Frequently, we encounter teams where personalities and behaviors make achieving success challenging. How we react to those relationships tells us quite a bit about who we are as leaders and coworkers. Skilled leaders have learned how to get to know the uniqueness of each person and how to leverage their traits for maximum success. Like a fruit salad, you want to take each ingredient and put it to good use in an appropriate way. 

As integrators of training we look for ways to understand and embrace our differences. In this session, we’ll talk about how we as learning and development professionals can better understand our own staff and co-workers and how we can help leaders in our organization utilize their human resources effectively. Leadership is like being a chef—you must look broadly at the entire meal, not just the salad.

Paul and David each have an extensive background in training and development and are Master Certified Trainers representing five different training companies and their programs, including VitalSmarts, The Culture Works, and Wiley.

Paul has managed and conducted open-enrollment trainings throughout the US and Canada and has taught hundreds of trainers how to be more effective in their training. Paul has worked in many industries as a trainer including: agriculture, aerospace, automobile, drilling, financial services, food services and production, healthcare, higher education, insurance, state and federal governments, manufacturing, mining, natural gas, pharmaceuticals, and telecom.

David is the older half of the McMurray Brothers. He has facilitated over 100 webinars in his career, where he has guided clients through a maze of research information. Because of his skills as a teacher, David has been able to take complex statistical information and distill it down into simple stories for his clients—including NASA, HUD, McCormick and Company, among others—to comprehend and utilize. 

In their consulting and training work, the McMurray Brothers have engaged with employees at all levels, from the board of directors to the front-line staff. While their key training programs are in communications and leadership, they have also presented seminars on customer service, team building, influence and change.

After a stint as a television sportscaster, Pete returned to Disney in 1994. Over the next 13 years, he managed various areas of Disney's theme parks and resorts, where he learned what it takes to run a world-class organization. Pete was blessed to spend a majority of his time working at the Disney University. While there, he led the Traditions program, which is known worldwide as one of the premiere employee orientation programs. He also facilitated college-level courses to thousands of Disney College Interns and was a Segment Learning Manager for Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, and the Disney Cruise Line.

Today, he works with organizations and associations all across the US, helping them achieve their goals in the areas of leadership, employee engagement, and customer service. Pete is a former President of the Birmingham Chapter of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), received the “2016 Learning! Champion Award” from Elearning! Magazine, and earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speakers Association.

His first book is Employee Engagement: Lessons from the Mouse House. His next book, Pick Up the Roach! Why Great Leaders Do the Little Things, is due out in 2019.