About John E. Smith …

 MY MISSION:  To help people successfully navigate mid-late career transformation through positive and strength-based coaching, consultation, and facilitation.

I help people choose intentional, strategic, and social  interventions to work for others or themselves in paid and volunteer activities.  My skills include facilitation, coaching, training, and communication.  

To stay ahead of the learning curve, I speak and write about servant leadership and followership, transformational learning, emotional intelligence, ethical decision-making, mindfulness, positive aging, and effective social media use strategies.

CREDIBILITY:

With a varied background and experience as a leader and manager in corporate, non-profit, educational, and healthcare environments, I am well-positioned to use my knowledge and perceptive abilities to help others succeed.  

I am a Board Certified Coach (BCC), Group Certified Coach (GCC), and National Certified Counselor (NCC).  In addition, I also have Go Deep With DiSC® and Conflict Dynamics Profile® (CDP) user certifications, along with Social Media Marketing certification (Hootsuite), 

EDUCATION:

Described more than once as a “learning machine”, I engage in regular and ongoing education in learning and leadership, including an undergraduate teaching degree, master’s degrees in both Counseling and Leadership/Management, along with doctoral-level studies in Adult Learning and Human Resource Development.

TOOLS:

To support a positive and strengths-based approach to helping others, I use several assessment tools.

In partnership with Develop People, I use a selection of online assessments centered around the DiSC behavioral preference model to create personalized educational experiences for both individuals and groups to facilitate learning about themselves, about each other, and how to work together more effectively.   My learning environments are focused, enjoyable, and interactive.

I also use StrengthsFinder 2.0, the Conflict Dynamics Profile, and various other assessment tools as part of my coaching process.

In addition to my primary blog The Strategic Learner, I am also active on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Tumbler, along with other social media sites.  Please connect with me in whatever ways are useful to you.

COLLABORATION:  

As the principal of the Strategic Learning Group LLC, I use my experiences and education to provide positive and strengths-based coaching, training, and consulting to individuals and groups.

To live out my philosophy of aligning with others who bring significant value to the practice of leadership development, I also affiliate with several organizations:

Weaving Influence is a high-energy organization devoted to helping spread the word about worthwhile and engaging leadership and personal development authors with well-written and useful ideas to share.  As one of their “Buzz Builders“,  I do my part through book reviews and amplification using various social media tools.

People Development Magazine, where I author articles and book reviews on varied topics in leadership and personal development.

The Lead Change Group on LinkedIn, where I am an “Instigator” (possibly my favorite job title of all time), providing a monthly blog post and other contributions to one of the most dynamic online groups devoted to more effective leadership. 

Lead With Giants is another leadership and personal development online community to which I contribute through blogposts, networking, and participation in Tweetchats and Blabs.