Testimonials

"Great job pushing people to open up, providing a great foundation and solid toolbox for professional speaking. Very creative in providing constructive feedback allowing people to learn and grow."

"Wonderful, useful & fun. You did a great job, Doug! I appreciate learning your techniques. Now I need to IMPLEMENT!"

"Informative. It was worth my time."

"As always, Doug is well-spoken and easy to follow. the program covered a wide variety of topics effectively."

"The energy of the presenter and engagement of participants was outstanding. The program was well paced and balanced."

“I love Doug’s energy. He kept everything interesting and relevant!”

"Doug provided quality strategic planning facilitation for the non-profit organization I lead. He crafted a productive agenda that left us with a sense of accomplishment, and provided great insights as we progressed with our planning. I recommend Doug for your strategic planning needs. And, it's true, he's a downright nice guy!"

"Amazing!! Thank you for so many great tools!! I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. Doug provides an in-depth approach on how being an effective leader in the workplace benefits not only the workplace environment, but the whole person in the process."

"Love it. The best part is how simple the tools are. The Working Agreement should be valuable."

"Great team building program. I liked the active team interaction mixed in with the presentation."

"Great! Good skills to learn that can be adapted and work on a daily basis."

"Very well done - perfect timing for me"

"Excellent program. Doug is a very effective and entertaining speaker."

"Well done; easy to understand tool"

"I enjoyed the whole presentation. The importance of paraphrasing was a topic I had not heard in a very long time, but a very good tool."

"Doug has provided exceptional learning programs for the associates at the Global Technology and Information Center for The Nielsen Company. He has offered very insightful ideas for repurposing some of his programs into a smaller Lunch n Learn series. In fact, Doug's sessions have been averaging 50-75 participants regularly and his series has proven to be very popular. Doug is knowledgeable, professional and sincere in his approach to consulting and executive coaching. His newletters are thought provoking and his insights valuable in today's world. We value his contributions and look forward to new opportunities to collaborate with him for the benefit of our associates." 

"It is excellent! This program has positively changed the way I handle things in both professional and personal aspects, making things easier for me. I absolutely recommend it! A lot of my co-workers can see the difference since I started this training."

"The program is very informative and effective. I can apply it directly to my job to be better at what I do. The real-life scenarios were very helpful."

"The best explanation of selling principles I've seen."

"The Leadership Development Program was very beneficial and supplied me with knowledge and tools that I can apply in my everyday work. I met many interesting managers and directors during the 10 week course and they all felt the program helped them increase their leadership skills, gain confidence in their own abilities, and become more organized and effective. I recommend this program to both new leaders and experienced leaders as it provides great feedback about their own management practices. This training could also be very useful for non-managers as well, so they can get insight on the management role and understand why managers do what they do. Understanding each other is the first step to better team work."

"It made me aware of the different types of management techniques and coaching styles. It was very beneficial."

"Informative, entertaining, engaging. I like your style."

"Excellent use of time. Helped tremendously."

"What did I like about the program? Everything!"

"Great content; very well-presented."

"Doug did an excellent job involving everyone. I am amazed how many of our folks stayed with this and didn't find a way of skipping out."

"Constructive/Informative. Doug demonstrates a very comfortable presence about him, something to emulate!"

"Doug is an excellent presenter; the best "corporate" style presenter I've ever seen. I also loved the content of the program."

"Please come back and continue this! Thank you so very much for being here - loved hearing you."

"I thought the program was very creative and very problem solving!"

"Doug is an excellent presenter. Good information delivered effectively."

“Doug, Just wanted to thank you for the session on collaboration and Working Agreements.  I used your Working Agreement template here at my new position at L-3 and I’m getting recognition for my efforts by the President of Aviation Recorders. I followed the process by the “book” and it went extremely well.  I hope you have a happy holiday!”

“There are a multitude of useful practices effectively discussed/communicated to increase efficiency in leadership positions stemming from structuring priorities and communication styles. I found all areas helpful and usable. Now it’s a matter of practicing, expanding, and refining these skills! A life-long process.”

“Doug is a wonderful person who is genuinely interested in developing leaders at all levels. His positivity and enthusiasm in the material is contagious and makes an 8am (sharp) start engaging. As an aside his flexibility and understanding made completing the class possible for me- I will forever be grateful for that. I highly recommend the Leadership Simplified programming for any lifetime learner looking to sharpen, grow, or develop practical leadership skills.”

"Purposeful and driven towards success. Deliverables and desired outcomes clearly defined prior to meeting and achieved."

“Excellent program, would recommend other leaders from Tervis to take advantage of this opportunity next time. Content was very helpful and I was able to implement a lot of the practices immediately.”

