Client Interviews

Deborah Rothermel, Ideaworks

Success as a team is usually not instantaneous. It is a skill that needs to be developed over time. A big part of organizational development is giving teams and leaders the right tools and training for the job – and that includes learning how to work together. Debora Rothermel is the founder of ideaWorks Inc., a leadership consulting company based in Calgary and a OneSmartWorld Certified Master Trainer. I sat down with Ms. Rothermel to find out more about how she is helping to develop teams and leadership at some of the leading companies in Canada.  Read More.

Donna Laitre, West Jet

The most successful and profitable airlines are not only those that provide consistently high quality service, but that have also been able to weather the storm of economic uncertainty, rising operating costs, and fluctuations in demand by being flexible and learning lessons where they’re found. Canadian airline WestJet has persevered and is growing all the time. This is thanks in part to the ability of its people to learn, adapt, and constantly improve themselves and their company. Donna Laitre is WestJet’s Manager for Leadership and Development and it’s her job to help the company’s leaders lead. I sat down with Donna to find out how OneSmartWorld is helping WestJet develop great leaders, strong teams, and thrive in an ever-changing world. Read More.

Hanne Nielsen, Simcoe County District School Board

Finding ways to help more students graduate, with a greater breadth of skills has been a goal of school boards and educational institutions across North America for years. Recent work on the subject has pointed to the school system itself as one of the reasons that students drop-out. The reason students fail is because the school system is failing them. This is a challenge that Hanne Nielsen, Principal of Adult and Continuing Education at the Simcoe County District School Board took on three years ago. Her team of teachers at six learning centres, works with adult students aged 18-65 and uses SmartSkills, OneSmartWorld’s set of resources and programs developed for education. I sat down with Ms. Nielsen to learn more about how the Simcoe County District School Board is using OneSmartWorld to help students succeed. Read More.

Greg Higgins, Texas Education Agency

A desire to develop high quality institutions and to make genuine change for the better is what moves the innovative leaders of the Texas Education Agency in particular. The CATALYST Project is an educational initiative of the Texas Education Agency in association with the American Productivity and Quality Centre and has set its sights on no-less than transforming the educational environment in Texas – one school principal at a time. I sat down with CATALYST’s Director Greg Higgins, and Grant Innovation and Performance Manager Judith Cardenas to talk about how CATALYST is using OneSmartWorld as a platform for innovation and change. Read More.

Bob Wiebe, Enliven! Consulting

Whether it’s in business, the not-for-profit, or educational sector, sharing ideas and making decisions as a team can present challenges for participants no matter how good-willed they are. Many organizations’ leadership have discovered that the key to working better together is knowing more about oneself. Bob Wiebe is the President of Enliven! Consulting and a licensed independent associate with OneSmartWorld. Recently he worked with the Winnipeg chapter of Youth for Christ helping their leadership team learn more about their thinking styles and how they can use this to grow their organization. I sat down with Mr. Wiebe to find out how he is using OneSmartWorld to help a variety of not-for-profit organizations function better and achieve their goals.Read More.

Ian Kalina, Boys and Girls Club

The leadership staff at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Vancouver Island are building something new. Something big. Something great. Yet at the same time they are mostly just trying to build something that works. Serving around 700 kids and youth a year, the Boys and Girls Club of Central Vancouver Island offers a range of recreational and educational services to young people and their families – no small task for an organization that is at the same time working to build themselves around a new way of thinking and helping kids. Working with OneSmartWorld, The Club’s Executive Director Ian Kalina, the senior management team, and the Club’s board of directors have begun using the 4D-i and the Smarter Meetings system to improve their leadership, get more done, and save time. I sat down with the Club’s Executive Director Ian Kalina to find out more about his vision for the organization. Read More.

David Church, Wildwood Consulting

David Church works in a setting that is about as far from an executive board room as you could imagine. Mr. Church’s works brings him to some of Manitoba’s toughest jails where he helps inmates develop practical strategies for taking control of their lives. Working with the John Howard Society, a not-for-profit community and social justice organization dedicated to helping individuals at various stages of incarceration, David Church teaches inmates about how self-awareness and effective thinking can help them break the cycle and stay out of jail. I sat down with Mr. Church to find out more about his work, and how he is using OneSmartWorld’s tools to help inmates think their way to a better future. Read More.

Flying Smarter Workshop, 2010 CSTD Annual Conference

On November 18th, 2010 the CSTD hosted Flying Smarter, a 90-minute workshop with participants and attendees of the 2010 Canadian Society of Training and Development Annual Conference and Trade Show. The workshop introduced the results of the CSTD Investing in People case study at WestJet, that used the OneSmartWorld Smarter Meetings system to achieve a 558% ROI – the highest return on investment recorded in the 3 year study. At the outset participants were directed to list the things about meetings that they find challenging in order to establish a context for the discussion that would follow. A wide variety of points were highlighted and the activity illuminated some of the challenges and frustrations the participants shared regarding meetings. Read More.

Jen Holden, North Island College

The challenge that many colleges face is not a deficit of good ideas, or even enthusiasm, but the absence of a clear strategy for translating those ideas in to real action. Like many organizations in the educational sector and beyond, colleges suffer when their people’s intelligence and creativity isn’t channeled effectively or constructively. More and more businesses are seeing that in order to stand out from the pack it is necessary for 21st century companies to harness the full potential of their human intelligence capital. Many colleges are also doing the same and are realizing that they too must maintain a competitive edge by allowing their talent to flourish. Recently, I sat down with Jennifer Holden to find out how she and her team are using OneSmartWorld to work smarter and make things happen at North Island College.Read More.

Gary Young, Gary Young & Associates

Mr. Gary Young, of Gary Young Associates, is particularly familiar with the behind-the-scenes work that happens at big and small organizations alike. Mr. Young is the Retired Director of the North Vancouver Recreation Commission, was one of the chief architects of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid, and later the Director of the Richmond Olympic Business Office. Mr. Young is a certified independent associate with OneSmartWorld and provides training and consultation for clients in the Pacific North West. I sat down with Mr. Young to find out how his work with governments and municipalities has been helping these organizations to run better, faster, and smarter.Read More.

Peter Norman, SMARTwest & Associates

The twenty-first century has brought a huge demand for change within organizations – both public and private alike. Leaders are realizing the vital importance of equipping their teams with the skills necessary to rise to the challenges and competition of the post-millennial era. For many organizations, the key to success has been cultivating and capitalizing on the intelligent potential of their people. As a licensed independent associate with SMARTwest & Associates, Peter Norman works with governments, businesses, and not-for-profits to help employees think and work smarter. I sat down with Mr. Norman to talk about how he uses OneSmartWorld to help people and organizations succeed amongst the postmodern madness. Read More.