Instructors Who Help Develop Our Organizational Strategies

We’re Proud to Partner With These Distinguished Instructors
to Develop Our Organizational Strategies & Methods

 

Marshall Goldsmith:

A million-selling author or editor of 31 books, including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There- a WSJ #1 business book and winner of the Harold Longman Award for Business Book of the Year, Goldsmith is recognized as one of the fifteen most influential business thinkers in the world in the global bi-annual study sponsored by The (London) Times and Forbes. The Wall Street Journal recognized him as a top ten executive educators and Forbes recognized him as one of the five most-respected executive coaches. He teaches executive education at Dartmouth’s Tuck School and received his Ph.D. from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management where (in 2010) he was recognized as one of 100 distinguished graduates in the 75-year history of the School

 

Colonel Arthur J. Athens, USMCR (Ret.):

Currently the Director of the U.S. Naval Academy’s Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, Colonel Arthur Athens works to advance and enhance the moral development of the nation’s Naval Service leaders and is a member of the Academy’s Senior Leadership Team. He has served as a White House Fellow under President Ronald Regan, as Special Assistant to the NASA Administrator following the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, in the U.S. Space Command, instructed at the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1, and was the Naval Academy’s first Distinguished Military Professor of Leadership. Colonel Athens earned a bachelor’s degree in Operations Research from Naval Academy and master’s degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School and the Army’s School of Advance Military Studies.

 

Michael J. Hewitt, Ph.D.:

The Research Director for Exercise Science at Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona for 20 years, he has written over 15,000 individual exercise prescriptions, and lectures on that topic at the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona. Dr. Hewitt has a chapter on prescribing that has been published in all three editions of the clinical textbook Integrative Medicine and has been a frequent keynote speaker for Speaking of Women’s Health, Young Presidents’ Organization, Chief Executives Organization, the International Longevity Center, and the Association of Black Women Physicians. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Minnesota and his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Arizona with an emphasis in Body Composition and Aging. As a speaker, Dr. Hewitt has shared the stage with diverse speakers like Dr. Michael Roizen, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin and his Holiness the Dalai Lama.

 

Joe Calloway:

A performance expert who helps people and companies think competitively, improve constantly and act decisively, Calloway is the author of four ground breaking business books including the best-selling Becoming a Category of One. A partner in Engage Consulting Group and a partner in BizVideos.com, a company that produces short business videos for use in meetings and corporate events, he has been inducted into the International Speakers Hall of Fame.

 

Joe Scarlett:

Scarlett is the retired Chairman of Tractor Supply Company and Founder of the Scarlett Leadership Institute in Nashville. He served in leadership roles at Tractor Supply Company from 1979 until his retirement at the end of 2007. He led the company’s return to profitability through improved customer service and focused product selection as part of a classic leveraged buyout in 1982. He led the successful 1994 effort to take the company public and during his ten plus years as CEO, the company’s revenues quadrupled and the price if its stock increased ten-fold. Scarlett served 20 years on the board of the nation’s largest retail trade organization including four years as its chairman.

 

Lynne Maynor:

Currently the Director of Leadership & Training for Gaylord Opryland where she leads a team that inspires, encourages and trains the STARS best practices team and a leading orientation for over 3,500 employees, Maynor has been described as the “architect” of the Gaylord culture because she has led teams that were instrumental in developing company values and service basics at Gaylord Opryland, Gaylord Palms, Gaylord Texan and Gaylord National. She joined Gaylord Entertainment Company in January 1986 as part of their Quality Assurance department, since then she’s served in Organization Development, Leadership Development and as the interim director of Gaylord University.

 

Margaret Morford:

Cited in publications and news outlets like The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CBS, and The New York Times, Morford is the CEO for The HR Edge, Inc. an international management consulting and training company. She has worked as an attorney specializing in employment law, has been VP of HR for three large companies and is the author of the business books, “Management Courage – Having the Heart of a Lion” and “The Hidden Language of Business – Workplace Politics, Power & Influence.” Her clients include Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Time Warner, US Secret Service, Sara Lee Foods, Home and Garden Television, Roche and Nationwide Insurance, New York Presbyterian Hospital (Cornell & Colombia Medical Centers), Domino’s, Deloitte, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Tractor Supply Company, Fifth Third Bank, and many more. Morford earned undergraduate degrees from the University of Alabama and a Juris Doctorate from the Vanderbilt University School of Law.

 

Dr. Marilyn Young:

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Dr. Young is an experienced Tax Accountant and has worked for Deloitte & Touche, and Fraiser, Dean and Howard and as a Tax Specialist in Corporate Finance at Empire Berol Corporation. She has been published in professional journals including the International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration, Tennessee CPA, Economics and Politics, and Journal of S Corporation Taxation, and she has reviewed text books for McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Young holds a degree in accounting, a master of Tax Accounting from the University of Alabama, and a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Mississippi.

 

Mary Fink:

Currently the VP of Solutions for Work Institute, her expertise includes Team Building, Communication, The Change Cycle, Conflict Management, Continuous Process Improvement and Leadership. Fink is a certified trainer of the Implications Wheel and The Strategy Matrix, strategic exploration tools developed by process futurist, Joel Barker. VP for Operations at Williamson Medical Center for thirteen years, she earned an undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Hospital Administration from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.

 

Mimi Bliss:

The founder of Bliss Communications, she prepares clients to speak with confidence and credibility when the stakes are high: a media interview, corporate crisis, business presentation or speech. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and provides media and presentation training for organizations nationwide, including Fortune 50 companies and organizations in a range of industries. She has more than two decades of journalism and public relations experience, including time as on-camera reporter for ABC and NBC television affiliates and as a freelance field producer for the Today Show and NBC Nightly News. She has a degree in Public Policy from Duke University.

 

Lisa Bouchard:

Bouchard is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst who brings over 15 years of experience applying DISC tools to the business world. A member of the Data Dome team, she spent 13 years in sales management giving her a focus on real-world results that is uncommon in the training arena. Bouchard is a founding board member of Journeys of Solutions, a nonprofit that focuses on infrastructure improvements, health care and educational needs in third world countries.

 

Kim Vance:

Vance is a shareholder in the Labor and Employment Group at Baker Donelson’s Nashville office. Her practice focuses on: defending companies in employment litigation, presenting in-house management training programs to reduce employment related legal risks for companies across the nation, counseling management clients through auditing human resources policies and practices to reduce legal risks, and developing pre-litigation strategies to improve available defenses in preparation for litigation. She served as General Counsel for Tractor Supply and co-authored The Americans With Disabilities Act- A Management Guide and the article “Think Management Training is Optional? Think again.” Listed in Best Lawyers in America for Labor and Employment Law for 2002 and 2003, she received her BA from the University of Central Arkansas and her J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law School.

 

Michael W. Gardner:

Prior to starting Gardner Consulting, Michael spent most of his career negotiating provider contracts supporting network development and negotiating payer / insurance contracts for physician groups and hospital systems. Most recently he spent his time helping large health systems across the nation negotiate Value Based Contracts that support transforming the nation’s health care system. Michael is a Rule 31 Listed General Civil Mediator for the state of Tennessee, an approved General Civil Mediator for the state of Kentucky and was trained in the Harvard Program on Negotiation method, “Getting to Yes” at Belmont University. He received a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from Western Kentucky University and an MBA, with a concentration in Business Negotiation and Mediation, from Belmont University. Michael is currently a doctoral student at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College studying Leadership and Learning in Organizations.