Testimonials
“Very informative and is relevant to my work as a team leader”
D. Pilar
Nielsen Media Research
Tampa, FL
"Very practical with effective strategies and tools to deploy in any workplace."
Anthony Gagliano
CareerSource Suncoast
Sarasota, FL
"Excellent, practical, innovative, and useful."
Jim Willard
Risk Management Consultant
Bradenton, FL
"I thought the program was very creative and very problem solving!"
Rickey Bailey
Union Pacific Railroad
Kansas City
"Fabulous, educational, informational, exciting, challenging!! Great stuff"
Stacy Ulahakis
Tidewell Hospice
Clearwater, FL
"Doug's presentation to our ABWA group was fantastic. I enjoyed it very much. I am now head of a group of women from 39 churches, so this was timely and meaningful."
Alberta Adams
American Business Women's Association
Sarasota, FL
"Doug's strategic planning session was very good for our team. We moved along. The exercises were applied to help give construct."
Tim McGraw
Shaw Development
Bonita Springs, FL
"Informative, entertaining, engaging. I like your style."
Bonnie Walters
Destination Tampa Bay
Tampa, FL
“Outstanding content. Doug is an excellent presenter.”
Anthony Miseno
Chris Craft
Sarasota, FL
"Excellent use of time. Helped tremendously."
Dawn Cavaliere
Vice President of Human Resources
Conmed Linvatec
Largo, FL
“Lots of useful tools to be applied daily. PCT and coaching methods were very helpful. Working agreements = awesome!”
Phil Lavoie
MyUS.com
Sarasota, FL
"The leadership boot camp was very helpful for developing the leadership skills and style I want to achieve."
Clayton Griffin
American Express / Serve
St. Petersburg, FL
"Doug, I can’t begin to tell you how MUCH I valued this experience. What a great ten weeks with all that I had going on with work too, it really all came together for me. Thank you!"
Kristi Cheatham
Sales & Public Affairs Manager
Clearwater Gas System
Clearwater, FL
"Excellent program. Doug is a very effective and entertaining speaker."
Brian Langille
Clearwater Gas
Clearwater, FL
"Very informative and organized. I like how you kept us on task!"
Judy Poasel
Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court
Bradenton, FL
"Fantastic program. It should have a positive impact on our relationship with our company."
Kim Keller
AVI-SPL
Tampa, FL
"Energetic, great approach, easy to understand and a good variety of information. Activities were fun, but also meaningful."
Shannon Martin
Chief Technology Officer
Aging Wisely
Clearwater, FL
"Doug has done fantastic work with me as my business coach. His guidance is always very insightful and on-point. I feel he is a major key to the success of my business. I would recommend Doug to everyone who wants a consultant who can help them achieve their best results."
Fred Wallrapp
President
Tribute Telecomm
"Excellent training for leaders to be more effective and influential utilizing the lessons learned during the program."
Ahmet Tezcan
Safran Electrical & Power
Sarasota, FL
"As my personal business coach and advisor, Doug has provided many services for my company. He has been an invaluable resource for my marketing campaigns and has always provided me with great ideas, feedback and solutions. He truly has coached me to success in my business.”
Robin Delaney
Owner
Greenleaf Financial Services
"Doug is a great presenter and full of energy. Learned so many useful tools with real life examples."
Robert Rios
AVI-SPL
Tampa, FL
"Well-structured, with very implementable tools, techniques, and ideas!"
Bernd Rindermann
Senior Geologist
HSA Engineers & Scientists
Tampa, FL
"Especially at this point on our many change initiative journeys, this was perfectly timed. i will begin working with working agreements and power paraphrasing immediately."
David E. Gregory
Sysco Foods
Columbia, SC
"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."
Tim Trussell
Sales Executive
Kaiser Permanente
Atlanta, GA
"Great, useful information that was easy to understand, in a very casual environment!"
Christine Battista
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pinellas County
Clearwater, FL
"Very helpful. I am always in learning mode and appreciate when my expectations are met."
Barbara Inman
CEO
Pinellas Habitat for Humanity
Pinellas Co., FL
"I attended your Leadership Simplified Boot Camp last Friday. I enjoyed the training very much and have already implemented some of your suggestions. Thank you so much."
