John Schuster

John has built and sold two service firms in his business career, which were known for connecting soft people skills with hard business results. His passion is helping CEO’s and executive teams build the necessary leadership and social capital within their enterprises so they can execute on behalf of customers and shareholders. In the early 90’s, his firm collaborated with INC. magazine writers as they promoted growth-oriented, business-savvy cultures of fully engaged employees. Out of this work, John and his team built a business simulation tool that has been used by hundreds of thousands of people in high-growth businesses, MBA programs, and clients such as GE, Harley Davidson, EDS, and Sprint. He is a faculty member for mentoring and leadership at an executive MBA program at a Midwestern Jesuit university, and on the faculty of the University of Columbia’s Coach Certification Program. His interests are executive teams that work, corporate cultures that can execute strategy, and leaders who can inspire and bring out the best in others. John has authored numerous articles and four books including: The Open-Book Management Field Book, Hum-Drum to Hot-Diggity on Leadership, and Answering Your Call: A Guide to Living Your Deepest Purpose. John holds both his BA and MA in English from Xavier University, and graduated summa cum laude. He has keynoted at numerous conferences, and has had a plethora of speaking engagements in the US, Malaysia, and the UK. John works with hospice and other non-profits and as an advocate for all things green as a give-back contribution. He has a 22 year marriage, his two sons who live in Ohio, and three grandchildren. He hits golf and tennis balls when he can, has read a lot of Tolkien, learned to snowboard when he was 50, and plays guitar.