Testimonials

"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 think it was great to discuss different departments and how they interact and affect each other."

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

"Informative, fast-paced and fun. Doug Van Dyke's preparation and delivery are excellent."

"Very beneficial. It made a lot of connections with existing situations. Great process!"

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

“Very good program with valuable information. Lots of useful tips that will help me become a more effective leader. Enjoyed learning many new tools for efficiency.”

“Very enlightening. I hope the info is used to further progress our group.”

"Broad range of subjects addressing real work-place issues. This training was more effective than any I've attended before."

"Valuable information, presented in a skilled, yet entertaining presentation"

"Fantastic! Informative. Doug's material and delivery is creative. I am now able to see and observe things that were not obvious to me before. I can use these techniques in my professional and personal life."

“Invaluable. How do you put a price tag on this content? The ideas and values are viral. They spread to the people we as leaders have committed to serve with our guidance. I can’t thank you enough!”

"Very informative and much needed information. It was a pleasure to listen to you. Thank you!"

"Good way to start communicating, collaborating, and solving problems!"

"Doug's Sales Simplified program was very helpful to me. I learned how to have more productive and engaging conversations with my customers. I liked the interactive nature of the presentation."

"Doug has the uncanny ability to present a topic in straight forward, easy to understand language. Many people find themselves moving from a worker role to a leadership role with little formal training. This book lays the groundwork for a new leader to rise to the top. Fundamentals presented in a straightforward manner makes this one of the best books on the subject available today. I highly recommend it."

"I like that communication channels have been opened."

"Doug has an innovative and interesting presentation style. I liked how the action items blended into discussion items. Fantastic program."

"I just wanted to send you a short note and express how much I enjoyed your guided Effective Communication seminar last week. I am new to Nielsen and to the state of Florida. As I’m sure you are well aware of, “with change, come many feelings and thoughts”. Towards the top of my list was apprehension, fear & doubt. Coming from The military side of The Boeing Company, I have become very accustomed to the firm structure & visibility within the corporation. The time I spent with you helped me to realize why I got into my profession in the first place; “to listen, observe, and recommend designs that help people be the best they can be!” Thanks for reminding me to be flexible and helping me to see the similarities & opportunities that lie on this new adventure. “Life is a process, and to live life is to love the process”"

"Loved it! I wanted to hear more!"

"This is an excellent program - informative, enjoyable, great group of professionals, dynamic, and an excellent opportunity to proactively enforce the skills learned."

"Very positive and good insight for sales opportunities."

"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!"

"I learned so much from Doug, especially the key points for a successful team: Communication, Planning & Team Work."

"Doug is a chamber member, trustee and valued resource. He leads our trustee monthly peer exchanges which many describe as the enduring value of our program. Doug's breadth of knowledge of the business enviroment allows him to expertly cover virtually any topic that comes up in these often spirited discussions. Doug is very incisive in his ability to assess issues and his manner allows me to work through the options and personally 'own' the solution. Unflappable, Doug is a trusted friend and advisor."

"I thought the Working Agreement initiative worked out great!"

"High value in short time"

"Well done- many new ideas I can take home and implement"

"Informational, entertaining, and useful."

"Thank you Doug, You are a wonderful facilitator and I truly believe you have helped us develop a great working relationship between the conservation, sales, administrative and conservation teams. Looking forward to possibly working together during our annual meeting as well as with other internal departments."

"Great presentation!"

“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.”

"The meeting was very good. We covered many topics and came to consensus on most. Many great ideas were exchanged."

“I definitely have taken in and learned many useful tools from our coaching sessions. It is always a pleasure to have an opportunity to be mentored by one of the ‘Greats’ when it comes to leadership. From our first session, I began to put the tools to work and have seen many positive improvements in my working relationships. I feel, there will be many more opportunities for me to raise the bar and push the percentages up as the department, team, and I grow. Thank you Doug!”

"Terrific & simple!"

"We have used DVD Consulting for Business Planning and Meeting Facilitation numerous times over the last 7 years. We have been very happy with the results - he is punctual and inciteful. Most importantly, he has helped me grow as a entrepreneur and a business owner. Highly recommended."

"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!"

"It was great! Well thought out with useful suggestions such as Priority Communication Tool, Delegation, and Time MGMT."

"Hi Doug, I really enjoyed the two sessions I took with you at the APC conference in Orlando.  I’ve been able to immediately put some things in use – so great success and ROI!  I have also raved about your sessions to my boss and the CEO. "    

"I loved that we were presented with real life scenarios, given the opportunity to evalate and make recommendations, then hear how the actual scenarios played out."

"Very good program, opened up communication between employees"

"Lots of great material/tools. Fantastic program."

"Doug's Customer Service Workshop for the Manatee County YMCA was terrific. We learned great skills for handling dissatisfied members. I feel the training will also be helpful dealing with the staff."

