About Jeff Evans, Ph.D.

My Experience

I’m Jeff Evans, Ph.D., CEO of Envision Global Leadership — a leadership and organization development firm focused on change navigation. For more than 25 years I’ve supported executives and organizations through transformational change, organizational development, and the building of organizational capability, working as both an internal and external consultant.

My work has spanned new organization designs and startups, large-group change methodologies, and joint ventures and alliances in international and global settings. My clients have ranged from international executive teams to management teams across manufacturing, retail, information technology, telecommunications, research and development, and oil and gas exploration. My background is, by design, eclectic — and that range gives me a rich context as a consultant, executive coach, and speaker.

Coaching & the Profession

I’m the creator, owner, and faculty of Envision Coach Training, a Master Certified Coach (MCC) through the International Coach Federation, an ICF exam assessor, and a mentor coach to other professionals. A meaningful part of my work is developing training programs and standards for the executive coaching profession.

Background & Credentials

My Ph.D. is in Educational Human Resource Development from Texas A&M, with undergraduate and graduate degrees in education and the social sciences. I completed a three-year postgraduate track in Organization and Systems Development at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, post-doctoral work in behavioral systems, organizations, and the psychology of group dynamics, and NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP) training through the Gestalt Institute of New Orleans. My research has ranged from the use of instruments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in corporations to the social dynamics of historical group behavior.

Beyond the work, I followed a lifelong passion for aviation and hold commercial pilot ratings — Airplane Single & Multi-Engine Land, Instrument — along with Flight and Ground Instructor certification.

Writing

Writing has always been part of my life. I’m the author of the #1 bestseller Inspirational Presence: The Art of Transformational Leadership and co-author of Ten Tasks of Change: Demystifying Changing Organizations (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2000), along with numerous papers and research studies on learning organizations, leadership, and training design. I’ve been a frequent presenter at conferences including the Organization Development Network, the International Society for Performance Improvement, and the Association for Talent Development, and I taught change management and systems and strategic thinking for U.C. Berkeley Extension’s school of business.

Some Recent Projects

• Redesign and implementation for a global shipping company, moving to shore-side teams for chartering and fleet maintenance.
• Strategic redirection of a U.S. retail marketing business — from traditional sales channels to market-based hubs, central support, and e-business-enabled vendor alliances.
• Company-wide technology and process reengineering across a decentralized, diverse business: a matrixed organization, cross-business decision processes, and IT governance.
• Plant-level redesign of a 500-person manufacturing facility into empowered, team-based structures — improving quality and employee satisfaction while reducing cost.
• Operating-process design within a five-company international joint venture, including bilingual practices, standardization, project management, and design processes.
• Company-level redesign of a chemicals manufacturer, transitioning from a functional organization to strategic business units with centralized support.