References

Below are some of our clients' assessments of our work.  We are pleased to report that we have had multi-year relationships with most of these clients and their companies.

Pete Reilly, Director, Lower Hudson Regional Information Center.

"You helped our management team shift its orientation from bureaucratic reactions to budding entrepreneurship."

Richard Fursland, Chief Executive Officer, BritishAmerican Business Inc

Through both his personal counsel with our national and regional leadership, and his interactive workshops with the Presidents and Executive Directors of our 32 chapters and affiliates, Peter Luzmore helped the BABC build mutual trust, positive spirit and practical cooperation throughout our network.  Since we started working with him, the BABC has become a more effective organization, with better morale, improved understanding and higher performance standards.

Ian Mason, Chief Executive Officer, Electrocomponents PLC

"Peter Luzmore used a really innovative approach to bring the team together in a faster period of time than I thought possible.  He was also great to work with!"

Eric Nelson, Vice President, Capital One  

“I just got the latest employee survey and our team's morale scores are the highest in the division, and by 10 points. The work that we have done with my leadership team to define a mission, values, and ambitions have been a big contributor. Thank you.”

Ken Brooks, Vice President Customer Operations, Simon & Schuster.  Vice President Electronic Publishing, Barnes & Noble (now VP Global Production and Manufacturing, Thompson Learning). 

"Over the years I have worked with Synthesis we have produced significant results together. At Simon & Schuster you shifted the mood of our customer service team and brought about a 20% increase in up-sales in the first year. You dissolved the distrust between two of my teams by having them identify their individual areas of responsibility and having them see that they had a common mission. Some of my managers developed the ability to manage their team's morale by focusing them on what action they could take. At Barnes & Noble you worked with a start up team of this new division that did not have a clear sense of purpose. You enabled us to develop a clear mission that sustained us through our growing pains. In addition, you worked with some of the key team members and enabled them to see where they could make bolder offers that would contribute to our growth and build their reputation."

Royce G. Coffee, Sergeant Major, U.S. Marine Corps (ret.)

"The most difficult punch to block and respond to is one that is aimed at the center of your body. After a four decade career in the U.S. Marine Corps, the punch of retirement came at me strong and fast. Although I had spent many years helping others to plan their career paths, I suddenly found myself alone, with no one on either flank to lend assistance. Questions that myself and my peers used to joke about, "Who motivates the motivator?" and "Who leads the leader?" came crashing down on me as I took off my uniform for the last time. Peter Luzmore, and his tried and true coaching abilities came to my aid. Our long friendship shifted gears, and Peter became my honest broker as I plowed through the fields of the dreaded job search. My question, "What do I want to do next?" was not answered by Peter. Instead, he served as my guide so that I could determine where I could make a contribution and be satisfied with my newly acquired status. Bottom line, if an individual or an organization is looking for a "quick fix", Peter is not the right person. If, however, the desire is to honestly assess the current situation and from that design a plan that will end in mission accomplishment, then Peter is the exact person you want on your team. Peter motivates the motivator, and leads the leader."

Robert Walsh, Commissioner, The City of New York Department of Small Business Services

“I wanted to thank you personally for the outstanding work you have conducted within my organization over the past sixteen weeks. The participants of you program, “Project Management Skills”, had a unique and rich training experience unlike anything available to New York City employees today.  Your program tapped into talents of Agency personnel and gave them skills needed to make changes in how they do their work on several levels.”

Stacy Holmes, District Superintendent, Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Southern Westchester, NY. (now Superintendent Lakeview Public Schools, MI)

"Even though we were already enthusiastic in our desire to work with Synthesis, you made it clear that Synthesis would work with us only if our organization were truly able and motivated to change. Too many consultants are just interested in filling up their dance cards. Synthesis, by contrast, will schedule only that work intended (by mutual commitments) to create significant, durable improvements. That approach made a huge difference for our organization."

Leslie Accardo, Coordinator, Model Schools Program, Lower Hudson Regional Information Center.

"You have a particular talent for listening into an organization and you have a tuned sense for anticipating breakdowns and turning them into opportunities for individual and team learning. During my time as team leader I learned that leading did not mean that I needed to do a lot, but was about ownership of the team's mission and holding those that were working with me accountable for the effective management of their commitments. Ownership means that when I talk to a customer, I am concerned about their success overall and not just the piece I may be immediately responsible for."

Steve Webb. Senior Business Analyst General Motors, Europe (now at Cable & Wireless plc).

"This approach gave us the tools, methods and coaching to help us to understand processes from a human centered perspective. Prior to looking at work from this perspective we took a simple mechanistic view of processes and hence had limited success in process redesign. In fact in some cases we were actually spending IT dollars on automating a broken process.  By understanding the network of human commitments embedded in a process, we were able to fix and repair process constraints which were previously invisible to us."

"Peter did a fantastic job facilitating my leadership offsite. He created a mood and atmosphere for the meeting in which our leadership team was able to bond and jointly arrive at an outcome that we had been unable to produce previously. I credit Peter's deft managing of the conversation with creating the openness and connection necessary to make remarkable progress toward becoming a team."

NYTalks Mini Workshops on Administrative Overwhelm

NYTalks is an organization developing the leadership skills of New York State's school superintendents and principals. It is the result of an award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's State Challenge Grants for Leadership Development program. Click here to see feedback from workshop participants.