Barbara Thomason is proud to own LeaderShift LLC ©, a training & consulting firm serving organizations navigating important changes.Barbara holds a BA in Psychology with Honors from The University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Management specializing in human resource development from Houston Baptist University. She wears an alphabet soup of certifications including the CCE, Certified Chamber Executive, the IOM, from the US Chamber of Commerce and the PCED, the Professional in Community and Economic Development from the Community Development Institute.In 2016, she became certified in the Everything DiSC© programs and in Patrick Lencioni’s Leadership programs, enabling her to administer assessments, coach and train in these valuable formats. She has delivered programs to Chambers of Commerce, to builder association CEOs with the Texas Association of Builders, and to churches.She previously served as the dean of corporate and continuing education with Lone Star College developing customized programs for business and industry. Prior to joining the college, she owned her own franchise business, Gymboree, and worked in training and development for the American General companies. In 2015, Barbara was named as a Woman of Excellence by the Women’s Business Forum and in early 2016, she was honored as the 2016 Distinguished Volunteer by Leadership North Houston. In 2019, she was honored as the John Pickelman Fellow and she is noted in the U.S Congressional Record. Her passion is leadership development and mentoring others to stretch themselves.
One of the most difficult challenges in all teams, but in one in particular, was obtaining real commitment and accountability for outcomes. Members of this team were slick, sliding out the door before they could be counted among the do-ers. The Five Behaviors of an Effective Team ™ put a mirror before this group and enabled them to see how their behavior hurt the entire group and the organization's productivity. I can't say all is well, because bad habits are hard to break, but they at least have a common language with which to use to let each other know when to shape up!
The non-profit Board is a unique animal in that it does not function like an intact team and after a year or two, its composition changes. But its work is no less important. It is critical that this group be coaxed into a harmonious working team quickly and then moved into the strategic planning mode. Our solution is called StrategyShift ©. This process defines the process and then through clearly defined exercises, guides the group to plan their Strategic Priorities, Goals, Timelines and Accountabilities for the coming period. We have implemented this successfully in several settings with positive results!