Professional Feature, continued
Kathy Harris has introduced you to one of
her customized
Kathy Harris
Consulting—Building Leaders With Integrity™ training programs intended
to help managers learn more about leadership, customer service, and
organizational management, and accountability in the workplace.
Kathy brings a variety of experiences to her speaking career.
Originally in the insurance industry she moved through a variety of
positions of responsibility that include working for the owner of the
Oakwood Lake waterslides, a safety officer at a sand and gravel company, and
ten years with the Tracy United School District that ended with her
retirement as the executive assistant to the superintendent. Combine her
first-hand leadership experience with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in
Organizational Leadership, and you have a person who is well qualified to
help companies address motivational and organizational issues.
Her work with the school district provided
her with an understanding of the internal workings of government
organizations. Her position involved the coordination of lobbying efforts
focusing on facility issues, which provided her with valuable contacts
throughout the state. Like many consultants, Kathy's eclectic background
provided her with an understanding of a wide variety of
management methods and organizational issues, which allowed her to make the
natural decision to enter her current field of speaking and training.
Many people move through several careers
without realizing they are assembling the building blocks for the foundation
to their own company. It is not uncommon for a person to develop new core
competencies through a variety of occupations. These can be competencies
like making new friends, speaking in front of people, or solving
organizational problems. Those skills may be a small portion of their job,
but they reflect on their career to the point they realize it is time to
leave the nest and build their own
business around the components of their jobs they enjoy the most. Like many
good career decisions, the person realizes the desire is right for them and
they pursue their dream. Kathy is a great example of this kind of sudden
inspiration.
Kathy found herself with the opportunity to
retire from the school district with a strong desire to pursue her dream as
a trainer and motivational speaker. Her message is to promote individual
accountability and integrity in the workplace. She teaches that every person
should take responsibility for being the best they can be and should strive
to do the ethical thing. She teaches that we need to be responsible for the
integrity and accountability in our words, our
attitude, and our behavior. She speaks about the need to get back to the
basics of leadership and ethics in corporate America, and to recognize that
each and every person can make a difference, one person at a time.
Kathy offers her Kathy Harris Consulting—Building Leaders With
Integrity™ workshops on topics of Customer Service, Gender Diversity, Team
Building, Conflict Resolution, and Personality Styles. Her passion is
teaching men and women how to understand their cultural differences through
her seminar on gender diversity. Rounding out the cornerstone of her
presentation library is the FISH! Philosophy. Her FISH! presentation and
message is based on the
Pike Place Fish
Market in Seattle, Washington that transformed itself from a dreary fish
store to a shopping event that includes employees having fun and sharing the
fun with the customers. When she does a workshop on FISH! she helps
companies design their work environment through an interactive exercise. She
uses humor and motivation and speaks about individual accountability and
integrity. Attitude is a large part of FISH! so she spends a lot of time
addressing that part of the work environment.
There are four steps to the FISH!
Philosophy: play, make the customer's day, be there, and change your
attitude. She feels the business environment has become too serious and that
employees are more productive when they are having fun. This is not to say
that business is not serious, but the business environment should be fun and
enjoyable. Research shows that laughter reduces stress, helps with
creativity, and releases endorphins. She uses the presentation to show how
an organization can "play" in their work environment while remaining
professional. The FISH! concept can be life changing especially when upper
management endorses the concept.
Kathy can be reached by phone at (209) 238-8803 or by e-mail at:
kathy@kathyharrisconsulting.com.
Keith Chiles