Vicki Ayles, CPA
Accounting Supervisor
For R.B. "Chips" Shore
Manatee Co. Clerk of Courts
"Great ideas and format. Doug's ideas, material, and suggestions were motivating and eye opening."
Chuck Warrington
Managing Director
Clearwater Gas System
Clearwater, FL
"The Leadership Development Program provided valuable insights, skills and habits that will continue to raise my bar."
Lennie Pici
Bright House Networks
St. Petersburg, FL
"Doug is an awesome speaker and made it fun for everyone. He really listened to our questions. It was very educational and I will definitely use the techniques."
Stacey Billquist
Tidewell Hospice
Clearwater, FL
I recently had the pleasure of attending one of Doug's interactive presentations at my company's leadership conference. I thought Doug did an incredible job engaging the audience and reviewed topics that were relevant to us and our businesses. He was extremely informative and made the group think outside of the norm that we were used to. His thoughts on digital marketing and media were fantastic and I would recommend him to anyone wanting to hire a speaker for their employees. Thanks Doug, myself and my team appreciated you speaking with us!
Andrew Glazier
Comfort Keepers of Central Ohio
Columbus, OH
"Program provided thought provoking sessions on how to be a better leader with the tools to accomplish that goal."
Mark Barnebey
Partner/Attorney
Blalock Walters
Bradenton, FL
"Doug is an excellent coach. His program was easy to understand and on point to what I needed."
Paola Reyes
Sales Representative
Nueterra Healthcare
"Very good - an abundance of useful materials and concepts that I can put to use immediately."
Patti Michurski
Sales Manager
Business Data Record Services
New Brighton, MN
"The program was very educational for me and I have already seen some results. Thank you Doug!"
Stephanie Lapenta
Tervis Tumbler
Venice, FL
"I work in training so this session was very valuable to me. I liked the information on body language and the facts about what percentage of information we retain by reading, hearing, experiencing."
Susan B. Collins
Nielsen Media Research
Tampa, FL
“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!”
Angela Perez-
Chanthavong
Sr Risk Analyst/
Information Security Admin
Serve/American Express
St Petersburg, FL
"Excellent - great ideas and techniques to practice."
Lauri Przybylski
AVI-SPL
Tampa, FL
Doug, your presentation to the ABWA on How to Deliver Tough Messages was terrific. Very valuable content. I'm so glad I purchased one of your books because I would like to learn more."
Valerie Misa
Marketing & Development Mgr
Suncoast Humane Society
Englewood, FL
"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."
Kristi Cheatham
External Affairs Manager
Clearwater Gas
Clearwater, FL
"Very rational way of enlightening groups to see eye-to-eye or at least understand where the other party is coming from."
Dayna Bates
Conmed Linvatec
Largo, FL
"Great! I will be implementing much of what I learned tomorrow."
Dawn League
Customer Service Manager
Invitation Consultants
Tampa, FL
"After going through the Working Agreement process with Doug I have become more aware of my habitual body language, tone and words, and how they affect my working relationships."
Robin Liberty
Manatee County Clerk of Courts
Bradenton, FL
"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."
Stephen Hensley
Manager - A/R Operations
AVI-SPL
Tampa, FL
“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!”
Bob Yursky
Operations Manager
Vanguard Advanced Pharmacy Systems
Bradenton, FL
"Your techniques and skills helped to consolidate our priorities, while providing a detailed roadmap to implement."
Carole Pettijohn
Director of IT
Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court
Bradenton, FL
“The information was relatable, which is huge. The content was directly applicable to my job’s biggest struggles.”
Amy Pranger
Sales Manager
Florida Fence and Gates
Sarasota, FL
"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."
Mike Miller
Vice President
Technology Transfer Services, Inc.
Tampa, FL
"The program was effective and so much needed. Got some critical issues out on the table."
Karen Hutto
Conmed Linvatec
Largo, FL
"Practical, can be used with every business."
Brian Face
Next Level Achievement
Sarasota, FL
"Very on point and very eye opening. Great Communicator."
Ken Lewis
Suncoatings Inc
Tampa, FL
"Good, presented a different perspective that I have seen before."
Scott OBrien
Gardner-Gibson
Tampa, FL
"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."
Joe Kennard
Clinical Staff Development
Dade City, FL
"This was an excellent delivery of useful tactics that will greatly enhance our company's efficiency."
Carole Baskin
CEO
Big Cat Rescue
Tampa, FL
"Clear, concise, communicative. Loved sense of humor!"
