It is with great privilege that I write to you in recommendation of John Casey of Shamrock Consultants as a Leadership Coach. John worked as my professional trainer / coach for most of 2008. John was instrumental in helping me develop leadership skills which I have been to use to improve my department’s effectiveness.
Right from the beginning of his training plan, John was very motivational in making me believe in myself. He set the bar high for the level of leadership he felt that I could achieve. Throughout the training, John, was able to accurately assess my strengths and weaknesses so that we could focus our efforts to overcome the areas of leadership that were most deficient.
John was very innovative in his approach. He began by taking the time to learn and understand my role in the organization. This was followed by new, “tailor made” ideas for improvement that were specific to my role. When a certain approach didn’t work well, John was able to quickly come up with new ideas to have me try out.
Under John’s tutelage, I was able to accomplishment many of my objectives to become a stronger leader. He taught me how to delegate more effectively and in a way that was profitable to our business. He helped me improve on my communication skills by instructing me in empathetic listening and by developing within me a proactive, clear and direct communication style. He helped me a great deal to focus on a few key leadership principles, then reinforced them with examples from my day to day doings and held me accountable to these principles and to my commitment to improve. His focus and constant follow-up on helping me develop these principles was instrumental to the successful achievement of my goals. John also helped me to better understand my role within the organization, to prioritize my objectives and to execute around these priorities.
Examples of John’s strong attributes include his vast knowledge of production facilities and supply chain workings, the knowledge and experience to give invaluable advice about leadership, a high level of integrity, commitment and courage to hold you accountable to meeting your goals and your commitment to change and his ability to understand and appreciate the nuances within a facility in order to offer insights into better productivity, people and work related processes. In addition, John was always willing to spend time with me hashing out difficulties in my performance and giving me the proper guidance and direction that helped me to grow as a leader.
In conclusion, I highly recommend John Casey as a Leadership Coach / Trainer. He is a person of absolute integrity. You will not be disappointed in his personal drive, dedication and commitment to achieve your desired results for improved and solid leadership in your organization.
Sincerely,
Michael Joseph Alfano
Michael Joseph Alfano Director – Industrial Quality Franklin Manufacturing L’Oreal USA (732) 873-3571
I highly recommend the Shamrock Effective Leadership Process for any leader looking to truly develop and improve their group’s leadership capabilities and culture. We were looking to be more effective and efficient as a group in handling significant change. Shamrock provided much more than I originally expected. Their training and approach was significantly different from any leadership training and development previously provided to Kraft Foods. Throughout the process, seminars and conversations, Shamrock consistently remained objective in their assessment of capabilities and in several instances opened our eyes to previously unrecognized or unrealized areas of opportunity. Shamrock is very candid and yet still constructive in their feedback, and were able to provide actionable direction that I feel, truly changed the behavior of our managers. The direct feedback from the front line planners was that they feel more empowered and confident now to step out onto a weak limb and take risks and make decisions “like an owner”. Together, we created a leadership group capable of delivering much better results.
- Michael Cole Sr. Director Transportation Kraft Foods
•“The coaching I received from John was incredibly valuable. It provided a simple, easily understood process to shift my thinking on key issues and change how I approach project discussions and business decisions.” Scott Hemink, Director R&D- General Mills
"…year-end performance reviews are coming up in a couple months and I’m really looking forward to going over how the Shamrock program helped me advance myself as an employee at Kraft and become a better person in life. I find the leadership training transferring out of work in multiple situations. I’d like to say thanks again for the tutelage during your program with Kraft." - Dave
"….. at first I thought you were trying to change me and I was fighting this process a little. But, then, I started to try some of the tactics that we discussed (asking for feedback, asking why and sending out a survey) and I saw real results. My team has become more empowered, although, we still do have a way to go. Thank you for getting me started. "
“John Casey of Shamrock Consultants has provided invaluable advice about leadership. He performed an accurate and objective assessment of my capability, respectfully challenging my perspective, and provided candid feedback that has been critical to my personal development.” Kristen Daihes, Director, Wrigley
“John’s ability to build a personal link with leaders, coupled with his ability to understand an organization’s ethos sets him up well to deliver and to understand key changes needed in organizations.”
"Thank you John. I also wanted to say, but didn’t get a chance to yesterday, that Mike __(VP) stopped me in the hallway last week and thanked me for my recent hard work and development in my role. It was truly great to be recognized by senior management for a job well done, and I can honestly attribute a lot of my recent success to the Shamrock Leadership training. I had the tools to succeed, but the training gave me the knowledge to recognize situations and how to effectively use those tools to better myself. Thanks again for all you have done for me,"
