“Please accept my deep appreciation for your guidance and professional assistance. It was a pleasure and a real growth experience for me. Your advice,coaching, and insight into successful public speaking will stand me in good stead for years to come. My only regret is that I never worked the Groucho Marx joke into the pitch . . . maybe next time.”
John F. Williams, engineering manager, General Motors
COACH AND CONSULTANT
Coaching and consulting has been a lifelong passion for Russ Mack.
His Dartmouth College degree in clinical psychology was awarded in part because he led a team at the medical school that developed a successful cure for stuttering. He also did considerable clinic work at the psychiatric ward of the hospital allfour years. His only real break from that routine was a term abroad in France where living with a French family (who only spoke French) provided a crash course in the need for reach out himself for coaching and counseling (just to eat!).
Sonof a prominent book publisher, he followed his father’s footsteps right out of college working at both Doubleday and HarperCollins in New York. As an editor he was fortunate to have worked with such people as Malcolm Forbes, Zubin Mehta, Jack Dempsey and others. He even had his own book published by Bantam.
Could a breakthrough teaching method be applied worldwide? That was the challenge that took Russ out of the corporate world into coaching and counseling one of his former college professors. The Rassias Language Method was first brought to attention by The New York Times. Subsequent coverage included 60 Minutes, Time magazine, the Smithsonian,even The Tonight Show. And today the method has been adopted at more than 600 colleges and universities worldwide.
Russ is perhaps best known for his work coaching and counseling in a variety of capacities at General Motors and Ford Motor Company. It began with a simple request to do a“simple and quick” speech for the VP of Buick (Lloyd Reuss, later President of GM). As the French say, rien ne dure plus que le provisoire (nothing last longer than temporary things). One thing turned in to another. Fifteen years later, he can point to some accomplishments: helping turn around two GM divisions, helping launch the biggest technology GM dealerships have ever seen, handling the marketing communications for the electric vehicle at GM, and much more.
Author of a business book published by Bantam Books, Russ used his publishing contacts to arrange the publication of Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward which has risen to the top of the Wall Street Journal bestselling list.
“A year ago I started off with a blank sheet of paper, a big mandate, plenty of capital, and 700 unassigned engineers. But no road map. A year later a billion dollars plus in cost reductions were achieved through major engineering design changes. And it all came off flawlessly, with minimal disruption, and a year ahead of schedule! Couldn’t have done it, Russ, without your help in strategic planning,excellent communication skills, and day-to-day wisdom in project management and implementation. Thanks.”
John J. Viera, chief engineer, Ford Motor Company