Jim Waszak

About Jim Waszak

In my career and life, I’ve always been troubled when observing people who are achieving less than I could clearly see they were capable of.Usually, what’s held them back is one simple thing – Perspective. They simply didn’t see things in a way that would enable them to thrive. Perhaps it was what they believed about themselves or their business, perhaps it was lack of knowledge of an option they had, perhaps it was lack of confidence.For some reason that I’m not sure I understand myself, I seem to have a gift for changing that. Somehow, it seems, people readily warm up to me and open up to me with things they rarely share. Once that happens, a vision comes to me as to what they could be or what they want to be – how they could be more, or how their business could be more. And then I am able to present that vision to them (and here’s the magic) in a way that they really understand, and know what actions they could take to make it reality.As a CFO, I enhanced many careers by bringing out the best in people and giving them belief in themselves. Many of my subordinates went on to management and executive positions.As a COO, I turned around a manufacturing company. By believing in and supporting the team, we achieved 50% growth in 18 months, and profits 3X the best in the company’s 70 year history. When I left, one of my team told me that he would miss me because I’d changed his life.As a career coach, both paid and unpaid, I’ve supported many individuals find their right path in life.As a business consultant, I’ve supported performance improvement in numerous fields and industries, and have worked with companies ranging in size from startup mode all the way to General Motors. My continuing interest is to bring out the best in people adding to their knowledge and enhancing their perspective – whether as mentor, advisor, facilitator, coach, turnaround expert or any other situation where making substantial changes to performance is desired.

Experience

1. Career Coach

   Career & Networking Center

   Oct 2008 — Present · Naperville, IL, US

   Provide career coaching and job search strategies.• Created an articulate professional value proposition, and crafted a personal marketing story which provided talking points with prospective employers and accelerated DK’s job search. • Counseled JR to do some “out of the box thinking” which ultimately helped him get his current job.• Successfully counseled over 100 people to better jobs and careers. • Developed and presented innovative workshops on job search using humor.

Education

• Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management

  MBA, Finance. Management

  1978 — 1983

• Benedictine University

  BS, Business Economics

  1971 — 1975

Skills

• Sales and Marketing Coaching
• Employee Relations
• Strategic Planning
• Small Business
• Account Management
• Employee Engagement
• Management Consulting
• Entrepreneurship
• Organizational Effectiveness
• Strategy
• Negotiation
• Market Research
• Mentoring
• Lead Generation
• Coaching
• Workshop Leader
• Budgets
• Cpa
• Staff Development
• Customer Satisfaction
• Training
• Career Development
• Business Process Improvement
• Business Strategy
• Analysis
• Contract Negotiation
• Team Building
• Management
• Program Management
• Marketing
• Team Leadership
• Talent Management
• Operations Management
• Interviews
• Leadership Development
• Career Counseling
• Public Speaking
• Workshop Facilitation
• Business Development
• Sales