About the Authors Philip B. Nelson, PhD Philip Nelson has been engaged as a management consultant in major corporations, fast-growth companies, and entrepreneurial ventures since 1974. His consulting expertise includes executive coaching and development, acquisition and mergers, organizational design and structure, program implementation, cultural assessment and change, executive selection, succession planning, family business transition, and board formation and development. His clients have included Fox Broadcasting Company, Foster Farms, Inc., J. P. Morgan, Millipore, Mattel, Inc., National Semiconductor, Hewlett-Packard, Clorox, General Electric, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, American… Broadcasting Company, Unisys, York International Corporation, the Urban Land Institute, the Wine Group, First Health, and Kysor/Warren. His publications include The Integrated Management Development System, IEP, 1992, The Position Suitability Profile System, IEP, 1993, In Search of Mediocrity, Woodside Press, 1986, The Stress Analysis System, IEP, 1993, Recognizing and Redirecting Stress (video and workbook), Knowledge Resources, 1988, The Management Effectiveness Survey, Interdatum, 1986 and Seven Secrets of Exceptional Leadership, Executive Books, 1997. Before forming IEP Consulting, he was a senior vice president and co-owner of Interdatum, Inc., an international employment database company, where he ran their corporate publishing and consulting group. Philip taught at the university level and served as a managing director of a day hospital/outpatient clinic complex. He was cofounder and codirector of the Vail Colorado Institute, a CME program where the focus was on current research and education in the areas of stress, human illness, change, and productivity. Dr. Nelson has served on the boards of Foster Farms, Pepco, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, and Syntrio. Michael Paxton Michael Paxton has a successful and extensive leadership background. His experiences include president of Pillsbury's baked goods division, CEO of Hauml;agen-Dazs, CEO of Sunbeam's health and safety division, chairman and CEO of O-Cedar Holdings, Inc., and he is currently chairman of Transport America, a for-hire truckload carrier. He has had the opportunity to lead both private and public companies. Mike has also had over twenty years of experience on public and private boards, including companies competing in the areas of medical devices, consumer package goods, pharmaceuticals, transportation, and communications. He is currently on the boards of Foster Farms, Inc., Transport America, Azteca Foods, Inc., Gemini, Inc., and XATA Corporation (Nasdaq: XATA). His excellent strategic skills have always been balanced with an understanding of the importance of day-to-day, hands-on attention to the business. Throughout his career, he has strived to build the best organizations and empower his employees to perform beyond their expectations. Kirk Nelson, MFA Teaching and mentoring have been a significant aspect of Kirk's career. Kirk taught at Loyola Marymount University from 2001ndash;2006 and was a teaching assistant at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000. Currently, Kirk is a creative consultant/mentor and the website administrator for the Woodward Consulting Group. He was a principle in graphic design at Schlosberg & Co on the Eli Broad Celebration book and worked as a graphic designer for Phaedrus Productions. Kirk continues to work in independent film production. He was the writer and director of the feature film Humanoid produced by David Schwimmer and Dark Harbor Stories, Inc. He is currently working as an independent film writer, producer, and director. As a fine artist, Kirk had a solo show at Kim Light Gallery entitled "Fade to Black." He has also shown with Perpetual Art Machine in Miami, Scope Art Fair in London, LA ART in New York, and the Hayworth Gallery in Los Angeles. Kirk Nelson earned his undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University and hi