John Nelson

About John Nelson

I love a challenge! What’s been exciting about my career is that every job I have had has been completely different than one prior to it. But through each experience, I have been able to build upon my past experiences. My time in the military placed me in situations with small, large and multi-national organizations that were facing extremely difficulty leadership, management, operational, and structural challenges requiring structured but innovative thinking. Every job was different. I alternated between leading units preparing for and conducting operations around the world, to serving as a college Assistant Professor, to training and advising the senior leaders and staffs of our military and our allies.Then in 2007, I transitioned from the service into the business world where I’ve worked with a wide range of both industry and government clients. I started managing projects in the knowledge management field, which quickly evolved to incorporate process improvement and change management. As I learned the ropes in the business world, I soon found myself acting as an organizational change agent within my firm, advising our C-level suite and leading cross-company working groups. Over the past several years, I’ve been working with clients from the Caribbean to the west coast to develop strategic plans, assess operations, build interagency teams, and improve performance. Its exciting work that requires making sense of complexity by seeing how things work together as a system. One of our clients one remarked, “Now I get it! I finally understand why I’m doing what I’m doing!” Better yet, I get to collaborate and work with professionals across the country with diverse backgrounds and fields of expertise to help make their organizations better. Specialties: Systems Thinking, Strategic Planning, Change Management, Education, Knowledge Management, Business Analysis, Continuous Process Improvement, Simulations, Operations Research

Experience

1. Chapter Director

   Coo Forum

   Sep 2019 — Present · Kansas City, MO, US

   The COO Forum is a professional development association of Second-in-Command Executives: Chief Operating Officers, Operating CFOs, General Managers, Divisional Presidents, Operating CIOs, and Executive Vice Presidents. Operations Executives often reflect on their organization\'s issues and question how to maximize their value in their unique and complicated second-in-command role. The COO Forum provides an opportunity to discuss these critical issues, engage with both peers and thought leaders to help broaden your perspective, cultivate new ideas, and become a more effective leader.

Education

• University of Central Florida

  MS, Training Simulations

  1995 — 1997

• University of Central Florida

  MS, Engineering Management

  1995 — 1997

• United States Military Academy at West Point

  BS, Geography

  1983 — 1987

Skills

• Project Planning
• Organizational Leadership
• Simulations
• Operational Planning
• Dod
• National Security
• Security Clearance
• Program Management
• Six Sigma
• Military
• Defense
• Intelligence
• Lean Manufacturing
• Government Contracting
• Army
• Process Improvement
• Leadership
• Training
• Sharepoint
• Management Consulting
• Top Secret
• Military Operations
• Knowledge Management
• Strategy
• Government
• Management
• Command
• Change Management
• Operations Research