KEVIN RUTHERFORD
Kevin Rutherford serves as the Chief Talent Strategist for the Talent Management Academy. Kevin is also Principal of Talent Leap, a Human Capital consulting company specializing in enhancing, improving and optimizing the way companies develop, deploy and retain their talent. Kevin brings more than 25 years of human resources leadership in the retail, banking and grocery industries. Kevin has held top HR positions with Borders/Waldenbooks, Michaels Arts & Crafts, and FootAction. During his career, he developed numerous cutting-edge recruiting, compensation and people development systems that were profiled by Recruiting Strategist, HR.com, The National Association of Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and The Corporate Leadership Council. Kevin serves on several Advisory Boards for leading human capital and talent management firms and was the top Senior Faculty Member/Expert Advisor for the Human Capital Institute in 2009.

Testimonials & Recommendations
“Earlier this year, I attended one of Kevin’s strategic talent management seminars and was very impressed. He is a truly gifted trainer but an even more impressive consultant. It was when I got to work with Kevin one-on-one that I fully realized the extent of his expertise. He draws on a wide range of capabilities new to people management, such as supply chain management, marketing, analytics, and branding to help companies achieve extraordinary results. Kevin has the ability to quickly distill the issues in a way that sticks. He is both strategic and pragmatic, traits that resonate with business leaders at all levels. These traits combined with his battle tested HR experience and tremendous raw intelligence were huge assets to me personally in solving problems I faced in a rapidly changing talent environment. Kevin has been a trusted business advisor and a great professional mentor. If you want superb results, Kevin will deliver.”

- Catherine Smith, Chief Human Capital Management for Evaluations, Amtrak

“In advance of hiring Kevin to work on a very large, and extremely complex project with the U.S. Army, I went “undercover” and attended a public course he was teaching in D.C. Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I’m a pretty tough judge of teaching talent, and am (regrettably) rarely impressed by most trainers. Kevin, however, far surpassed any expectations I had. From the very start he had the entire class in the palm of his hand – myself included – despite covering some very challenging material. His practical knowledge of Human Capital, combined with his extraordinary teaching ability, turned a day I was frankly dreading into one of the most enjoyable courses I have ever attended. I would strongly recommend Kevin to anyone who is looking for a top-notch trainer and first-rate mind in the Human Capital arena.”

- JT Kostman, Ph.D., Chair, Academic Advisory Committee, Homeland Security

“My career spans 3 decades of workshops, events, meetings, seminars and conferences. I recently attended a Strategic Talent Management workshop/seminar that Kevin put on and found his delivery to be one of the best I have ever seen. He has that rare combination that makes a great teacher—commanding presence, thought leadership, practical, real world experience, classroom management, and ENERGY off the charts. Having worked with Kevin since his training, I have come to appreciate his “ahead of the curve” thinking. He provides a perspective few have envisioned in the field and is acutely aware of talent management challenges, trade-offs, and alignment with business strategy—there is real wisdom to his counsel. I wholeheartedly recommend Kevin to speak, train, or consult with any company looking to position talent as a competitive advantage!”

- Rome Colburn, President, DFW SMA (Staffing Management Association)

JOHN MATTONE
John Mattone is widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on the Future Trends of Leadership Development & Talent Management.
John Mattone was recently named by Thinkers50.com as one of the fastest rising stars in the field of leadership development. The Thinkers50, a biennial list of the world’s top business thinkers, identifies those people who are making a real difference in the world of business. John was ranked as one of the world’s emergent thought leaders and appears on the 2011 Thinkers 50 “Guru Radar” list.

John Mattone is recognized globally as an inspiring keynote speaker, prolific author, and highly sought-after executive coach. John is the President of JohnMattonePartners (JMP), a global leadership consulting firm that specializes in executive assessment, development, and coaching. John has over 30 years’ experience in the fields of executive development and human capital management, as an entrepreneur who has built two successful human capital consulting firms, an as executive of a multi-million dollar leadership consulting firm, and as a leading researcher and author known throughout the Fortune 500 as a cutting edge thinker in the area of trends in executive development and identifying and developing high-potential and emerging leaders.

Prior to JMP, Mattone was the Vice President of Global Assessment Services for Linkage, Inc., where he was responsible for the firm’s global assessment practice. Prior to Linkage, John Mattone was the Senior Vice President of Sales for Drake Beam Morin, the global career and outplacement firm. Before joining DBM, John spent 10 years building his first successful consulting firm, Human Resources International.

John Mattone has consulted for more than 250 organizations and addressed more than 500,000 people in 2,000 speeches and seminars throughout the U.S., Canada and other countries worldwide. John is a prolific author having written seven books as well as over 100 professional articles and book chapters including the award-winning “The Role of Assessment in Driving Operating Results”, published in Jac Fitz-enz book “The New HR Analytics” (AMACOM, 2010) and “Predictive HR Leadership”.  John’s newest books, entitled “Talent Leadership: A Proven Method for Identifying & Developing High-Potential Employees” and “Unlocking & Unleashing Your Leadership Potential”, are being heralded by leading experts, CEO’s and HR leaders as “groundbreaking and innovative”.

Mattone holds a B.S. Degree in Management and Organizational Behavior from Babson College and an M.S. Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Central Florida. John Mattone serves as an Executive MBA faculty member at Florida Atlantic University where he teaches his popular course Global Leadership Assessment & Development. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University. Mattone also serves as a Sr. Talent Management Consultant and Master Executive Coach for Executive Development Associates (where he also served as President) and  as a Senior Faculty Member with the Talent Management Academy, a worldwide leader in leadership conferences and education.  John Mattone is a member of numerous professional associations including the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and is certified as a Master Corporate Executive Coach™ (MCEC) by the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches.