Joel L. Garrison
After 32 years of dedicated service in the Army National Guard, Joel recently retired and is eager to pursue his long-desired strategist role. His unwavering perseverance and passion for strategy are a testament to the valuable asset a strategic mindset can be in any professional context. Joel highly recommends the Mastering Strategy program from LBL Strategies, emphasizing its universal applicability and transformative value. He encourages fellow DOD personnel interested in strategy management careers to consider this program, regardless of their military background. Joel also advocates for continuous learning, urging soldiers to take full advantage of the military's credentialing assistance benefit. He expresses gratitude for being part of the Mastering Strategy alumni program led by the LBL team and highlights the importance of strategic planning.Â
Naseem Saiyed
Naseem Saiyed, an alumna of Mastering Strategy Program, is currently leading development of long-term strategy for the NASA Aeronautics program. His team also leads risk management, strategic analyses and assurance of compliance to Agency programmatic policies. Prior to joining NASA Aeronautics, Mr. Saiyed developed long-term strategy and its execution plans for the NASA Space Communication and Navigation Program. According to Mr. Saiyed, "The Mastering Strategy Program provided a comprehensive framework (Strategic Management Performance System) to think about strategy as a discipline starting with assessing the needs to strategy formulation, execution and performance management." Naseem was able to directly and successfully apply several of the concepts into his development of Aeronautics’ strategy.
Shelly Ruff
Shelley Ruff, recent alumna of the George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership’s Mastering Strategy: Strategic Management Performance System certfication, began her career with Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in May of 2013 and is currently the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer. She is an experienced business administration professional with a 30+-year track record in higher education and corporate environments, who recently acquired the responsibility for leading the strategic management efforts at the Heritage College. After attending the International Association for Strategy Professionals’s annual conference in 2018, Ms. Ruff chose to pursue additional training opportunities with LBL Strategies, an education partner for George Washington University.
The training and consultative services, as provided by LBL Strategies, are exactly what the Heritage College needed, and have enabled the leadership team to focus on what’s most important, to make better decisions, and to advance the ability to think and act strategically. The consultative services were tightly aligned with the training materials, enabling the College leadership to quickly learn and adapt the strategic management concepts and approach to the real world of higher education, positioning the Heritage College to become a true high-performing, strategic-thinking organization. Many thanks to George Washington University and the team at LBL Strategies for positioning us for continued successes in our pursuit of strategy management excellence!!
Michael Loechel
For over 20 years, Michael Loechel, an alumnus of the Mastering Strategy: Strategy Management Performance System Certification Program, has been driving strategy and innovation initiatives within the BioPharmaceuticals industry. He is a former Pfizer executive and Deloitte Strategy consultant. Now, through his own management consulting company, Axioma Group, Michael continues to advise major BioPharmaceuticals clients across the product development and commercialization value chain on how to strategically tackle performance and growth opportunities. The knowledge Michael acquired through the program has helped him in rethinking and refining the strategy of his own business, and moreover has helped his clients become more strategic in their focus on what matters most. One of the tools, cut before you add, in particular has been useful.