My Personal Life
I came to the United States from England almost 40 years ago. I met my wife, Alexis in New Mexico, built a ‘green’ home in the Cerrillos Hills south of Santa Fe, and we gathered the family of our choosing around us. It was a life changer to leave the security of the familiar, but one that was to define my true and authentic self, because I could no longer pretend to be anyone other than who I truly am.
Living in the familiar can limit our growth and by choosing to risk, to take a chance, to trust my instincts, opportunities and possibilities opened in front of me. The question was whether I was courageous enough to embrace them.
All my life I had choices that I could make and many times I believed that I didn’t have a choice, which meant that I didn’t need to take ownership for the results in my life. But in reality I always had a choice.
I could choose how to surmount the pain of loss: The passing of family, the hurt of an abusive teacher, the sting of rejection or the lonely absence of friendship.
I could also choose how to celebrate the small victories: The ‘A’ in class, the diploma, the great job interview, the new found love or an undiscovered talent.
All of this has been my life and much, much more.
It is this journey, this constant learning, that is the foundation for the work that I do.
My Professional Life
All the events in my life have brought me to this point, and it is all exactly as it should be.
The first third of my life in England was spent exploring, trying to create the ‘what’ in order to discover the ‘why’.
It wasn’t until I came to the US and lived the second third of my life, that the two entwined.
For almost all of the second third of my life I have been designing, creating and delivering experiential learning programs to hundreds of people in diverse companies all over the world.(see client profile) My original mentor was Larry Wilson. For years this remarkable man created an experiential learning laboratory known as Pecos River Learning Center. It became the preeminent action learning organization in the country. It was there that I cut my teeth, learning the skills of immersive learning.
I branched out on my own, forming companies and alliances with other practitioners in the field in order to build learning organizations, such as One World Learning and AsOne inc.
During this period I helped both Simmons (see case study) and Interface become 2 of Fortune magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’. This entailed creating a cultural change program for all 7000 associates, working with all departments and associates from the shop floor to executive leadership level.
I designed and delivered environmental learning programs within Interface and executed a cultural change initiative that not only directly increase bottom line results but also accelerated the organization to the forefront of the green industrial revolution. Interface is still a leading force in that arena to this day.
International companies I worked with at this point have included: Philip Morris, British Airways, Ford, Baxter Healthcare, Kraft, and Perrier, to name a few.
After September 11th 2001 I realized, at the suggestion of my wife Alexis, that I could also create change within, arguably, the most powerful organization in the world: The United States Government.
For over eight years I had been a faculty speaker at both the Eastern and Western Federal Leadership training centers, working with leaders from diverse agencies within the public sector.
I have designed and delivered programs for multiple agencies focusing on innovation and creativity, change management, crisis management, legacy, team dynamics, communication, leadership skills and personal effectiveness. These include agencies such as TSA, NSA, CDC, FAA, DOE, FEMA, NNSA etc.
I also designed and delivered Change Management programs for NATO at the Hague.
I continue to work with teams and individuals in both the public and private sectors since both have their own unique challenges and both dramatically affect the world we all live in.
“That is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time.” – Libba Bray
I came to the United States from England almost 40 years ago. I met my wife, Alexis in New Mexico, built a ‘green’ home in the Cerrillos Hills south of Santa Fe, and we gathered the family of our choosing around us. It was a life changer to leave the security of the familiar, but one that was to define my true and authentic self, because I could no longer pretend to be anyone other than who I truly am.
Living in the familiar can limit our growth and by choosing to risk, to take a chance, to trust my instincts, opportunities and possibilities opened in front of me. The question was whether I was courageous enough to embrace them.
All my life I had choices that I could make and many times I believed that I didn’t have a choice, which meant that I didn’t need to take ownership for the results in my life. But in reality I always had a choice.
I could choose how to surmount the pain of loss: The passing of family, the hurt of an abusive teacher, the sting of rejection or the lonely absence of friendship.
I could also choose how to celebrate the small victories: The ‘A’ in class, the diploma, the great job interview, the new found love or an undiscovered talent.
All of this has been my life and much, much more.
It is this journey, this constant learning, that is the foundation for the work that I do.
My Professional Life
All the events in my life have brought me to this point, and it is all exactly as it should be.
The first third of my life in England was spent exploring, trying to create the ‘what’ in order to discover the ‘why’.
It wasn’t until I came to the US and lived the second third of my life, that the two entwined.
For almost all of the second third of my life I have been designing, creating and delivering experiential learning programs to hundreds of people in diverse companies all over the world.(see client profile) My original mentor was Larry Wilson. For years this remarkable man created an experiential learning laboratory known as Pecos River Learning Center. It became the preeminent action learning organization in the country. It was there that I cut my teeth, learning the skills of immersive learning.
I branched out on my own, forming companies and alliances with other practitioners in the field in order to build learning organizations, such as One World Learning and AsOne inc.
During this period I helped both Simmons (see case study) and Interface become 2 of Fortune magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’. This entailed creating a cultural change program for all 7000 associates, working with all departments and associates from the shop floor to executive leadership level.
I designed and delivered environmental learning programs within Interface and executed a cultural change initiative that not only directly increase bottom line results but also accelerated the organization to the forefront of the green industrial revolution. Interface is still a leading force in that arena to this day.
International companies I worked with at this point have included: Philip Morris, British Airways, Ford, Baxter Healthcare, Kraft, and Perrier, to name a few.
After September 11th 2001 I realized, at the suggestion of my wife Alexis, that I could also create change within, arguably, the most powerful organization in the world: The United States Government.
For over eight years I had been a faculty speaker at both the Eastern and Western Federal Leadership training centers, working with leaders from diverse agencies within the public sector.
I have designed and delivered programs for multiple agencies focusing on innovation and creativity, change management, crisis management, legacy, team dynamics, communication, leadership skills and personal effectiveness. These include agencies such as TSA, NSA, CDC, FAA, DOE, FEMA, NNSA etc.
I also designed and delivered Change Management programs for NATO at the Hague.
I continue to work with teams and individuals in both the public and private sectors since both have their own unique challenges and both dramatically affect the world we all live in.
“That is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time.” – Libba Bray
My Partners
Ascend Development Groups assists organizations in developing on-purpose cultures through individual growth and utilizing experiential technologies. Their mission is to develop and implement personal and organizational change by being the most, creative, safe and result-oriented experiential learning organization in the world. They are purpose-driven and lead by example in behaviors with their colleagues, clients and partners. They are both results and process-oriented, supporting excellent business results for their clients and partners. They have fun doing the serious work of creating ethical and effective individual and organizational change and inspirational leadership. They bring a unique and effective blend of skills to the important work of assisting clients in creating and implementing the cultural strategies that drives their business policies.
