Home: West coast of Florida, near St. Petersburg. Age: Depends on the perspective (physically, emotionally, spiritually). Profession: Global business and educational consultant. Organization/Title: Transcontinental University, Chair, Strategy and Systems Thinking; Grisham Consulting, President. Alma mater: Vanderbilt; Duke; RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology). Languages spoken: English.
Current project: Helping organizational leaders with a more systemic approach to executive development. Teaching leaders how to inspire their people so they can retain and attract talent. Recent recognition: My wife likes my cooking. Recent professional development: American Arbitration Association yearly training. Latest accomplishment: Figured out Final Cut Pro. Latest contribution to others: Advice to neighbors. What’s been your big (or biggest) leap? Suspending travel for Covid. Hobbies: Hiking, rock climbing, biking; music, reading, cooking. Recent travel or adventure: 84 countries. Covid has curtailed travel for now. Last book read: Sapiens: A Graphical History, by Yuval Noah Harari. Recently viewed and recommended: Dune. Recent unique acquisition: Korean cookbook.
Personality profile: Curious, compassionate; a leader. What one word would your closest friend use to describe you? Explorer. Moral compass: Equity, fairness, respect. How do you define a perfect friendship? Inhabiting two hearts at once. How do you define an ideal business relationship? Mutual respect, transparency, compassion. What is your greatest joy? Seeing inspiration and happiness in others.
What is your go-to source of news and information? My team brings me the relevant news and information since I choose not to consume any news in the media due to the lack of balance and negative focus. What is your go-to source of creative inspiration? Early morning is my greatest creative inspiration, letting my unconscious do the creative work on something I am passionate about.
What is your big idea?
A world without boundaries where diversity is prized, change welcomed and people are happy.
What change are you working on to effect in your profession or field? Education through corporate learning and University, including multiple forms of communicating ideas such as podcasts, videos and books. What change would you like to see in the world? People seeing themselves as global citizens acting locally. Recognizing our similarities and celebrating our differences. What message do you want to send out into the world? Education will help each of us to be happy. What widely held belief(s) do you reject? Working hard gets you ahead; Golden rule of respect; think outside the box; open door policy.
What title would you choose for the movie about your life? The Immigrant who Revolutionized Adult Education. What object would you first save from your burning home? My disc backup. How would you choose to spend tomorrow, if you knew it was your last day on earth? Traveling with my wife. What advice would you give your younger self? Laugh through puberty.
And just a bit deeper:
Why did you build your own global university? I saw countless business graduates not remember much of what they supposedly had learned. I knew there’s a better way to develop the human mind. The only way to truly develop sustained knowledge and skills was to reinvent the systems in higher education and adult learning. How did you arrive at being such a systems thinker? I’ve had numerous influences to arriving at this mindset. Being originally trained as an engineer, then learning about business, and human psychology, gave me a unique perspective as I experienced higher education globally. Why did you focus on education? Because I have seen how it improves the lives of people around the world. Plus, I love to see the lights go on.
Personal mission: To be a transformative change leader enabling systemic shifts in thought around the world and leading humanity toward evolution from within. Personal motto: Live life with the greatest passion and constantly learn.