"Very inspiring. The visual aids and exercises were energizing. We jumped right in to the session and had a fast-paced, learning experience!"

"Loved the program. Strong, easy to use content. Great handouts. Doug used situations and examples many encounter regularly. Very applicable."

“Steel In The Air retained DVD Consulting for the purpose of evaluating a number of potential business ventures that had presented themselves to the organization and were causing deep division in focus. Doug Van Dyke (the facilitator) created a one day event to assist us in weighing the merits of each venture and in ferreting out the real “expense” to the organization in both time and money. Doug thoughtfully and expertly led discussions, keeping them from derailing off track or getting too heated, funneling the creative process in a productive manner. At the end of the day, we had a road map to follow, one decidedly different than any of the management members expected going into the event. This roadmap eventually proved to be successful and we won a large contract. What truly impressed us was the way in which Doug guided conversation without ever steering the decision making process. He asked thought provoking questions and managed our sometimes heated discussion with tact. Doug then presented us with a thorough copy of notes from the discussion and a game plan crafted from the meeting.”

"Engaging and encouraging. I feel charged up and revitalized. Fits every need of our organization ... and personal life."

"Very engaging. Doug kept us involved, listening, and interacting!"

"Doug's sales training program was enlightening and a great reminder of sales techniques. It was a shot of new energy for me to go after business. And the techniques will be fun to work with."

"Very valuable; especially in the tech world with all the linear thinkers."

"Great job! I got good, valuable points from this presentation."

“Hi Doug, I would like to take the opportunity to tell you how much I value your input and coaching.  You have been a tremendous sounding board and helped me think through some rather sticky situations.  Having your time and attention to discuss issues and troubleshoot resolutions has been invaluable.  I very much appreciate your perspective and keen advice.  I feel extremely well supported by you and look forward to our next interaction. Thank you and all best wishes.”

"Excellent content, great presentation skills, very interactive and informative."

"Great content, learned much as usual, dynamic speaker and presenter."

"Very informative with easy going presentation."

"This information will be very helpful moving our company forward with the management changes we have been working through."

“Very informative and helpful. Doug provides great examples and is easy to talk to.”

“Doug, Below is the communication I sent to our HR team and VPO. I hope they realize the value in what you provide – I know there are a lot of others within Omnicare that would benefit from your Leadership Development Program. I wish you could see how you have impacted some of our staff.  Their communication has probably improved the most.  I actually saw an email written by one of the participants to an employee that was so motivating I was in awe. She would have never taken it upon herself to send an email like that before. I also witnessed another member of the group give a presentation last week and her confidence level was at an all-time high. We are now having morning huddles in both processing and distribution. I have not had to get involved in email battles for quite some time now. I could go on. We will see where we go from here but I certainly feel that we have leaders now.    Thanks again for everything! Please see below:   All,   Our leaders have completed Leadership Simplified's Leadership Development Program and I have attached their summaries that they turned into Doug on their final day. As I watch the staff now during their daily activities, I can certainly see the positive impact these sessions have had on their performance and attitudes. Judging by their comments they found a lot of value in what they have learned as well. They are acting more like a unit and are working together more efficiently. This allows me to spend more time on important areas of the business and less time providing them with guidance or having to mediate their actions. They are using the tools they learned in order to communicate better with their employees, our customers, and each other. I would recommend this leadership development program to others, either as a team or individually. It has really impacted our team.    Thanks for allowing our team to take part in this training!”

"Excellent - I recommend this for all! Thank you."

"Great experience, provided effective tools for the workplace in a positive and open environment."

"Really beneficial to me. I have learned a lot of things that will be very useful to me and to my team. I would like my staff to attend also. Great program....thank you!"

"Loved the presentation on How to Deliver Tough Messages. Great information. Left me wanting to learn more!"

"You were a big hit with our group. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with such expertise. I have received loads of positive feedback. Thanks again."

"Doug has been working with us to improve communications within the Finance organization since the summer of 2011. I have personally worked with him for the past three months to develop my own management skills. Both Doug's group presentations and one-on-one coaching sessions have produced remarkable results in opening up the lines of communication within my department, and have challenged me to grow as a manager more quickly than I thought possible. I look forward to working with him in the future." 

"Very good session - High energy - Fun - Very well paced - and very Effective"

"I love the program's emphasis on productivity and effective communication."

"Good to sit down and draw out expectations  of one another"

"Doug brings a professional and realistic practice to not only improving one's business skills, but the team as well. He sincerely believes in these no-nonsense techniques and you will view them as invaluable as well. Highly motivational and tremendously professional, Doug is able to personalize his message for each individual; it's as if he speaks directly to you and it hits home. His book, 'Leadership Simplified' is the best business tool I've used in years."

