CHRIS THORSEN
DIRECTOR, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
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Experienced Leadership Development & Executive Coach
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Pioneer in the Use of Aikido [The Art of Peace]
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Advised Policy Leaders from the Turkish and Greek Factions on the War Torn Island of Cyprus
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Leader in Organizational Transformation for Fortune 100 Companies
Over the last forty years, I’ve advised senior executives in a wide variety of organizations. I’ve helped CXOs of industry leading communications and technology companies grow their companies exponentially. I’ve helped leaders of old line utility companies revitalize their moribund cultures. And I’ve helped directors of international policy institutes establish their global presence.
My work has included development coaching to executives and their teams leading organizational transformations at Disney World, Lucent Technologies, Intel, Kaiser Permanente and Unocal. I was fortunate to help build out the wireless industry, spending twelve years as an integral member of the executive teams that started and operated Cellular One and Nextel Communications.
In the late nineties, I spent five years providing periodic Conflict Resolution Seminars for policy leaders from the Turkish and Greek factions on the war torn Island of Cyprus. I was a founding consultant of Interaction Associates, the internationally known facilitation and training firm. I have a Masters Degree from the University of San Francisco in Community Organization and OD and am a contributor to The Dance of Change, the Fifth Discipline Resource Book.
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I am a pioneer in the application of the principles of Aikido [The Art of Peace] and Bohm’s Dialogue to leadership mastery, team synergy and organizational strategy. I have studied and taught Aikido for over forty years and am a master of Haiku, the Zen poetry of deep presence in Nature. I have two daughters, both professionals in the health industry, and my wife, Susan, and I live on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound.