I'm Tony Thayer.I help business owners improve results by discovering and marshaling the diverse gifts and talents of their people.
Like most, I am the product of my past experiences and challenges. During 35 years in corporate leadership, I learned to trust my people and challenge them to explore ways to overcome obstacles and move toward success. I learned that even front-line staff had well-informed ideas to share, so I encouraged them to put their ideas into action. In my first supervisory role, this leadership perspective transformed a service team previously branded as a ‘failure’, into being awarded the title “Pitney Bowes’ Production Team of the Year”. It’s also how, as a sales rep, I won back crucial former clients for Xerox, Heidelberg and other Fortune 500 companies. Listening and empowering others helped me successfully lead one team to turn around a failing Silicon Valley internet business. At another company, we generated over $1 million in new revenues in less than a year. The crucible I retired in 2011 when diagnosed with cancer. I was told I might have five years. The five year fuse was lit and burning fast. Cancer became a crucible to find deeper meaning in the time I had left. Initially I walked around dazed. Cancer took me out of the game I’d played my whole life. Without a future, I saw no reason to focus on gaining the recognition and signs of outer success that had always driven me. The way I had lived my life no longer worked. I withdrew. I had to find a way to reduce the anxiety, confusion and fear. So I took a step outside my comfort zone. I volunteered to feed the homeless at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. Helping others and being of service brought me comfort. It calmed my fears. I felt like my life had more meaning. I felt alive. Emerging from the crucible At my five-year checkup, my oncologist said, “I don‘t know how you did it, Tony, but you’re as healthy as if you never had cancer.” He didn’t know, but I did. It was finding connection and meaning in the crucible. Cancer gave me a gift I want to now share with others. Cancer opened my eyes to the hunger that everyone has… to be seen, heard and make a difference. The volunteer programs I participated in shone the light on the people who often feel powerless. What became evident is that often the overlooked are the ones who really see what’s going on. They are the ones who can tell us what we need to hear. They have the answers. My mission now is to help leaders activate all the untapped power in their organizations. I am here to help build truly engaged work cultures. Places that inspire people to reach their full potential while making a difference for each other and the customers. |
Crucible CoachingTony’s coaching helped me see my current challenge as a process, not a problem to be quickly solved. He helped me identify my values and get clear on my goals; giving me confidence and a compass to navigate my choices. The clarity has benefited my professional and personal relationships and greatly diminished my stress.” "Tony showed me how to turn down the white noise - the negative self-talk and anxieties that can play in my mind. Now I can better reflect, reconsider and investigate where I want to go and what stands in my way." - Irina K., San Francisco There’s a Spanish word that doesn’t translate well into English —it’s like ‘spark'. The Spanish word conveys someone who gets your mind sparking so you think about things you hadn’t before... that’s what Tony does!” |