Jennifer Stevens
Bank of Commerce
Sarasota, FL
"I thoroughly enjoyed the course and would recommend it to anyone. You are an inspiration in so many ways. Your course is one of the best I have taken and the “stick ability” is amazing! I really appreciate all the effort you put into ensuring there is value in each session. I am so impressed with what I learned and the new tools I have been provided that I wish it was a weekly staple!"
Sunda Scanlon
VP, Sales & Implementation
RealWired
Tampa, Florida
"Thank you for being great at what you do. Using skills and tools from Leadership Simplified has greatly reduced many if not all barriers that appeared to be present in the professional world for me. I still continue to learn and communicate skills and tools I have developed which has only further increased my potential. The leadership simplified class was pivotal in my development. So, thank you so much!"
Robert Nottingham
1st shift Team Lead
Tervis Tumbler
Venice, FL
“Doug Van Dyke from DVD Consulting facilitated our multi-day, annual retreat and he was excellent. He kept a very diverse group of people on track and helped us accomplish much more than we could have dreamed. Doug was a great choice and I highly recommend him.”
Louise H. Anderson, CPA
Partner
Davis, Monk & Co, CPAs
"Fabulous, wish I had done this 2 years ago when I started in sales."
Ron Krupa
Director, Benefits Management
Gevity
Bradenton, Fl
“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.”
Ashley Cornett
Vanguard Advanced Pharmacy
Bradenton, FL
"Loved the program. Strong, easy to use content. Great handouts. Doug used situations and examples many encounter regularly. Very applicable."
Danielle Troiano
Training and Education Programs Manager
PGT Industries
North Venice, FL
"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."
Denny O'Connor
Sales Manager
Assurant Employee Benefits
Cincinnati, Ohio
"This Sales Training was Informative and easy to follow along. Effective tools provided as well! Thank you, Doug!!"
Deborah Vaughan
Vice President and Branch Manager
CenterState Bank
Sarasota, FL
"Great content, learned much as usual, dynamic speaker and presenter."
Amanda Burrow
Tervis Tumbler
Venice, FL
“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.”
Kim A Church
IT Operations/
Process Improvement
Serve/American Express
St Petersburg, FL
"This program is so amazing!"
Yantee Hines
Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court
Bradenton, FL
"The program was amazing. Many useful tools and techniques resonate with me. I am confident and know I will continue to be a successful leader."
Very Reyna
Supervisor County Civil & Family Divisions
Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court
Bradenton, FL
"Informative, eye-opening, fun!"
Wanda Valentin
AVI-SPL
Tampa, FL
"Very valuable; especially in the tech world with all the linear thinkers."
Mia Lytle
Nielsen Media Research
Tampa, FL
"Great program. It is already making a difference with our team."
Darin Nearmyer
Union Pacific Railroad
Kansas City
"Loved the presentation on How to Deliver Tough Messages. Great information. Left me wanting to learn more!"
Laura Mancinelli
Member ABWA
Auctioneer/ Real Estate Agent
Bid Florida
Tampa, FL
"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."
Dr. Sarah Brown
Chief of Human Resources
School District of Manatee County
Bradenton, FL
"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."
Marie Cornish
Tidewell Hospice
Clearwater, FL
"Well paced program. I appreciate that the content involved group participation and sharing of ideas."
Judy Mundy
AVI-SPL
Tampa, FL
"Very educational and beneficial to my career. Lots of valuable tools for me to use."
Kathy Stott
Manatee County Clerk of Court
Bradenton, FL
"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."
Ahmet Tezcan
Safran Electrical & Power
Sarasota, FL
"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."
Amy Dreher
Global Learning Services
Nielsen Media Research
Tampa, FL
"Very thorough, covered many valuable topics. I have already used things I learned! Even seasoned professionals will learn and take away many new techniques."
Connie Arledge
Principal, Senior Vice President
Kerkering Barberio
Sarasota, FL
"Doug, your speaking style and content is well disciplined. The format was effective in covering specific content."