"It was interesting and did make one think about topics discussed."

"Good balance of action applied to work and creativity- breaking out of the routine approach- very good teambuilding session!"

"Interesting and very appropriate at this time in my organization."

"Very informative."

"Good open dialogue sessions. Activities are great and key takeaways are on point."

"Very good and productive! Great information on holding effective meetings."

“Dear Doug, I wanted to let you know the good news, that we just this week sold our shop. As you may remember, Eddie and I purchased Marion Smith Florist 10 years ago with virtually no equity to our name. We were able to get $650,000 for the business, and are holding no notes, during a challenging retail environment. I think back often and realize that none of this would have been possible without your dedication and creativity. I can’t thank you enough for not discarding our intentions and instead working with us to help us realize our dream. Now I have new dreams, and am looking forward to investing in another business, but this time with an MBA degree behind me and significantly more equity.”

“Excellent program! Informative discussion that can be brought back to my workplace. Great examples and references to help relate and paint a picture.”

"Very educational and beneficial to my career. Lots of valuable tools for me to use."

"Well-structured, with very implementable tools, techniques, and ideas!"

"Very useful information that is relevant and can be applied immediately."

"The program covered many topics that were lacking in my MBA program. Useful strategies to deal with difficult situations, people and decisions were in every meeting. The practical applications were imediately useful in business and non-business situations."

"Lots of very valuable information, presented in a clear and concise manner. Great tools for leadership."

"Doug, As you know, we started this year out with some very specific goals that I wanted to achieve for the teams I manage.  To achieve these goals, there were some changes I needed to make with my leadership style.  With this in mind you laid out a path for us to work down that would allow me to attain these goals, making changes as required as new challenges or opportunities presented themselves.  With the amount of changes we made to the way we work this year, I feel we took advantage of the opportunities presented and you helped me to significantly raise the bar and achieve our goals. I truly appreciate all of the coaching and support you have provided to me over the last 12 months, our success would not have been possible without you.  I look forward to continuing our sessions in the year to come!"

"I thought there were many great ideas and takeaways. If we are able to implement even one idea it will benefit us greatly. I appreciate the content and will use it to grow as a leader."

"This was fabulous! Thanks!"

"What a great way for us to open up about our issues in the workplace."

“Hi Doug, Thank you again for all your time and knowledge shared during our sessions. The tools discussed are invaluable and ones I will use for many years. The sessions have challenged me to raise the bar as a leader and in my own personal development. Thank you!”

"Doug gave our group some really good information today, both practical and understandable. The examples were very beneficial and will help us with our next step in the learning process: practice, practice practice!"

"The team building program was very informative and helpful. I loved the day planning ideas. Doug's sessions are always a great time!"

"Very rational way of enlightening groups to see eye-to-eye or at least understand where the other party is coming from."

"Very good information. Makes so much sense!"

"Great program! I got a lot out of it."

“It’s the best program for leadership in the world.”

"Your session on Working Agreements is a common sense approach to improving communication and collaborative relationships. Very effectively presented!"

"Doug, I just wanted to thank you on behalf of Nielsen for the wonderful Lunch & Learn session you provided for nearly 170 associates today. Judging from the evaluations, you really struck a chord by providing ideas and information that helped each of them have a valuable take away. Again, thank you very much for your very professional and engaging session. We've started the year off on the right foot with our Lunch & Learn series and your've set the bar a little higher for all who follow."

"Today there were new ideas shared and our team became closer as a result. Great team building concepts and techniques."

"Doug is an excellent coach. His program was easy to understand and on point to what I needed."

"Very informative program. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot."

"Terrific Strategic Planning session - very concise, informative, stayed on task."

"Leadership Simplified has been a valuable resource for both our sales office and me. Through well-coordinated team exercises, our sales team was able to refocus our strengths and achieve greater results using the talents of each associate. I have been managing a large sales team for over 15 years, and have been through many seminars and coaching sessions, but none at the level provided by Doug. He provided enormous assistance in becoming a stronger leader and sales facilitator."

"Simple concept, very interesting and applicable."

“Very informative and opened my eyes to areas of leading that I have been neglecting of late.”

"Informational, entertaining, and useful."

"Doug's program on Working Agreements is helping our communication tremendously"

"Doug's program really helped me change my mindset and it will serve as the push needed to do/approach my sales calls differently."

"I thought it was a great tool to address the disconnects our groups have had. It has made significant inroads into righting the ship."

“Absolutely inspiring! After 20 years in business and many, many training events, the programs you have customized for us over the past few years have been the most productive I have ever experienced.”

"Excellent takeaways. I received some great ideas to help improve my organization."