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Since 1978 Tom Watkins has specialised in people-management, leadership and facilitation practices, assisting the transfer of practical skills and processes to workplaces that include Shell NZ, Lion Nathan, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Shell Chemicals Australia, The New Zealand Treasury, South Auckland Health, Western Bay Health, Health Waikato, Phillips New Zealand, Air New Zealand, Te Puni Kokiri, NZ Lotteries Commission, the Otago District Health Board, several New Zealand schools and various Crown Research Institutes.
He has studied in the USA with the Tom Peters Group and in Australia with The Australasian Institute of Socio-Analysis.
Tom has owned a number of professional training and consultancy business, coached several other consultant trainers and facilitators into successful international careers, and authored a range of well-respected publications:
Tom's work is driven by his interest in helping people change systems within and around them to release energy for progress. At different times this has focused on police training, community development, interpersonal relationships, co-counseling, training trainers, changing organisational culture, teams, managers, leaders, men's groups, transition management, life-planning, strategic planning, and mentoring. He has owned and managed several consulting businesses.
A constant thread has been his belief in the need for "right" relationships in which the parties experience themselves as inter-connected, respected for their humanity, treated justly and helped to a realisation of purpose and potential. The essential basis for this, he believes, is a "right" relationship with the self. Tom is widely respected for his compassion for and empathy with others' challenges, and for his ability to transform common sense into common practice. Clients report significant and usefully long-lasting life changes resulting from his work.
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Of himself, Tom says:
"My family of origin was heavily influenced by mildly eccentric Spaniards, musically melodramatic Welsh and the unforgiving attitudes of Victorianism. Many of my early experiences with formal education, employment and relationships lacked the depth of goodwill, support and guidance necessary for optimal growth. Without the ability to influence them, I found these crises tough, until I realised how much I could learn by studying them. The resulting insights - especially into the conditions under which relationships thrive, stagnate or disintegrate - have been pivotal to my work ever since.
"At various times in my career, informal mentors offered to help me articulate my dreams and supported me to realise them.
"This encouragement set me on a journey of self-discovery that has led to splendidly fulfilling work and the desire to offer similar support to others. I now engage a regular mentor, to ensure I continue to distil meaning from my experience.
"The continuing journey is either fun or learning and sometimes, miraculously, it is both at the same time! These days, whenever I am tempted to become Very Serious about any of this, laughter eventually and mercifully intervenes. I recommend the Scenic Route."
When at home, Tom lives on the edge of Banks Peninsula, New Zealand where he fiddles with the garden.
Click here to talk with Tom.
Typical of client comments about Tom's work are these:
"Tom Watkins is a highly professional mentor who functions from a well-cemented value base. His consummate integrity and personal conduct led to a trusting relationship, essential for a successful mentor/client rapport."
Senior Manager, New Zealand
"He has exceptional listening skills, is amazingly perceptive and has a style that instils trust and confidence."
Senior Executive, New Zealand
"Tom Watkins has walked with me through adversity, encouraged me to explore opportunities, taught me the skills to coach and lead, and been a trusted advisor and mentor for much of my working life. Tom brings the much needed 'soul' to management and leadership."
CEO, New Zealand
"Tom is a rare gem, a person who has a wide experience of the technical skills and attributes required in senior management who has also mastered the art of management-with-heart."
General Manager, New Zealand
"There are mentors and then there are those who can wipe away the dust from doors to pathways we might have missed. Tom knows just where those doors are hidden. I've learned great insights into plans and strategies to grow my business."
Writer and Community Consultant, Sacramento, CA - USA
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