA concentration in Operations Strategy.

Cathy Swody is an Associate with LRI who specializes in analytics.  Cathy takes a data-driven approach to link leader behaviors to business performance and helps leaders to bring out the best performance in their employees.  As a coach, Cathy works one-one-one with clients to give them insight into their personal and organizational leadership effectiveness.  To help clients engage and retain their best people, she applies expertise in analyzing employee surveys, developing 360-degree performance assessments, coaching leaders, designing training, and validating pre-employment tests.

Prior to joining LRI, Cathy worked as an internal selection expert and research consultant for a Fortune 50 company.  She earned her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Connecticut.  As a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the Academy of Management, Cathy often presents at professional conferences on topics such as leader credibility, the transition of leaders into new roles, and work/life integration. 

 

Rob Tucker is a Consulting Associate with LRI.  He works as an executive coach and facilitator for organizations focused on science, technology and engineering.  In the past ten years, Rob’s work has taken him all over the world with more than eighty client organizations.  Prior to joining LRI, Rob’s background was in research, earning a Ph.D. in technical communication from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California.  His doctoral work examined best practices in “science translation,” – the communication of highly technical material to non-scientific audiences.  

During the last ten years with LRI, Rob has focused his work in two primary commercial sectors – Finance and Technology.  His work with financial organizations included coaching and facilitation for a number of global investment banks, holding banks, and other financial entities.  His work in the technology field includes coaching, content development, and facilitation for large-scale engineering and technical clients, including global hardware and software development organizations.  He has worked extensively in Asia, Europe and the emerging geographies (with coaching and facilitation in India, Brazil and Argentina). 

Steve Williams is a Principal with LRI. His areas of expertise include executive coaching, leadership development, performance measurement, communications, and organizational change. In all of his work, Steve demonstrates skill at analyzing and leveraging qualitative and quantitative data. He makes “bottom-line” observations and recommendations to challenge and support effective decision making, and to enhance leaders’ credibility.

Steve has extensive experience conducting executive interviews, delivering training, and providing individualized leadership coaching with sustained follow-up. He works collaboratively with leaders to understand developmental and business issues, identify effective strategies for change, and drive improvements in behavior and performance.  Steve has served clients in the consulting, financial services, healthcare, computer/information services, energy, trade association, manufacturing, and private equity industries. He maintains long-term relationships with his clients and has a demonstrated track record of helping to improve leadership effectiveness and employee loyalty in the organizations that he serves. Before joining LRI in 1993, Steve was the head of Human Resources for an electronics company with responsibility for executive compensation, benefits, employment, training, and compliance. This experience has helped him in consulting to business support group functions (particularly HR and Finance) as they work to achieve strategic partnerships with business leaders.

Steve holds a B.A. and M.A. in the Behavioral Sciences. His professional development also includes studies at the doctoral level in leadership at the University of San Diego.

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