"Fun and very informative. I learned a lot about planning and ways to deal with procrastination."

"Sales Simplified is a positive and effective program, full of influential group actions and great examples."

"Very informative and exactly as advertised, very interactive, big plus!"

"A must program for anyone starting into sales. Excellent delivery."

"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."

“Overall I have improved in all areas of leadership and management while being coached by Doug. Some concepts are more challenging to apply and reinforce because of the growing state of the lab, but I am confident that I will be able to practice and implement all applicable tools and guide the company growth in a more efficient manner.”

“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!”

“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.”

"The name Leadership Simplified says it all... taking simple techniques and learning to apply them. Very insightful..."

"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."

"Great content and participation. I hope we all practice what we learned, especially respectful communication and behavior."

"Enjoyed the program very much - very informative. Lots of great 'usable' information."

"Thanks so much for your help this week, Doug! I'm grateful for your participation in our Leadership Innovation Conference and I thought the outcome was fantastic."

"Very informative and organized. I like how you kept us on task!"

"Great content. Doug was terrific at adapting message to the audience."

Very educational and fun. Good information and helpful tips. 

"Great program!! I gained a lot of valuable information."

"Great insight and new tools for selling my product, progressing a sale and communicating."

"Very applicable to my daily professional and personal interactions. I will use these methods and tools on a regular basis."

“Excellent communication and engagement! Very detail oriented and great explanation of the material and concepts.”

"Doug is an amazing teacher with a lot of experience. He shared many valuable examples of his own and ways to handle the situation. His class is very helpful in addition it will help you in your workplace dealing with an array of personalities."

“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.”

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

"Very good information. Makes so much sense!"

"This was one of the most informatve, thought-provoking, and collaborative training sessions I have attended. I am a life long learner and this has given me the tools to reassess my leadership abilities by cementing the good and to question and/or change the bad."

“I found the program to be very useful and effective. Doug is an excellent speaker and teacher. I would absolutely recommend this class. I know I will use these tools throughout my professional career. This course was better than most of my business college classes at USF. I wish I had such a course when I was in college.”

“The program was very engaging. Really enjoyed the personal stories that ‘drove the message home!’”

"Very informative and motivational"

"Thank you again for presenting this course in a nontraditional sales format. Your focus on the human, relationship and psychological element is very effective. I have received many positive comments in this regard."

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

"Excellent topics and very well organized. Tools I can go back and immediately begin applying."

“I thought the presentation was wonderful and very insightful. I am leaving with new communication tools and reinforcement of old tools that I forget to use!”

"I love Doug's enthusiasm and his great examples; takeaways that I can implement right away."

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

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

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

"Engaging and relevant. Easy to understand and implement."

"Excellent program, very helpful. I am currently using some of your organization techniques, including day planning and time management skills."

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

"Great Value!"

“Awesome as always. I learned a new perspective and approach. Was very impressed with Day Planning and Paraphrasing. Thank you for giving me some very useful key questions and statements to use in my sales.”

“The program has been very helpful for me. It involved so much detailed information. Doug did a great job. I find myself utilizing steps from the program daily – with great results. I learned things that I never would have thought about in the past. It makes work easier with regards to dealing with people and situations.”

"Doug offered a new way of thinking about working with colleagues at all levels and at different stages."

"I enjoyed all the Leadership Development Program classes and have learned so much. I will continue to use the paraphrasing as I feel it is a great tool and something that I can use to help our team. I have used the working agreement and will continue to do so. These sessions provide great tools and are a very good use of time. Knowledge is power and I feel as if you have empowered us all. Thank you."

"Not only was Doug's presentation effective and efficient, but it was perfectly timed for this organization."

“I enjoy working with Doug and have attended several of his presentations and workshops. Would like to see our sales team attend training.”

"I wanted to extend my gratitude again for your coming to provide training for the SDMC HR leadership team at Day Springs. Your ability to work with the crowd and flexibility was appreciated. There was great feedback from the team - they all seemed to find something meaningful to use with their work."

“He introduced tools that are immediately implementable. I am thrilled”

"Loved the interaction, the 'team' atmosphere we created and the skills we learned to implement. Excellent program!"

"The program offered so much useful information regarding working together as a team."

"Doug, your speaking style and content is well disciplined. The format was effective in covering specific content."

"I felt this was a robust program. I found you to be direct and engaging. You listened to our challenges and then introduced tools to help us succeed."

"Thanks again for the training session this week. I received excellent feedback from our leaders and was surprised that many of the attendees had little if any knowledge of the many techniques you so effectively demonstrated. I'm already forecasting the future financial gain as a result of the improved productivity and collaboration!"      

"Very informative and inspirational. I bought one of your dvd's and can't wait to go home and refresh all I learned."

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

"The leadership boot camp was very helpful for developing the leadership skills and style I want to achieve."

"A very good review of tried and true methods as well as a great introduction to new ideas."