Proven Success Strategies: Client Experiences
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I worked with a major player in the hospitality space who was obsessed with the metrics of his business, using them to achieve his goals at all costs, even at the expense of his people. Although it was difficult for him to change his perspective, he eventually realized that to achieve the stretch goals that he so earnestly sought required creating a high-performing organization, with high-performing
people. You can’t measure your way to high-performing behavior.
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—Jim Bennett
Jim Bennett is an associate senior consultant with Guttman Development Strategies, Inc.
Throughout his career, Jim has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to work with cross-functional and/or cross-company teams on complex projects. Jim’s style, expertise, and techniques are uniquely suited for large, mission-critical initiatives. In his corporate and consulting roles, he has utilized his leadership experience to improve the results of dozens of companies.
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He has had particular success in project implementation, especially in helping business and project teams mature quickly into high-performing entities. Jim’s strong people skills and long corporate experience make him a highly effective executive coach who has helped dozens of senior executives achieve stellar results.
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Jim began his career as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working as a project officer with civilian contractors on large flood-control initiatives and disaster-relief efforts. After leaving the military, he went to work for a division of Johnson & Johnson, where he held leadership positions in manufacturing, national planning, and major projects.
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After ten years with Johnson & Johnson, he moved to the Philips Lighting Company. There, as logistics director, along with his day-to-day P&L responsibilities, he successfully led a critical re-engineering project to optimize the company’s nationwide distribution-center network while improving the efficiency of order fulfillment, taking on new customers, and significantly reducing costs. Later, when selected by Benjamin Moore & Company as its director of logistics, Jim led that company’s North American order-fulfillment process, as well as major mission-critical projects for improving customer satisfaction.
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Jim later pursued his entrepreneurial aspirations and became an equity partner and senior vice president for a regional office-supply company, where he led operations for the company and prepared it for its eventual sale to a much larger entity.
Education
B.S. | Business Administration
The State University of New York at Brockport
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Distinctions
Professional affiliations
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Contributing member, several nonprofit initiatives