Chris Houston is a biologist, management consultant, farmer, and grandfather whose life's work and calling have been to come alongside and walk with leaders, most often of businesses, as they navigate changes in and to their organizations. He's been at it for nearly 30 years, loves the work, and struggles with the peripatetic life it requires - but can't help looking for the next place to contribute, encourage, cajole, or create. As a client once said, "you sell the 'hard stuff' to earn the right to do the 'soft stuff.'" The "hard stuff" is strategy; the "soft stuff" is leadership, and the inevitable hybrid of sound thinking and right acting. His clients span industries, continents, and sizes, from start-ups to global businesses, in North America and Europe, B2Cs and B2Bs. The work comes through a web of relationships and personal meetings. There have been some memorable failures, but fortunately, more successes have yielded the kaleidoscope of insights that are woven into the fabric of For Goodness' Sake like the threads of a carpet - each distinct, yet together forming a pattern of meaning. When not in a client's office or on a plane, Chris can be found on his farm outside Toronto, with his wife Jeannie, or enjoying their growing family. Chris began his career in business with his MBA (Gold Medalist) from The University of Western Ontario's Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario, in 1987. He then went on to join the General Management practice in the Toronto office of Woods Gordon, the Canadian consulting affiliate of what was then Arthur Young International and is now EY. Soon, however, Chris realized that his skills were better deployed in a boutique business model, and after a short stop in Change Lab International, he set out with colleague Morrey Ewing, and later on his own in the Change Alliance. It is in the independence and vulnerability of the sole practitioner that Chris has found his true calling - to be a servant of business leaders and their organizations. Chris can be reached through www.telosity.net.
