The following testimonials are from my clients, partners, and former direct reports.
"Not only is Jeff's approach as business coach objective, balanced, and extremely well-prepared; every decision he helps us through is rooted in business principles tied back to our core philosophy and mission. His guidance has decreased our drift, increased the focus of the team, and saved us a great deal of time and money. He's also a heckuva lot of fun."
“Jeff Kimball did an outstanding job as “Interim CEO” for this family-owned middle-market company in Western Pennsylvania. This assignment included strategic assessments of various operational and financing options that were available for this company and negotiation of the best outcomes for all constituents, including: owners, employees, customers, lenders, and vendors.”
In addition,
“Jeff had a unique combination of strengths and experiences that allowed him to work through each of the business issues in a timely manner and to implement specific solutions that resulted in the best outcome for all of the affected parties in this situation.”
"During the past 18 months, Jeff Kimball has served as a consultant to the executive management team at Sylvan America, Inc., and several affiliated Sylvan companies. Sylvan, Inc. is a Pennsylvania based company engaged in the manufacture of mushroom spawn, the equivalent of seed products for mushrooms. The company employs approximately 500 individuals and does business in over 60 countries internationally.
In recent years Sylvan has faced fierce competition in an industry in which the primary customer base has undergone significant change. Although the company management had outlined comprehensive strategies to keep pace with these changes it was clear that we needed to accelerate our progress toward our goals in order to remain viable and we engaged Jeff to assist us.
During our first meeting with Jeff he quickly set the tone for his services by acknowledging that he was not a subject matter expert in our industry and that it was unlikely that he would become one. What he was offering was an operating system designed to enhance the performance of the key executive team critical to the success of the business. The system components included assisting the team in clearly defining its goals, assigning individual responsibility for the achievement of the goals and the enactment of a review system designed to ensure accountability.
By embracing Jeff's program, we have achieved significant improvements in the productivity of our management group, improvements that are beginning to positively impact our bottom line. Accordingly and without hesitation I would recommend Jeff's program to any organization seeking to sharpen its managerial focus, effect change and strengthen its competitive standing within its core business."
"Simply put, Hanco, our third generation family run business had hit a plateau. As our industrial landscape has changed we needed change ourselves. We have been engaged with Jeff for less than 6 months now and we are seeing much that much needed change. Our team has engaged and challenged one another like never before. Accountability and Communication were challenges before we worked with Jeff. Now as an aligned group we are focused on bigger goals that have a definitive measurable."
"We were in need of a strategic planning facilitator and preferred one that would bring with him an understanding of our industry. After interviewing Jeff it was apparent that he speaks the same industry language as our team. Jeff’s background gained him quick acceptance from the team and allowed the team to progress with greater ease.
Since we started with Jeff in early 2014 we have significantly improved the rhythm of our strategic team and the meetings we hold. We now have a consistent set of initiatives to pursue which are tied to longer term goals and we expect to obtain great results. As we work more with Jeff we have gained greater insight into the process and how to effectively use it. We committed to the process and have seen improvements as a result, with many more to come.
Jeff’s ability to keep our team focused and at the same time moving forward has really helped us become more effective at strategic planning and more importantly execution. Jeff has helped us develop into an effective team that can do great things."
"Jeff came referred to us by several members of our Vistage group, and we couldn’t be happier. His simple approach to strategic planning has given us a platform to navigate our future growth. From his years of personal experience with his own company, Jeff has a unique ability to listen to what our team says, and then quickly interpret that with focused questions into long-term goals that resound with our group. We truly look forward to a long engagement with Jeff."
"Jeff began working with our team early in 2014. Prior to his arrival we used a strategic planning process but it wasn't as effective as we desired. Once we contracted with Jeff to facilitate our meetings, we saw an improvement in interaction and engagement in the team. He is able to preserve a team atmosphere while also challenging the team and holding us accountable. His process allowed us to focus on common objectives. Jeff also helped us implement a rhythm, or meeting schedule, to routinely follow up on our progress, which has been a key part of our success. In the past year, we have seen a dramatic improvement of strategic initiatives being completed on time. Our strategic planning process has certainly improved under his direction and we plan to work with him long into the future."
"Jeffrey Kimball helped our Board of Directors implement a step by step approach to growing our organization that is both measurable and results driven. From a management perspective, the process in which Jeffrey leads us through our decision making process is essential to maintaining Board cohesiveness and achieving our desired goals along the way. I do not believe our organization would be where it is today if we had not engaged Jeffrey Kimball in our strategic planning meetings."
"Jeff did a great job keeping the meeting moving along and on track. He kept all side discussions to a minimum in order to accomplish meeting goals in the allotted time frame. He engaged everyone in discussions and made you feel at ease.
IMSolutions is in a position to become a large, fast growing, recognizable face in the contract world. Leadership is working very hard to find a way to expand while maintaining their Core Values, and the culture that sets them apart from other companies."
"Jeff Kimball focused on areas such as strategic planning, change management, organization dynamics, improving processes, etc. It was a full day, and very mentally challenging, but I can see how utilizing a consulting coach could keep the team and organization on a path to reach its self-defined goals.
I felt Jeff did an awesome job facilitating all discussion throughout the day. He provided a balanced and objective approach to dealing with complex issues, and in many instances used his own experiences as a prior CEO to increase the focus of our group.
The meeting was not just focused on corporate strategic planning, in fact, I felt as though the majority of the topics/discussions focused on employee-oriented issues, or ways in which the company could assist its greatest asset -- its people."