Case Study 1: The Joy in the Journey

Gary Schmidt, Director of Public and Government Affairs at Clackamas County knew he wanted to feel better about his work. Not only was he overwhelmed by the workload, he felt stressed regularly and found his creativity had waned. His team was stressed as well, and he was embarrassed to admit he didn’t know what he needed to shift his performance and the level of joy he took from his work. After getting a personal referral from a friend, he decided to start the conversation about leadership development with Michelle Rios, owner and principal of Blue Tiger Leadership, LLC.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez, development director for Centro Cultural de Washington County is a young leader with extraordinary potential. He describes his job role as being a positive steward of Centro Cultural’s mission and providing project management to programs that break the cycle of poverty through empowering underprivileged community members. “I’m passionate about affecting positive changes in the community, as well as in the teams I lead.” After going through the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive TeamTM, conducted by Michelle Rios, owner and principal at Blue Tiger Leadership, he grew hungry for further personal leadership development. 

Todd was experiencing a decline in revenue for his region. As the Regional Vice President of Sales for LaPrarie, Todd Smith knew there was a problem, but he thought it was an environmental factor. What he hadn’t realized was that his communication patterns were limiting his success. To support Todd, the LaPrarie HR Director went on the hunt for a leadership coach. They interviewed several, including Michelle, who they felt would be a good match for Todd.

Michelle Rios, executive and organizational development coach, entered the scene at Centro Cultural during immense growing pains. Centro Cultural is a non-profit organization committed to supporting underserved communities. The organization had been through major leadership change and was in sore need of a morale boost, team development as well as clarity on organizational goals, reports Maria Caballero-Rubio, executive director.