Harnessing leadership for transformative growth: the telos institute

Organizations belonging to different industries face varied challenges throughout their existence. These difficulties are typical of businesses through various stages of their operations and it is up to the leaders to rise up to the challenge and chart a way forward. But it is easier said than done. Business leaders across all sectors face various obstacles over the course of their career and there are times when it seems that the very future of the company could be at stake. It could be at the very beginning of the enterprise or at some crucial point during its growth that a fresh perspective helps steer the business in the right direction. It is at such deciding moments that expert consultancy can save the day. That is exactly what the telos institute does best.

the telos institute was founded by a husband-wife team who strongly believed that there was a gap in the abilities of existing business leaders to think strategically and establish policy decisions for long-term sustainable growth. After trying for years in vain to enact changes in organizations he worked with, Rick Simmons along with his wife Amy founded the telos institute to help leaders in business and industry evolve strategy and change management skills and become more effective leaders.

Rick spent a significant part of his professional life working with business leaders who were either acquiring or divesting their operations. The gaps in the abilities of leaders to think dynamically and adapt to volatile market forces served as the inspiration for the Simmons’ to launch their own company and help businesses grow and flourish. The vast experience of Rick, combined with the expertise of Amy in
the field of adult learning theory was instrumental in establishing a framework for the telos institute to offer market winning management consultancy services that have worked to propel their clients to new heights of success. the telos institute has successfully conducted coaching and consulting engagements
on five continents across several industries. When a client is facing a major inflection point, such as a change in leadership or experiencing transformative growth, this serves as the identifying moment when

they call the telos institute. the telos institute has a set of core philosophies that it uses in every engagement since the needs of every client are unique and there is no one solution that fits all. the telos institute does not offer formulaic solutions that are off the shelf and customizes every solution to fit each and every one of its clients unique needs.

It begins with a comprehensive organizational audit to gather as much data as possible to understand the client’s current standing. One-on-one coaching at the executive level is often part of the comprehensive solution delivered by the telos institute. Additionally, telos makes use of a proprietary process of curated liminality to harness all the benefits of the transition points that their clients face. These development techniques are complemented by the fact that Rick has studied the return on investment of executive-level coaching in professional service organizations extensively and even produced a graduate-level thesis on the same.

These cutting edge approaches are what has allowed the telos institute to build a loyal and far reaching clientele that stretches across industries and continents. Today the company has over 60 employees and is growing continuously. Rick and Amy Simmons continue to be a guiding force for their company through changing trends sweeping industries around the world.

Meet the enterprising CEO of the telos institute, Rick Simmons

Rick is an experienced coaching and consulting professional with more than a decade spent collaborating with leaders at the highest levels of organizations to optimize their businesses and their lives. In his role, Rick is responsible for shaping the vision and guiding the strategic direction of the firm, while inspiring a growing cohort of world-class practitioners to deliver insight, growth, and transformational experiences for the telos institute clients. Prior to founding the telos institute, Rick spent ten years in various senior strategy and sales leadership positions within the financial services industry. Most notably, he led several organizations through periods of transition, which afforded him the opportunity to share his experience and insight into the best practices of managing personal and organizational change.

Rick earned his Master of Science in Organizational Behavior from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, a program annually ranked as a global leader in the field of Organizational Behavior. While at Weatherhead, Rick focused his research on quantifying the value of coaching to individuals and organizations. The insights gleaned from this research have enabled Rick to achieve a balance in delivering both the quantitative and qualitative benefits of a successful coaching or consulting engagement. Rick also earned his professional coaching certification from the Weatherhead School and has studied at the world-renowned Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

More recently, he was named a Founding Fellow at The Harvard Institute of Coaching at the MacLean Medical School where he contributes insights and best practices to the growing field of executive coaching.

“The success of our organization is directly related to the quality and character of those involved.”

- Rick Simmons