Gordon Curphy, Ph.d.

Gordy Curphy helps C-suite, business unit, and functional leaders develop business strategies; implement major change initiatives; hire, develop, and promote leadership talent; and build high performing teams.

Taking a science-practitioner approach to leadership, Gordy has spent the past 30 years researching, teaching, practicing, and providing consulting advice on leadership. He has written 19 books on leadership and teams and is the co-author of Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (8th Ed.). To date, over 450 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, and China have adopted this number one selling textbook. In 2012 he published The Rocket Model: Practical Advice for Building High Performing Teams, a book intended to help leaders transform direct reports into cohesive, goal-oriented teams.

As a practitioner, Gordy has held numerous leadership positions in the United States Air Force, United States Air Force Academy, Center for Creative Leadership, Blandin Foundation, and Korn/Ferry International. In addition to running his own business since 2002, Gordy has led start-ups, turn-arounds, major organizational change initiatives, and rapid growth companies. As a consultant, he has done over 1,000 executive assessments, worked with over 200 teams, and designed and delivered hundreds of executive coaching and leadership development programs to global clients.


Dianne Nilsen, Ph.D.

Dianne is passionate about helping her clients achieve business objectives through stronger leadership talent and aligned organizational cultures. Her Ph.D. in psychology is grounded by her first-hand experience leading businesses through significant change, including organizational restructuring, strategic outsourcing, large-scale technology implementations, divestitures, and new product introductions.

Over the course of her career, Dianne has been recognized for being innovative, practical, and results-driven.

Dianne received two awards for innovation; she led the research behind four commercially published assessments, including the Center for Creative Leadership’s Benchmarks for Executives, a 360 feedback tool specifically designed for executive leaders.

While she believes in the value of creative ideas, she also knows that they go nowhere without execution. Unlike many Ph.Ds., Dianne has a strong operational orientation and experience managing a P&L. She received three awards for business process improvement and has a track record of improving efficiency, quality, and profitability.

Dianne is also a client-focused consultant, who was recognized as the Distinguished Consultant of the Year at an international leadership consulting firm for her work designing integrated talent management systems.