Jeff is a visionary, a strategist and most of all loves people. He does a wonderful job of balancing all three of these critical dynamics in ways that create amazing outcomes for everyone involved. In my time knowing Jeff, his ability to quickly and accurately assess a situation, provide feedback if necessary and create a flexible plan for solving problems is second to none.

For the past three years, I’ve worked with Jeff VandenHoek on a variety of levels. From general business consulting to revamping organizational behavior and benefit through design. Jeff is a gifted business leader with broad experience across industries. Those experiences have led to deep solutions. Any organization will benefit greatly from Jeff’s leadership and insight.

While undergoing some significant structural changes, we discovered that our executive team needed better ways to communicate with each other; in particular skills related to listening and empathy. Jeff confronted areas of weakness with forthrightness, kindness and clarity. He brought accountability to the process with follow up and reminders. The outcomes are benefiting each person for themselves and for their organizational role.

Observing Jeff’s abilities to coach and work within our leadership program has been an honor and privilege for the Learning and Development team at Columbia Sportswear Co. His dedication and curiosity to continue to learn from others conveys his true passion in life….people. There isn’t one thing that could describe Jeff as a special person, but his genuine attitude about life is what makes him unique. We are so thankful that he has joined us on the journey to build influential leaders within our company.

Jeff facilitated three StrengthsFinder/team building sessions with different groups in our department. He was very pleasant to work with, asked questions to understand the department and get an idea of who he would be working with, and varied his approach based on the different group needs. He was very responsive to some of the feedback we received throughout the series, and flexible with some of our unplanned space constraints as well. Additionally, he sent follow-up emails and materials that are helpful in continuing the conversations. We really appreciated Jeff’s focus on team building, strengths, and authenticity!

Jeff displays the rare gift of understanding the complexity and demands of organizations without losing sight of their most critical resource – – people. Whether team-building with staff, assisting leaders to develop a business model from emerging concepts, or connecting the right people at the right time, he identifies solutions before most people see the problem. Jeff’s integrity is above reproach and his wise counsel is indispensable.

Our nonprofit was facing critical challenges with our growth, measuring success and sustainability. We were blessed with a cohort instructed by Jeff. It was clear from day one that not only is Jeff a man of knowledge, conviction and measure, his students also held him in high regard. As a result of this project, our organization went on to accomplish its mission tenfold and we remain grateful.