Gerald Haman leader of the month

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Leader of the Month for January 2005:

Gerald "Solutionman" Haman

Gerald Haman

Gerald Haman was born on Christmas day in 1959 and has devoted much of his life to helping others find the “presents” of their imagination or receive “gifts” of greater creativity and innovation. Gerald “Solutionman” Haman is founding partner of SolutionPeople®, developer of the Thinkubator® in Chicago, and serves as an adjunct professor of innovation at Northwestern University.

Formerly with Procter & Gamble and Arthur Andersen, he is the award-winning inventor of the KnowBrainer, a tool that has proven to increase creativity by over 500%. Haman developed a model for Continuous Innovation™ that is being utilized around the world. He has been profiled in 50 major news publications including FAST Company, The New York Times, Newsweek Japan and Investors Business Daily.

SolutionPeople has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a “Winning Workplace” finalist, and the American Society for Training & Development awarded SolutionPeople a “Learning Excellence Citation” for their innovation training results. SolutionPeople has also been profiled for their unique business practices in the “Creating Customer Evangelists” book.

Haman holds a Masters Degree in Communications and Training from the University of Minnesota and is on the advisory board to the Cambridge Philosophy Institute. He is a contributing author of the New Product Development Handbook. He has published articles on innovation for the Journal of Innovative Management, Productivity Digest, Training Today and The Meeting Professional.

Haman gained international acclaim for establishing a world brainstorming record by facilitating 8,000 people in a Thinkathon® at the Singapore Stadium to generate 454,000 ideas in less than 60 minutes. He has given innovative presentations to over 100,000 people from around the globe and has been recognized for his creativity by the United States Congress and the American Academy of Achievements.

Since launching SolutionPeople in 1989, his firm has helped clients generate more than two million ideas valued at over two billion dollars.

Gerald "Solutionman" Haman is a creative individual, a unique leader, and a catalyst. His remarkable innovations have spawned valuable ideas for people worldwide. For the benefits that have resulted from his amazing leadership and innovation, Gerald Haman is the Leader of the Month for January 2005.

Current personal passion: Developing the “Ultimate Innovation Learning Experiences and Tools”

Dream: To have the freedom to donate or freely offer SolutionPeople’s services to everyone who needs them, especially the less fortunate.

Most admired leader: Tom Schaff because of his incessant passion for learning and desire to help people. He is the most intelligent person I know and has a superb sense of humor. He is very committed to helping people realize their dreams.

Favorite book: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen because if offers a great metaphor for taking care of the mind.

Place in the world you would most like to visit: Outerspace! I've traveled to many interesting parts of the world already.

Lifetime leadership highlight: Leading thousands of people in facilitations, corporate meetings, and training events. Nearly all of them have generated valuable ideas that have improved their lives and organizations.

John D. Figiel, Organization Development Consultant, shares the following about Gerald Haman, "If you review all of the studies and classic texts that have focused on leaders and leadership, a consistent definition emerges; a leader is an individual who creates a vision for the future, who effectively and passionately communicates this vision to others and who creates the capability in others to turn that vision into reality. If you spend 5 minutes with Gerald Haman it becomes clear that he is leadership personified. Fifteen years ago, Gerald had a vision to improve organizations and lives through innovation. He saw the power and potential that everyone possesses to create a better life and a better world by creating more innovative solutions. He has spent the last fifteen years sharing his vision and his passion with hundreds of thousands of people around the globe. He has put innovation tools and techniques into people's hands that have unleashed the capacity and capability in their brains. Today, we are faced with the most complex problems that humankind has ever known. We need now, more than ever, true leaders to inspire, and to provide a way to a better future. Gerald Haman is the real deal."

Books recommended for aspiring leaders: Executive Book Summaries by Soundview

Traits most important in a leader: The ability to use their whole brain and (1) investigate, (2) create, (3) evaluate, and (4) activate.

Advice to aspiring leaders: Learn how to continuously innovate! Develop the full power of your people’s innovative potential by providing the best combination of six essential ingredients that include (1) leadership, (2) teams, (3) processes, (4) tools, (5) technology, and (6) inspiring environments.

What and where are the best training programs for leaders? SolutionPeople has actually developed what we think are some of the best training programs! The curriculum includes Accelerated Innovation training, KnowBrainer Trainer certification and Innovation Facilitator certifications. See http://www.solutionpeople.com/training.htm for details.

What’s your metaphor, story, or analogy for leadership? Leaders are WHOLE-BRAIN thinkers.

SolutionPeople offers the following services to accelerate and improve innovation performance: