Season 8 - Business lessons from Rock with John O'Leary - Episode 74

John O’Leary is the only management consultant who has studied New Testament Greek at the Yale Divinity School, lived with the Grateful Dead, and hosted a cable TV talk show. He has also been a band leader/musician who opened shows for two dozen Rock & Roll Hall of Fame acts and shared dressing rooms with the likes of Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Michael Bolton, Frank Zappa, and Muddy Waters. 

But for over three decades John has been primarily immersed in organizational consulting, team training, and executive coaching. He has conducted more than 500 seminars on leadership, public speaking, and coaching—and has trained trainers to lead similar seminars for over 50,000 participants. He has worked with over a thousand leaders and hundreds of teams in diverse industries of all sizes. 

John has also had the good fortune to work with renowned thought leaders in business including Peter Senge (The 5thDiscipline), Fernando Flores (On Computers and Cognition), Werner Erhard (founder of the est Training), and Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence). 

For years he was a featured blogger on www.TomPeters.com, an internationally popular business website, and maintains his own blog at www.BusinessLessonsFromRock.com which draws teambuilding lessons from rock & roll bands. HR Worldhas dubbed it “one of the top 100 management and leadership blogs.” 

Recent clients include: Anglo-American, Anthem/Wellpoint, Atrium Innovations, Cisco Systems, Commerce Bank, Deloitte & Touche, DHL, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Nestlé Health Science, Pfizer, Schindler, Teck Resources, and the US Army.

John currently resides in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. 

 Show Notes -

Websites: John O’Leary,

Books/Courses: Business Lessons from Rock, In Search of Excellence

John O’Leary

Season 7 - An Ontological Approach to Peak Performance with Pat Johnson- Episode 72

Pat Johnson started her professional career responsible for various aspects of learning programs within the Ministries of Health;   Community, Aboriginal, and Women Issues; Forests; and Advanced Education Training and Technology.  Pat was Director of Business Education and also Assistant Director of Learning & Development at BC Pension Corporation; and went to CRD as Manager, Workforce Development and Strategies. She has also trained with her own company internationally and within segments of the private sector.  Her credentials include certifications in change management and transitions; Fierce Conversations; MBTI; Emotional Intelligence; World Class Speaker Coach; as well as extensive experience with the fields of coaching, communication and leadership. 

She is currently an ontological trained life coach in her own company, Pat Johnson & Associates, where she coaches individuals from various walks of life who aspire to achieve more in their life.  She also works for Accomplishment Coaching out of San Diego as a Mentor Coach, working with coaches who are currently enrolled in the training program.                   

In 2010/11, she served Toastmasters International, the fastest growing not-for-profit educational organization in the world, as their International President and Chairman of the Board – the only Canadian woman President in the organization’s 93 year history.  As President, Pat oversaw some 300,000 active members from 116 countries and earned her reputation for inclusive, fair and honest leadership at the global level.  She has a unique understanding of global leadership and experience standing on the world stage unafraid.

A truly International leader and speaker, Pat has spoken in Australia, Caribbean, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Mainland China, Malaysia, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and across the United States and Canada as both a keynote speaker and an educator. She continues to mentor a number of leaders worldwide. She has recently completed a 3.5 year term as Manager of 250 international consultants who advised on the development of new curriculum for an international educational organization; served on a number of advisory committees and chaired an international convention held in Vancouver during August 2017 where the global community came together.  She co-chaired the inaugural post-convention Alaska Cruise from Vancouver to Hubbard Glacier.   Pat recently published her first book entitled, “A Handbook for Building and Sustaining Vibrant Toastmasters Programs in Corporations” and was a keynote presenter at the International Convention in Chicago in August 2018.

Within her local community, Pat has served as a Board Member with the Victoria Women’s Transition House Society and as a mentor for Leadership Victoria for five years.  She served on an Advisory Board at UVic for Adult Education programs for several years and coached the Commonwealth Games Speakers’ Bureau. She is a past member of the Saanich Rotary Club where she was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow, is a current member of Toastmasters International and also curls out of the Victoria Curling Club.

Show Notes:

Websites: Pat Johnson, LinkedIn, Accomplishment Coaching , The Canadian Tenors

Book Recommendations: Deepak Chopra, Stephen Covey, Gregory Boyle, Susan Scott

Pat Johnson

Season 7 - Service and Servant Leadership with Gary Schmidt - Episode 66

Gary Schmidt is the Director of Public and Government Affairs for Clackamas County, Oregon.  He previously worked for Oregon United States Senators Mark Hatfield and Gordon Smith, as a Field Representative, speechwriter and constituent services coordinator.  Gary has been a Toastmaster for 23 years and served as the International President of Toastmasters International in 2009-2010.

Show Notes:

Toastmasters International

Gary Schmidt - LinkedIn Profile

Gary Schmidt

Season 6 - First Impressions and People Packaging with Sylvie Di Giusto - Episode 61

“People Packaging is what I do" says Sylvie di Giusto who helps individuals and organizations to explore how people make up their minds very quickly about them, their leadership potential, or their company, and either open the door or slam it shut. Twenty years of corporate experience and her ability to empower people to influence the success of own career has led to her launching Executive Image Consulting, based in New York City. It’s where she uses her extensive corporate expertise as a keynote speaker, corporate trainer and image consultant for professionals, politicians, and companies who place great importance on themselves. Sylvie speaks to audiences around the world about the importance of “First Impressions… and everything beyond”. She is the Author of “The Image of Leadership,” the Co-Owner of the “Studio for Image Professionals” and the Creator of “How You Impress.”

Show Notes:

Executive Image Consulting, How You Impress Course

Sylvie di Giusto