I’ve been fortunate to have gathered a broad set of experiences from which I built my practice.  I served for 12 years in the Army, where I had the privilege of leading infantry units around the world.  It was there that I learned the value of treating people with respect and leading by example.  I made my transition into the leadership development world when the Army sent me for a graduate degree in Adult Development, and then gave me an opportunity to teach leadership psychology at West Point.

My love of teaching sent me to pursue further graduate education at Columbia University, where I grew a deep knowledge base to augment my prior experiences leading teams.  I was (and remain to this day) particularly interested in change leadership.  My doctoral research centered on learning about who has the potential to lead complex change and what factors help or hinder their success.  If you have nothing else to do, check out my dissertation Can Chameleons Lead Change? and give me a call – I’d love to talk about it!

I took that knowledge out to help leaders who struggled with the same challenges as me.  I traveled and worked in almost every industry and in over 30 countries around the world.  What I’ve learned through these experiences is that my content knowledge is helpful and my experience is important.  However, my curiosity, openness, and ability to learn – and to create the conditions for others to learn – have been the most important factors in my practice. 

My mentor and advisor, Dr. Warner Burke, once told me that a PhD is simply a license to learn; it is NOT a stamp of expertise.  And so it is with his wisdom and my own lived experience that I seek to fulfil my own leadership purpose:



Challenge myself and others to learn something new every day

When I am not working with my clients, I enjoy learning my way through raising two amazing daughters and supporting my best friend and wife through her own amazing career.  We spend as much time as possible in the outdoors, playing golf, running, hiking, skiing, and rustling our three dogs!