Wesley
The Hiller Group
Tampa, FL
“Hello Kay. I cannot imagine you picking a better presenter for your keynote address than Doug Van Dyke. Cardel employed Doug’s services for a high-end Realtor event held at my model home in MiraBay. We focused on a small group of Realtors who focus on sales in excess of $1MM. There were about 15 in attendance and each left feeling their time was well spent. I received feedback from each Realtor after the event asking if they would have another chance to hear Doug speak. A few weeks later, Doug gave a presentation to a group of real estate and building professionals at the Tampa Bay Builders Association monthly meeting. There were over 100 people in attendance and the presentation was on selling to millennials. The presentation was lively, fun, educational, and interactive. Doug made a large room feel very comfortable as he was able to address specific questions and concerns of those in attendance. It is with pleasure I recommend Doug to you as a presenter for your group of professionals.”
Kevin Franzese
Area Sales Manager, Mirabay
Cardel Homes
Apollo Beach, FL
"This program was easy to understand. It was a great experience for me and helped me to re-think how to do my job better."
Gabriela Silva
TECO Energy
Tampa, FL
“I thought it was very informative and learned a lot of new techniques I can apply daily to my job functions.”
James Latronica
MyUS.com
Sarasota, FL
“Hi Doug, Thanks for sharing tonight at the Centre Club’s Social Media panel presentation. I really appreciated your insight on LinkedIn strategies. I learned a ton!!”
Matt Ashwood
Brand Development & Social Media Marketing
AshwoodMedia.com
“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.”
Laura Johnson
Gulfstream Property & Casualty Ins. Co.
Assistant Vice President of Product Operations
Sarasota, FL
"Thank you so much. I enjoyed the format of the Leadership Innovation Retreat – it made for a very positive experience and you were an excellent facilitator."
Rhonda Veasey
Senior Property Manager
Parkway Realty Services
Orlando, Florida
"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."
Tracy McKinney
Trustmark Insurance
Wisconsin
"Great program. I can apply these tools at work and home! Thank you."
Jhomara Morales
AVI-SPL
Tampa, FL
"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."
Jane Falk
Nueterra Healthcare
Leawood, KS
“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!”
Byron Jensen
Supply Chain Manager
L-3 Communications
Aviation Recorders
"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."
Amy Dreher
Nielsen Company
Oldsmar, FL
“Thank you for facilitating our company retreat meeting this past Friday. We greatly appreciated your efforts. Specifically, I felt that you moderated a good willed but boisterous group of staff members in a positive direction- keeping us on track and on time. I also felt that you did a phenomenal job of incorporating the information that we requested about communication in a virtual world and day planning into the session. The team building exercises were appropriate to the day’s plan and they succeeded in building the team. I will gladly refer your services to the other leaders that I come across- well worth the money that you charged. Our team is invigorated and motivated to move Steel in the Air ahead. Now the onus is on us to take the solid foundation you provided and build upon it. “
Ken Schmidt
President
Steel In The Air
Fort Myers, FL
"Very positive attitude, energetic, clear in content and presentation, good at redirecting when getting off task."
Michele Turek
Steel In The Air
Fort Myers, FL
"The Phase II Leadership Program material is an imperative tool. The focus on developing each leader to become savvy and the attention to detail was impeccable. Thank you for your due diligence Doug."
Illyaas Brewer
Electrical Department Group Leader
Pierce Manufacturing
Bradenton, FL
"Very good session - High energy - Fun - Very well paced - and very Effective"
Stephen Thompson
Firm Principal
Najmy Thompson, P.L.
Bradenton, FL
“Certainly added tools that I need to be a better leader. Also, reinforced some concepts that I had forgotten from other leadership lessons. Reminds me of the influential leaders I’ve had, and the value they’ve had on my development.”
Jonny Cromwell
Sun Hydraulics
Sarasota, FL
"Very informative and exactly as advertised, very interactive, big plus!"
Coco Hibbitts
Venice Chamber of Commerce
Venice, FL
"This session achieved the deliverables required. It was very good for the group."
Jim Driscoll
Chief Operating Officer
Shaw Development
Bonita Springs, FL
"It was interesting and did make one think about topics discussed."
Curt Long
Conmed Linvatec
Largo, FL
"Great program. There were so many great tools to use in real time. You were great! Thank you for sharing this valuable information."
Kelly Needham
Tidewell Hospice
Clearwater, FL
"Very inspiring to improve my personal leadership skills. The different levels of communication and presentations were great. This will excellerate my leadership skills to a higher level."
Rick Sweitzer
F-Line Supervisor
Pierce Manufacturing
Bradenton, FL