Susan L. Robinson, SPHR - Senior Consultant

The Executive Edge

Role

Susan Robinson has over 25 years experience helping managers and individual contributors become better performers and achieve success. She specializes in analyzing human performance, assessing readiness and willingness to perform, coaching leaders, developing potential in others, being a catalyst for learning, and measuring performance.

Experience and Expertise

During her career, Susan has been responsible for leadership and team development for such companies as UMB Bank, American Management Association, H & R Block World Headquarters and various nonprofit and government agencies. In those roles, she:

  • designed and developed leadership curriculum
  • planned, organized and implemented large-scale leadership initiatives
  • developed organizational core and management competencies
  • developed and executed communication plans to create and maintain behavior change in the organization.

Follow-up survey results on these initiatives produced solid evidence of improved job performance in individuals and improved overall effectiveness in the client organization. Her knowledge and personal observations of what makes leaders successful have earned her repeat business and referrals from former clients and colleagues.

Susan is skilled and experienced in coaching all levels of management from front line managers to the Chief Executive Officer. Her passion and enthusiasm for helping others reach their potential makes each client engagement a positive and rewarding experience. As a facilitator and education specialist, Susan is one of only thirteen Master Trainers in Situational Leadership® in the United States. As a Master Trainer, she has certified over 100 facilitators in the Situational Leadership® methodology.

Her key skill sets and areas of specialty are:

  • Executive coaching
  • Leadership development
  • Analyzing situations, recognizing patterns, diagnosing problems, and prescribing solutions
  • Measuring performance improvement and return on investment
  • Skill gap analysis for individuals and organizations
  • Identifying the competencies needed for success

Susan's knowledge of leadership development comes from a strong educational background, years of practical experience, and from her own first-hand experience as a leader.

Client Quotes

  • “As my coach, Susan allowed me to discover and understand my personal leadership style. Her passion for people, her perseverance and her keen insights on how people think and behave were key skills which separated Susan from other executive coaches I have worked with.“ - Senior Vice President, H&R Block World Headquarters
  • “Susan is a professional in every sense of the word. She is thoughtful in her identification and scoping of the client's need; she is thorough in the customized design of the intervention or solution; and dedicated to the meaningful evaluation of the solution and services provided. She dedicates a high level of attention and energy to her work, from the smallest one-to-one coaching services to the largest-scale, cross-organizational intervention.” - Organizational Development Consultant, H&R Block World Headquarters
  • “Her greatest assets are her ability to take the lead in planning, communicating, organizing and then executing to achieve outstanding results. She not only gets things done, but maintains excellent relationships with the people with whom she works.” - Director, Management Professionals International
  • “Susan taught me so much about how to transfer my techniques to others. She is an excellent coach and leader.” - Training Manager, H&R Block World Headquarters
  • “Susan was incredibly well- respected in the “C suite” and this alone provided the momentum necessary to ensure her work and plans would be realized and supported and effective at every level. She coached the “C suite” to model what she was working towards in behavioral terms, and successfully so. She worked so hard and so very smart using her purpose- driven ethic that added a rich dimension to the engagement. Over time we afforded her more control over our intellectual property than we had with any other learning leader based on the complete trust we had in her.” - Account Executive, Center for Leadership Studies

Honors and Awards

  • Initiated and wrote a grant to receive funds for supervisory training from the Missouri Custom Training Programs agency. The $20,000 grant was awarded and United Missouri Bank became the first service organization in Missouri to receive the Missouri Custom Training Grant.
  • Author of a new hire orientation program called, Orientation Express, which was published by HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, MA in 2008.
  • Book review panel member for AMACOM Books. In that capacity, Susan evaluates and makes revision recommendations for new self-study books before they are published.
  • Serves as the Committee Secretary and HR consultant to the Staff/Parish Relations Board of Woods Chapel United Methodist Church, one of the largest churches in the Kansas City metro area.

Professional Certifications

  • The Executive Edge®: The Coaching AdvantEdge™
  • Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)
  • Certified Development Dimensions International (DDI) instructor
  • Certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instructor (MBTI)
  • Certified Situational Leadership® Master Trainer (Center for Leadership Studies)
  • Certified Targeted Selection® Administrator (DDI)
  • Certified Process Improvement Instructor (Forum Corp.)
  • Certificate in Information Mapping®
  • Certificate in Performance Consulting (Jim and Dana Gaines Robinson)
  • Certificates in Instructional Design (Langevin and Darryl Sink)
  • Leatherman Leadership Questionnaire Administration (LLQ)
  • Center for Creative Leadership: Benchmarks Executive 360 Assessment Tools® and Executive Dimensions
  • The Forte'® Institute: Forte'® Assessment Process

Education and Professional Associations

Susan holds a B.A. in Human Resource Management and a M.A. in Human Resource Development. She is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Association for Psychological Type (APT), the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and the International Society for Performance Instruction (ISPI).

More About Susan

Susan and her husband reside in the Kansas City, Missouri area and enjoy spending summers at their vacation home on the Lake of the Ozarks. She has two grown children and two grandchildren. Her hobbies are traveling, cooking, writing, reading, entertaining, and playing the flute in an adult ensemble and orchestra.

Learn More

For additional information about The Executive Edge®, please contact us at:
Phone: 1.630.404.2256
Email: info@theexecutiveedge.net
Web: http://www.theexecutiveedge.net/