Leading the Way: An Introduction to Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders

NOTE: This event will be held in Columbia

Research consistently demonstrates exemplary leadership can be learned. Based on the best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations”, this workshop will introduce and focus on the five practices of exemplary leadership.

John Thomas

John Thomas has over 25 years of leadership experience in higher education, government administration, nonprofits and independent organizational consulting. He has led efforts in leadership coaching, design and delivery of development solutions, team building, employee engagement and human resource functions.

In addition to independent consulting, John currently serves as a consultant with the Organization Development team at WashU in St. Louis. In his previous role as Chief People Officer for a for a State government agency in Missouri, John was a member of the senior leadership team and used his strategic leadership role to improve employee motivation and decrease the time to fill vacancies. From 2018-2023, the agency decreased their time to fill from 92 to 35 days and employee motivation increased 28%.

John has worked with senior leaders in higher education, State government, large non-profit organizations, and athletic teams in relation to coaching, team building, motivation, leadership development and mergers. Additionally, he served on the State Workforce Development Board in Missouri and was an assistant football coach at Truman State University for 8 seasons.